1 Samuel 2:22 Kommentar

In this chapter we have, I. Hannah's song of thanksgiving to God for his favour to her in giving her Samuel (Sa1 2:1-10). II. Their return to their family, with Eli's blessing (Sa1 2:11, Sa1 2:20). The increase of their family (Sa1 2:21). Samuel's growth and improvement (Sa1 2:11, Sa1 2:18, Sa1 2:21, Sa1 2:26), and the care Hannah took to clothe him (Sa1 2:19). III. The great wickedness of Eli's sons (Sa1 2:12-17, Sa1 2:22). IV. The over-mild reproof that Eli gave them for it (Sa1 2:23-25). V. The justly dreadful message God sent him by a prophet, threatening the ruin of his family for the wickedness of his sons (Sa1 2:27-36).

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 2 In this chapter the song of Hannah is recorded, Sa1 2:1, and an account is given of the return of Elkanah and Hannah to their own home, and of the care she took yearly to provide a coat for Samuel, and of her being blessed with many other children, and of the growth and ministry of Samuel before the Lord, Sa1 2:11, and of the wickedness of the sons of Eli, Sa1 2:12, and of Eli's too gentle treatment of them when he reproved them for it, Sa1 2:22 and of a sharp message sent him from the Lord on that account, threatening destruction to his house, of which the death of his two sons would be a sign, Sa1 2:27.

And he said unto them, why do ye such things?.... As to impose upon the people that bring their offerings, by taking more than is due, and in a very indecent and imperious manner; and especially to defile the women when they came to worship: these were very scandalous sins, and deserved a more severe reprimand, and indeed a greater chastisement than by mere words; Eli should have rebuked them more sharply, and laid open the evil of their doings, and as a judge punished them for them: for I hear of your evil doings by all this people; the inhabitants of Shiloh, or who came thither to worship, who were continually making their complaints to Eli; which still shows his backwardness to reprove them in the manner he did until he was obliged to it by the continual remonstrances of the people against the practices of his sons; he did not attend to the information he had from a few persons, until it became general.

Because their father [Eli] did not chastise them with enough severity … he moved the forbearance of God to wrath so great that foreign peoples rose up against them and killed those sons of his in war in one day. His entire nation, furthermore, was vanquished, and a considerable number of his people fell. Now, this happened even with the ark of the holy covenant of God nearby—an unheard of thing—so that the ark, which it was not lawful at any time for the Israelites or even for all their priests themselves to touch and which was kept in a special place, was carried hither and yon by impious hands and was put in the shrines of idols instead of the holy temples. Under such circumstances one can readily conjecture the amount of laughter and mockery that was inflicted upon the very name of God by these foreigners. Add to this, also, that Eli himself is recorded to have met a most pitiable end after hearing the threat that his seed would be removed from the priestly dignity; and so it happened.Such, then, were the disasters which befell that nation. Such griefs did the father suffer because of the iniquity of his sons, even though no accusation was ever made against Eli’s personal life. Moreover, he did not bear with those sons of his silence, but he earnestly exhorted them not to persist longer in those same wicked deeds, saying, “Do not act this way, my sons; for I hear no good report concerning you.” And to stress the enormity of their sin, he confronted them with an alarming view of their perilous state. “If one man shall sin against another,” he said, “they will pray for him to the Lord; but if a man shall sin against God, who shall pray for him?” Yet, as I said, because he did not exercise a suitable rigor of zeal in their regard, the disaster recounted above took place. And so I find throughout the Old Testament a great many instances of this kind illustrating the condemnation of all disobedience.

