The high priest and judge of Israel who raised the young Samuel at the tabernacle in Shiloh. Though personally devout, Eli failed to restrain his corrupt sons Hophni and Phinehas, who abused their priestly privileges. God’s judgment came through a prophecy delivered by young Samuel: Eli’s house would be cut off from the priesthood. When news came that the Ark of the Covenant had been captured and his sons killed, the 98-year-old Eli fell backward, broke his neck, and died.
I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them.1 Samuel 3:13 · Berean Standard Bible
So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. And she made a vow, saying, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the…
Her grief was so deep the priest mistook her for being drunk. But Hannah's whispered plea becomes one of the most powerful petitions in Scripture.
Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD or for the custom of the priests with the people. and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. Even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat…
A barren woman now sings of a God who reverses everything — the hungry are fed, the mighty fall, the weak are raised. Her song echoes into Mary's.
That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see. “I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from…
Israel carries the ark into battle like a lucky charm. They lose it — and Eli's sons die. The glory departs from Israel.
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