Eli (1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 1:9–18; 1 Samuel 1:25; 1 Samuel 2:11–12; 1 Samuel 2:20; 1 Samuel 2:22–25; 1 Samuel 2:27–36; 1 Samuel 3:8–9; 1 Samuel 3:13; 1 Samuel 3:17–18; 1 Samuel 4:11–22; 1 Samuel 14:3; 1 Kings 2:27)

The priest at Shiloh who marked Hannah's mouth as she prayed and blessed her, received the child Samuel, told him how to answer when the LORD called, heard that his house would be judged because he honored his sons above the LORD, and died when he heard that the ark was taken.

The Scripture first shows him at Shiloh: “Now Eli the priest was sitting upon his seat by the door-post of the temple of Jehovah” (1 Samuel 1:9). His two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests there also (1 Samuel 1:3). He took Hannah, praying silently, to be drunken, and then answered her, “Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of him” (1 Samuel 1:17). When she had weaned the child she had asked for, they “brought the child to Eli” (1 Samuel 1:25), and “the child did minister unto Jehovah before Eli the priest” (1 Samuel 2:11). Afterward Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, saying, “Jehovah give thee seed of this woman” (1 Samuel 2:20).

“Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew not Jehovah” (1 Samuel 2:12). Eli, very old, heard what they did and asked them, “Why do ye such things?” (1 Samuel 2:23), but “they hearkened not unto the voice of their father” (1 Samuel 2:25). A man of God came and told him that the LORD would cut off the arm of his father's house, and the LORD later said to Samuel that the cause was “the iniquity which he knew, because his sons did bring a curse upon themselves, and he restrained them not” (1 Samuel 3:13). Yet when the LORD called the boy Samuel in the night, “Eli perceived that Jehovah had called the child” (1 Samuel 3:8) and told him how to answer; and when Samuel told him all, he said, “It is Jehovah: let him do what seemeth him good” (1 Samuel 3:18).

When the ark had been taken from Shiloh to the battle with the Philistines, he sat by the wayside watching, “for his heart trembled for the ark of God” (1 Samuel 4:13). At the mention of the ark, he fell backward and died; “he had judged Israel forty years” (1 Samuel 4:18). His daughter-in-law named her son Ichabod, “because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband” (1 Samuel 4:21). Later the record names Ahijah, a priest of the LORD in Shiloh, as “the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli” (1 Samuel 14:3), and Solomon thrust out Abiathar from the priesthood “that he might fulfil the word of Jehovah, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh” (1 Kings 2:27).

Strengths

• Blessing Hannah and Elkanah
• Perceiving that the LORD had called the child
• Teaching Samuel to answer the LORD
• Asking to hear the whole word
• Accepting what seemeth the LORD good
• Heart trembling for the ark of God

Weaknesses

• Honoring his sons above the LORD
• Restraining not his sons

Themes

• The priesthood at Shiloh
• A father and his sons
• The word of the LORD
• Judgment on a house
• The ark of God

Hannah at the door-post (1 Samuel 1:9–18)

Eli marks Hannah's mouth as she prays in her heart, takes her to be drunken and speaks to her, then answers her with a blessing when she tells him she has poured out her soul.

Hannah at the door-post

“Now Eli the priest was sitting upon his seat by the door-post of the temple of Jehovah” (1 Samuel 1:9). Hannah, in bitterness of soul, prayed and vowed a vow; “as she continued praying before Jehovah, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken” (1 Samuel 1:12-13).

“And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee” (1 Samuel 1:14). Hannah answered, “I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Jehovah” (1 Samuel 1:15).

“Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of him” (1 Samuel 1:17). The woman went her way, and did eat, and “her countenance was no more sad” (1 Samuel 1:18).

Samuel brought to Eli (1 Samuel 1:24–28; 1 Samuel 2:11)

After Hannah has weaned the child she brings him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh, tells Eli she is the woman who stood praying there, and gives the child to the LORD.

Eli blesses Elkanah and his wife (1 Samuel 2:18–21)

When Hannah comes up yearly with her husband, Eli blesses Elkanah and his wife, asking that the LORD give seed of this woman; the LORD visits Hannah and she bears three sons and two daughters.