15. In the person of Eli, not only the old priesthood but also the teachings of the ancient fathers are prefigured, because from the fact that he presided with spiritual dignity, he undertook this office: that he should instruct with saving preaching those for whom he would offer pleasing sacrifices to the Lord. What then does it mean that Eli is said to be old, except that in the hearts of the reprobate Jews the force of the heavenly commandments is weakened? Indeed Eli was young as long as Sacred Scripture maintained the force of great authority among the elect of the Synagogue, because evidently it had received the promises of the coming Redeemer and awaited him with great desire. Eli therefore grew old when Judea lost the devotion of observing the promise, so that it beheld the Redeemer desired by its fathers proving himself by miracles before it, and, utterly blind in so great a light of his, doubted the presence of truth. He is also said to have been very old, so that it might be taught that all the force of faith in the Synagogue had withered away. And we truly say that if Eli was very old, he lived altogether feebly. For what was it then for the aged Scripture to live, except to minister a very feeble aspiration of faith to the Synagogue? Indeed he could be very old and yet live, since the hearts of the Jews wavered so that they neither believed the Lord Jesus to be the true Redeemer, nor openly condemned him as a blasphemer. For the evangelist John shows the weakness of this old age, saying: "Some said, 'He is good,' but others said, 'No, but he deceives the crowds'" (John 7:12). Hence the Jews themselves, bringing forth the cunning of their craftiness, say: "How long do you hold our souls in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly" (John 10:24). Hence likewise they say: "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you" (Matthew 12:38). 16. But Eli, very old, heard all the things that his sons were doing to all Israel. He certainly heard these things, because he knew them. For what we have come to know, we hold enclosed within the halls of memory. Indeed, the sacred eloquences, when consulted, bring forth from within themselves all the perfidy of the Jews written outwardly, and display it as if long preserved in memory. Amos, as it were ascribing this knowledge of hearing to Eli, says: 'The Lord God will do nothing upon the earth, which He has not revealed to His servants the prophets' (Amos 3:7). Hence Habakkuk confesses to God the Only-begotten, saying: 'O Lord, I have heard your report, and I was afraid; I considered your works, and I was astounded; in the midst of two animals you shall be made known' (Hab. 3:1, from the interpretation of the LXX). For the ancient teachers of the Synagogue to hear of the crimes of the sons is to foreknow them. But he sets forth what he foreknew, because it says: 'All the things that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they were sleeping with the women who kept watch at the door of the tabernacle.' For to sleep with Jewish women is to be defiled by various heresies. And fittingly those same women are reported to keep watch at the door of the tabernacle. For what is the door of the tabernacle, if not the letter of the spiritual law? But when the Jews understand sacred Scripture according to the letter alone, they established heresies at the very place from which they could have entered into the secret of the true faith. For just as one enters through the door into the interior of the tabernacle, so through the letter of sacred Scripture one enters into the spiritual knowledge of the Redeemer. Therefore, because Judea is deceived through observance of the letter, the women are reported to keep watch at the door, not inside the tabernacle. And because the Jews contradict our Redeemer in all the Scriptures, it is said that there was not one woman, but many. These things indeed the sons of Eli do to themselves, because according to the voice of the prophet: 'The soul that sins, it shall die' (Ezek. 18:4, 20); but they are said to do these things to all Israel, because while the leaders perish in the night of their error, they wrap the lesser ones in the blindness of their own darkness. The sons of Eli therefore sleep with the women, because the reprobate Jews are defiled by the mingling of their heresies even until the end of the world. They also sleep, because although they are overwhelmed by the most grievous night of their error, they are nevertheless to be awakened to faith in the Redeemer at the end of the world through Elijah (Matt. 17:11). There follows: (Verse 23.) 'And he said to them: Why do you do things of this kind, the worst things which I hear from all the people?'

But a great fear is struck into us, because Eli is condemned for the fault of his sons, though no sins of his own are reported. For good subjects, living well suffices for salvation, but for prelates their own life does not suffice. For he is truly very old who always strives to live blamelessly. Whence it is also written: "For venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years; but the understanding of a man is grey hairs, and the age of old age is an unspotted life" (Wisdom 4:8). But some excel by living well, who have none of the authority that leadership demands. For even if they are eager to rouse their subjects to do good, they are yet ashamed to oppose offenders through zeal for righteousness. Who indeed, even if they sometimes come forth to reprove them, harm rather than help by speaking, because they do not confound their obstinacy with fitting severity. For Eli himself heard the crimes of his sons, and how they slept with the women at the door of the tabernacle; who, as though beginning with a harsh rebuke of authority, declared that he had heard the worst things from all the people. But he who ought to have pursued the faults he had set forth softened them through his subsequent words, saying: "Do not, my sons." In which address of kinship, indeed, it is clear how far he dissented from the Lord's will, because he called them sons whom the divine word above declared to be sons of Belial, that is, of a wicked spirit, saying: "Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial." For to sleep with women is to sin securely and without fear of future punishment. For the harlot women are worldly desires. Who are rightly said to watch at the door of the tabernacle, because they lie in wait for those striving toward the entrance of the heavenly kingdom. But he who follows the desires of the world in such a way that he is often terrified by the consideration of divine fear is indeed defiled with women, but does not sleep, because even if he falls through transgression, he nevertheless by no means rests in security in the crimes he has committed. Therefore, one who sleeps with women is not to be honored with the name of kinship, because those who, having already cast off the fear of God, are obstinate in their crimes, are not to be rebuked with a lighter reproof, lest they think the weight of the sin into which they fall is light, when what is preached to them from authority does not sound grave to them. But lax pastors, amid their soothing words, are accustomed to bring forth certain arguments of reason. Whence it is also said in the voice of Eli: "If a man sin against a man, God may be appeased for him; but if a man sin against God, who shall pray for him?"

