Chapter
Verse

1 Samuel 2:33

ESV The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men.
NIV Every one of you that I do not cut off from serving at my altar I will spare only to destroy your sight and sap your strength, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.
NASB Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar, so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life.
CSB Any man from your family I do not cut off from my altar will bring grief and sadness to you. All your descendants will die violently.
NLT The few not cut off from serving at my altar will survive, but only so their eyes can go blind and their hearts break, and their children will die a violent death.
KJV And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age.
NKJV But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age.

What does 1 Samuel 2:33 mean?

Through an unnamed prophet, the Lord is declaring judgment on Eli, the priest of Israel. The prediction concerns what will become of his descendants. In short, none of the men among those in his line will live to old age. All of them will die young (1 Samuel 2:31–32).

Now the Lord adds that one man in Eli's line will not die young: Eli himself. He will not be cut off from serving at God's altar in the prime of his life. Instead, he will weep his eyes out and his heart will be grieved (1 Samuel 4:12–22). Eli will not live to see it, of course, but the Lord declares to the old priest that all the sons to follow from him will die at a young age. Some commentators and translations disagree as to whether the Hebrew should be translated to imply that Eli's descendants will die "by the sword," or "in the prime of life" (NIV).
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