The sons of Eli (1 Samuel 2:12–17; 1 Samuel 2:22–25)

The sons of Eli are called base men who knew not the LORD; Eli, very old, hears all that they do and asks them why they do such things, but they hearken not to the voice of their father.

The man of God comes to Eli (1 Samuel 2:27–36)

A man of God tells Eli that the LORD chose his father's house for the priesthood, charges him with honoring his sons above the LORD, and says Hophni and Phinehas will die in one day.

The man of God comes to Eli

“And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Did I reveal myself unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house?” (1 Samuel 2:27). The LORD asks, “Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honorest thy sons above me” (1 Samuel 2:29).

“Therefore Jehovah, the God of Israel, saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now Jehovah saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Samuel 2:30).

“And this shall be the sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them. And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind” (1 Samuel 2:34-35). The text does not record any reply from Eli.

Eli teaches Samuel to answer (1 Samuel 3:1–10)

Three times the child Samuel runs to Eli, thinking he has been called; the third time Eli perceives that the LORD has called him and tells him what to say.

Eli answers Samuel's report (1 Samuel 3:11–18)

The LORD tells Samuel that He will judge the house of Eli for ever; Eli makes Samuel tell him everything and answers that the LORD may do what seems him good.

Eli answers Samuel's report

The LORD said to Samuel, “I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even unto the end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons did bring a curse upon themselves, and he restrained them not” (1 Samuel 3:12-13).

“And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son” (1 Samuel 3:15-16). He said, “I pray thee, hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he spake unto thee” (1 Samuel 3:17).

“And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is Jehovah: let him do what seemeth him good” (1 Samuel 3:18).

The ark is taken and Eli dies (1 Samuel 4:1–18)

Israel is smitten, the ark is taken and Hophni and Phinehas are slain; a man of Benjamin runs to Shiloh, and Eli, ninety and eight years old, falls from his seat at the mention of the ark and dies.

The ark is taken and Eli dies

The elders of Israel fetched the ark out of Shiloh, and “the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God” (1 Samuel 4:4). Then “the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain” (1 Samuel 4:11).

A man of Benjamin ran to Shiloh the same day. “Eli was sitting upon his seat by the wayside watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God” (1 Samuel 4:13). “Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see” (1 Samuel 4:15).

“And he said, How went the matter, my son?” (1 Samuel 4:16). The messenger told of the flight, the slaughter, the death of his two sons, and the ark taken. “And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years” (1 Samuel 4:18).

The house of Eli afterward (1 Samuel 4:19–22; 1 Samuel 14:3; 1 Kings 2:26–27)

Phinehas' wife names her son Ichabod for the ark taken and the death of her father-in-law and husband; Ahijah, the priest in Shiloh, is called the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli; and Solomon thrusts out Abiathar that the word of the LORD concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh might be fulfilled.

Hannah (1 Samuel 1:12–17; 1 Samuel 1:25–28; 1 Samuel 2:20)

Eli marked her mouth as she prayed at Shiloh, took her to be drunken, then bade her go in peace; she brought the child to him.

Elkanah (1 Samuel 2:11; 1 Samuel 2:19–20)

Hannah's husband, whom Eli blessed with his wife when they came up to offer the yearly sacrifice.

Samuel (1 Samuel 2:11; 1 Samuel 3:8–9; 1 Samuel 3:15–18)

The child ministered to the LORD before Eli; Eli told him how to answer when called and heard from him all that the LORD had said.

Hophni and Phinehas (1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 2:12; 1 Samuel 4:11)

His sons, priests at Shiloh, called base men who knew not the LORD; both were slain on one day.

Phinehas' wife (1 Samuel 4:19–22)

His daughter-in-law, who named her son Ichabod when she heard that the ark was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead.

The man of God (1 Samuel 2:27–36)

Came to Eli with the word of the LORD against his house.

The LORD (1 Samuel 2:29–30; 1 Samuel 3:11–14)

Told Eli by a man of God, and told Samuel, that He would judge the house of Eli.

Major sections

• 1 Samuel 1–4
• 1 Samuel 14:3
• 1 Kings 2:26–27

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