Hannah aprayed and said,“My heart rejoices and triumphs in the LORD;bMy horn is lifted up in the LORD,My mouth has opened wide to speak boldly against my enemies,Because cI rejoice in Your salvation.1 Sam 2:1-10; Luke 1:46-55Deut 33:17; Job 16:15; Ps 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; 112:9Ps 9:14; 13:5; 35:9; Is 12:2, 3
11 Elkanah and his wife Hannah returned to aRamah to his house. bBut the child Samuel served the LORD 1under the guidance of Eli the priest.Lit in the presence of.1 Sam 1:1, 191 Sam 1:28; 2:18; 3:1
12 The sons of Eli Hophni and Phinehas were 1aworthless men; they did not know nor respect the LORDLit sons of Belial.Jer 2:8; 9:3, 6; 2 Cor 6:15 13 aand the custom of the priests with the sacrifices of the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged meat fork in his hand;Lev 7:29-34 14 then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; everything that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did in Shiloh to all the sacrifices of the 1Israelites who came there.In general, sons of Israel or Israel or Israelites refers to all the people (males and females) of the various tribes descended from the twelve sons (Gen 35:23-26) of Jacob (later renamed Israel by God). In verses concerning things such as warfare or circumcision sons of Israel or Israel or Israelites usually refers only to the males. Tribes of ancient people were identified by the name of their founding ancestor. Therefore, this same general rule applies when referring to individual tribal groups, e.g. sons of Reuben, Reuben, Reubenites and so throughout. 15 Also, before athey burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat to roast, since he will not accept boiled meat from you, only raw.”Lev 3:3-5, 16 16 If the man said to him, “1Certainly they are to burn the fat first, and then you may take as much as 2you want,” then the priest’s servant would say, “No! You shall give it to me now or I will take it by force.”The Law of Moses required all the fat to be burned on the altar as an offering to God (Lev 3:16), so the worshiper would be reluctant to agree to the priest’s demand.Lit your soul wants. 17 So the sin of the two young men Hophni and Phinehas was very great before the LORD, for the men atreated the offering of the LORD disrespectfully.Mal 2:7-9
18 Now aSamuel was ministering before the LORD, as a child bdressed in a linen ephod a sacred item of priestly clothing.1 Sam 2:11; 3:11 Sam 2:28; 22:18; 2 Sam 6:14; 1 Chr 15:27 19 Moreover, his mother would make him a little arobe and would bring it up to him each year when she came up with her husband to offer bthe yearly sacrifice.Ex 28:311 Sam 1:3, 21 20 Then Eli would abless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she asked for which was bdedicated to the LORD.” Then they would return to their own home.Luke 2:341 Sam 1:11, 27, 28
21 And the time came when athe LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And bthe boy Samuel grew before the LORD.Gen 21:1Judg 13:24; 1 Sam 2:26; 3:19-21; Luke 1:80; 2:40
22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard about aeverything that his sons were doing to all the people of Israel, and how they were lying with bthe women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting .1 Sam 2:13-17Ex 38:8 23 Eli said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? 24 No, my sons; for the report athat I keep hearing from the passers-by among the LORD’S people is not good.1 Kin 15:26 25 If one man does wrong and sins against another, aGod will intercede for him; but bif a man does wrong to the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, 1for it was the cLORD’S will to put them to death.Sometimes, when a person has deliberately and repeatedly violated God’s law, God may allow him to be even more determined to continue his sinful ways.Deut 1:17Num 15:30; 1 Sam 3:14; Heb 10:26, 27Josh 11:20
26 But the boy aSamuel continued to grow in stature and in favor both with the LORD and with men.1 Sam 2:21; Luke 2:52
27 aThen a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘bDid I not plainly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house?Deut 33:1; Judg 13:6Ex 4:14-16; 12:1, 43 28 Moreover, 1aI selected 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. And from then on I bgave to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel.From the tribe of Levi God designated Aaron and his descendants to serve as priests.Ex 28:1-4; 30:7, 8; Lev 8:7, 8Lev 7:35, 36 29 Why then do you akick at My sacrifice and My offering bwhich I commanded in My cdwelling place, and dhonor your sons more than Me, by fattening yourselves with the choicest part of every offering of My people Israel?’1 Sam 2:13-17Deut 12:5-9Ps 26:8Matt 10:37 30 Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, ‘aI did indeed say that your house and that of Aaron your father would walk in priestly service before Me forever.’ But now the LORD declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for bthose who honor Me I will honor, and those cwho despise Me will be insignificant and contemptible.Ex 29:9; Num 25:13Ps 50:23Mal 2:9 31 Behold, athe time is 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.1 Sam 4:11-18; 22:17-20 32 You will look at athe distress of My 1house , in spite of all the good which God will do for Israel, and there will never again be an bold man in your house.Lit dwelling.1 Kin 2:26, 27Zech 8:4 33 Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar; your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul will grieve, and all those born in your house will die as men in the prime of life. 1+@Sam 22:17-20 34 This will be athe sign to you which shall come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: bon the same day both of them shall die. 1+@Sam 4:17, 181 Sam 10:7-9; 1 Kin 13:31 Sam 4:11, 17 35 But aI will raise up for Myself a 1faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and bI will build him a permanent and enduring house, and he will walk before cMy anointed 2forever. 1+@Sam 2:10This person is not identified by name, but most scholars consider this prophecy fulfilled by Zadok, a priest during the reign of King David, who became high priest under Solomon. His descendants continued in service to God for many generations.Lit all the days.1 Sam 3:1; 7:9; 9:12, 131 Sam 8:3-5; 25:28; 2 Sam 7:11, 27; 1 Kin 11:381 Sam 10:9, 10; 12:3; 16:13 36 And it will happen that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread and say, “Please assign me to one of the priest’s offices so I may eat a piece of bread.”’”