What does 1 Samuel 2:23 mean?
Eli, now very old, rebukes his sons for their sinful behaviors as priests of the Lord—sins against God and the people of Israel. Scripture often condenses conversations into simple statements, so it's not clear if this was a one-time rebuke or an ongoing conversation. One wonders how long Eli knew about their crimes, or how passive he was to let such things happen. Whatever the discussion between the father and his sons, it was entirely ineffective (1 Samuel 2:25).The aging priest asks his sons why they do such things. He tells them about reports from many people about their actions. Eli specifically calls what they have been doing evil. Their immorality included abusing their power to take extra meat from the sacrifices for themselves (1 Samuel 2:12–17). It also meant taking advantage of the women who served outside the tent of meeting (1 Samuel 2:22).
Many parents can empathize with Eli's first question: Why did you do that? God will hold Eli responsible for the sins of his household (1 Samuel 2:27–36), since he clearly failed to address them in a timely way. Yet, as many parents are when they see their children fall into sin, the old priest seems baffled his sons would so brazenly sin against God in their role as priests over Israel.
First Samuel 2:22–26 describes Eli's rebuke of his sons Hophni and Phinehas for their abuse of their power as priests over Israel. In addition to taking the best cuts of meat for themselves, the pair have been sleeping with the female servants at the sanctuary. The news of their corruption is spreading everywhere. Eli asks who will intercede for them when they sin directly against the Lord. Still, they refuse to repent because the Lord has already marked them for death. Samuel, meanwhile, continues to grow in favor with the Lord and with other people.
After delivering Samuel to the Lord, Hannah offers a poetic prayer of praise. The sons of Eli the priest are evil, depraved men who abuse their power as priests. They coerce worshippers to give them additional meat. They sleep with women who serve at the sanctuary. In contrast, Samuel grows in favor with God and others as he grows up physically. Hannah and Elkanah continue to go to Shiloh yearly; they also have more children. Eli rebukes his sons, but they don't repent. The Lord tells Eli that all his descendants will die young and his two rebellious sons will die on the same day. The Lord will raise up a faithful priest to do His will.