And he heard everything that his sons were doing, etc. The transgression of the sons of Eli was not small nor uniform, which did not fear to tarnish both divine religion and love of neighbor. For it is read above that they presumed from the holy meats, not what was prescribed in the law, but what was pleasing to them; that before the sacred fat was burned for God, they presumed a portion for themselves from the sacrifice that was eaten; that they took raw meat from those offering it, to prepare it more carefully for themselves; that they made the people of the Lord transgress: and, which is exceedingly horrible, they did all this in contempt of the Creator. But now it is added that what would harm the brethren, because they polluted the women of the people who were coming together to pray; and below, it is added, which is the sum of all evils, that they did not repent even when corrected by their Father. We have spoken these things more precisely, so that, reader, you may remember what to beware of in each instance. Truly, what remains to be fulfilled in the typical part is for the priests and teachers, both to watch in the Lord and to awaken others to watch, saying: Awake to righteousness, and do not sin (I Cor. XV). But even bad teachers sleep, and this with the women who keep watch at the door of the tabernacle, when seducing unstable souls, neither do they themselves enter, nor do they allow those who want to enter the door of life. Such was once the crime of the perishing Pharisaic faction; such is also now in the false professors of the Christian religion.

Hannah's prophetic hymn, Sa1 2:1-10. Samuel ministers to the Lord, Sa1 2:11. The abominable conduct of Eli's sons, Sa1 2:12-17. Farther account of Samuel, and of the Divine blessing on Elkanah and Hannah, Sa1 2:18-21. Eli's reprehensible remissness towards his sons in not restraining them in their great profligacy, Sa1 2:22-26. The message of God to Eli, and the prophecy of the downfall of his family, and slaughter of his wicked sons Hophni and Phinehas, Sa1 2:27-36.

They lay with the women that assembled - It is probable that these were persons who had some employment about the tabernacle. See the note on Exo 38:8, where the Hebrew text is similar to that in this place.

HANNAH'S SONG IN THANKFULNESS TO GOD. (Sa1 2:1-11) Hannah prayed, and said--Praise and prayer are inseparably conjoined in Scripture (Col 4:2; Ti1 2:1). This beautiful song was her tribute of thanks for the divine goodness in answering her petition. mine horn is exalted in the Lord--Allusion is here made to a peculiarity in the dress of Eastern women about Lebanon, which seems to have obtained anciently among the Israelite women, that of wearing a tin or silver horn on the forehead, on which their veil is suspended. Wives, who have no children, wear it projecting in an oblique direction, while those who become mothers forthwith raise it a few inches higher, inclining towards the perpendicular, and by this slight but observable change in their headdress, make known, wherever they go, the maternal character which they now bear.

the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle--This was an institution of holy women of a strictly ascetic order, who had relinquished worldly cares and devoted themselves to the Lord; an institution which continued down to the time of Christ (Luk 2:37). Eli was, on the whole, a good man, but lacking in the moral and religious training of his family. He erred on the side of parental indulgence; and though he reprimanded them (see on Deu 21:18), yet, from fear or indolence, he shrank from laying on them the restraints, or subjecting them to the discipline, their gross delinquencies called for. In his judicial capacity, he winked at their flagrant acts of maladministration and suffered them to make reckless encroachments on the constitution, by which the most serious injuries were inflicted both on the rights of the people and the laws of God.

Eli's treatment of the sins of his sons. - Sa1 2:22. The aged Eli reproved his sons with solemn warnings on account of their sins; but without his warnings being listened to. From the reproof itself we learn, that beside the sin noticed in Sa1 2:12-17, they also committed the crime of lying with the women who served at the tabernacle (see at Exo 38:8), and thus profaned the sanctuary with whoredom. But Eli, with the infirmities of his old age, did nothing further to prevent these abominations than to say to his sons, "Why do ye according to the sayings which I hear, sayings about you which are evil, of this whole people." רעים את־דּבריכם is inserted to make the meaning clearer, and כּל־ה מאת is dependent upon שׁמע. "This whole people" signifies all the people that came to Shiloh, and heard and saw the wicked doings there.