Chapter
Verse

1 Samuel chapter 2

English Standard Version

27And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? 28Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. 29Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ 30Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father 's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33The 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. 34And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day. 35And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever. 36And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, "Please put me in one of the priests ' places, that I may eat a morsel of bread."’"
New International Version

New American Standard Bible

27Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, 'This is what the Lord says: ‘Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? 28Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel? 29Why are you showing contempt for My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded for My dwelling, and why are you honoring your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’ 30Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father was to walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be insignificant. 31Behold, the days are coming when I will eliminate your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32And you will look at the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that I do for Israel; and there will never be an old man in your house. 33Yet 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. 34And this will be the sign to you which will come in regard to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them will die. 35But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always. 36And everyone who is left in your house will come to bow down to him for a silver coin or a loaf of bread and say, 'Please assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.'?’?'
Christian Standard Bible

New Living Translation

King James Version

New King James Version

27Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? 28Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ 30Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 31Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33But 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. 34Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them. 35Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever. 36And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, “Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”

What does 1 Samuel chapter 2 mean?

First Samuel 2 begins with Hannah's prayer to the Lord (1 Samuel 2:1–10) at the sanctuary in Shiloh. This poetic declaration of praise is Hannah's response to the Lord's gift. She obtained a son, then brought the boy to Eli the priest, to "lend" young Samuel to the Lord for as long as he lives (1 Samuel 1:24–28).

Hannah's prayer begins briefly with her own response to God: her emotions, her dependence on God, and her joy at knowing Him as her Savior. She appreciates that she, the one who was mocked (1 Samuel 1:6), now has a response for her enemies (1 Samuel 2:1).

After this, Hannah focuses completely on the Lord. She extols Him as unique, the ultimate refuge for all people. All must humble themselves because He knows and judges every action. He reverses human fortunes, becoming strength for the weak, providing abundance for the hungry, and giving children to the barren (1 Samuel 2:3–5).

The Lord has the power of life and death. He has control over wealth and status. He raises up the poor and puts them in places of honor. The entire world rests on His foundation. The Lord guards those faithful to Him, but human might and power are no protection from Him for those who are wicked. He judges all people everywhere. He gives strength—typified by the symbol of a horn—to His anointed one (1 Samuel 2:6–10).

The rest of the chapter reports on the wickedness of Eli's sons, and the Lord's judgment on their family for abusing their power as priests over Israel. Eli's boys, Hophni and Phinehas, are sinfully corrupt men who don't know the Lord (1 Samuel 2:12). Contrary to the law of Moses, Eli's sons demand the choicest cuts of meat for themselves from those bringing animals to sacrifice at the sanctuary. If the people will not give it, they threaten to take the meat they want by force. They do all of this before the animal is offered to the Lord. This abuse of their power, especially, is said to be a very great sin in the Lord's eyes because it treats the offering meant for the Lord with such contempt (1 Samuel 2:13–17).

Meanwhile, young Samuel is carrying out his duties in ministering before the Lord as a growing boy. Every year, Hannah makes a new priestly robe for him and brings it when they come for the annual family sacrifice. Each year, Eli blesses Hannah and Elkanah with a prayer that the Lord will give them more children. Hannah eventually gives birth to three more sons and two daughters while Samuel continues to grow up with God's presence in the sanctuary (1 Samuel 2:11, 18–21).

The chapter returns to Eli's sons, perhaps many years later. Eli is very old but continues to receive reports of Hophni's and Phinehas's wickedness. In addition to taking the best parts of the offerings to the Lord for themselves, they have also been having sex with the women who came to serve at the Lord's sanctuary (1 Samuel 2:22).

Eli questions why they are doing these evil things. Whether this is a single moment of rebuke, or a summary of many such criticisms, Scripture does not say. The Lord's people are spreading the news of Eli's corrupt sons everywhere. He tells them they are sinning willfully and directly against the Lord, pointing out that no one can intercede for someone who does that. The pair refuses to listen or change their ways because the Lord has already marked them for death for their sins (1 Samuel 2:23–25).

In contrast, Samuel continues to grow up physically and to grow in favor with God and with other people (1 Samuel 2:26).

Finally, the Lord sends an unnamed prophet to speak to Eli. Through that prophet, the Lord reminds Eli that He communicated with Eli's ancestors, starting with Aaron and his sons when Israel was still Egypt. God chose Aaron to be His priest for the nation, to go up to the altar and to burn incense and to wear the official ephod vest? The Lord also gave explicit instructions about specific portions of the offerings, and expected Aaron and the other priests to obey those? These are framed in the form of a question to highlight their obvious nature (1 Samuel 2:27–28).

Since the Lord did all these things for Aaron and his descendants down through to Eli, God is justified in saying there is no excuse for Eli to act as he has done. Eli's indifference, and his sons' overt sin, have insulted the worship God commanded His people to perform at the sanctuary. Eli has, in effect, given more respect to his sons than to God! As well, he has benefitted from their sin, getting some of the choicest cuts of meat they wrongly took from the people (1 Samuel 2:29).

Because Eli and his sons have done this, the Lord will drain the strength from Eli and his descendants. Even while the rest of Israel prospers, Eli's successors will die young. His family line will forever be cursed with premature death—yet Eli will live to old age simply so he can mourn the imminent deaths of his family (1 Samuel 2:30–33).

The sign from the Lord proving these long-term predictions will happen is that Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will die on the same day. Then, God will appoint a faithful priest who will do what the Lord wants. Instead of Eli's descendants, that priest and his family after him will serve under His anointed one. Eli's descendants will be left to beg for food and money and some priestly work that might allow them to share in the offerings to the Lord once more (1 Samuel 2:34–36).

First Samuel chapter 3 records God calling to Samuel, giving a similar message about His judgment against Eli and Eli's sons. As Samuel continues to grow, the Lord is so clearly with him that all Israel recognizes him as a prophet of the Lord. In 1 Samuel 4, the fulfillment of God's words of judgment is seen when Hophni and Phinehas die in a battle against the Philistines, who also capture the ark of the covenant. Eli hears the report and dies. His pregnant daughter-in-law goes into labor, gives birth to a son whose name means "the glory has departed," and dies. The stage is set for God to show His power over false gods and for Samuel to become the last judge of Israel, and the first prophet of her era of kings (1 Samuel 5—7).
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