1 Samuel 2:12-17

Eli’s Wicked Sons

12 Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the LORD.

13 Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled

14 and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.

15 But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”

16 If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”

17 This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD’s sight, for they^[a] were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt.

1 Samuel 2:12-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 2

In this chapter the song of Hannah is recorded, 1Sa 2:1-10, and an account is given of the return of Elkanah and Hannah to their own home, and of the care she took yearly to provide a coat for Samuel, and of her being blessed with many other children, and of the growth and ministry of Samuel before the Lord, 1Sa 2:11,18-21,26, and of the wickedness of the sons of Eli, 1Sa 2:12-17, and of Eli's too gentle treatment of them when he reproved them for it, 1Sa 2:22-25 and of a sharp message sent him from the Lord on that account, threatening destruction to his house, of which the death of his two sons would be a sign, 1Sa 2:27-36.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 2:8; Jeremiah 9:6
• 2. Deuteronomy 18:3
• 3. Leviticus 7:35-36; Leviticus 7:29-34
• 4. Lev 3:3,14-16; Leviticus 7:29-34
• 5. ver 22,29; S Numbers 14:11; Jeremiah 7:21; Ezekiel 22:26; Malachi 2:7-9

Footnotes

• [a]. Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text "people"