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Eli By John Chopores 1 Samuel 12-18.
Eli marked her mouth --The suspicion of the aged priest seems to indicate that
the vice of intemperance was neither uncommon nor confined to one sex in those
times of disorder. [JFB]. that Eli marked her mouth; observed the motion of her lips,
and no doubt her distorted countenance, and uplifted eyes and hands, but
chiefly the former; not knowing what the woman was at, and what could be the
meaning of such motions. [JOHN GILL]. 1 Samuel but her voice was not heard: that she might not seem to be
ostentatious in her prayer, and that she might not interrupt others in their
devotions; and she knew that her voice was not necessary with respect to God: therefore Eli thought
she had been drunken; by the motions she made, and gestures she used, as if she
was muttering something to herself, and by her long continuance therein, and it
being after a feast she had been at with her husband, and the rest of the
family; from all which Eli concluded this must be her case. [JOHN
GILL]. 1 Samuel Ver. 15. And Hannah answered and
said, no, my lord, &c.] That is not my case, you have greatly mistaken it;
she answered with great mildness and meekness, without falling into a passion
at such a scandalous imputation upon her, and with great respect and reverence
to Eli, suitable to his office; [john gill]. Ver. 17. Then Eli answered and said,
go in peace, &c.] He found he was mistaken in her, and that her discourse
was not only sober and rational, but religious and spiritual; and therefore
dismisses her in peace, and bids her not distress herself with what he had said
to her, nor with anything she had met with from others, or from the Lord; but
expect peace and prosperity, and particularly success in what she had been
engaged, and had been solicitous for: [JOHN GILL]. 17
And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in
thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. 1 Samuel Eli
shunned trouble and exertion. This led him to indulge his children, without
using parental authority to restrain and correct them when young. He winked at
the abuses in the service of the sanctuary till they became customs, and led to
abominations; and his sons, who should have taught those that engaged in the
service of the sanctuary what was good, solicited them to wickedness. Their
offence was committed even in offering the sacrifices for sins, which typified
the atonement of the Saviour! Sins against the
remedy, the atonement itself, are most dangerous, they
tread under foot the blood of the covenant. Eli's reproof was far too mild and
gentle. In general, none are more abandoned than the degenerate children of
godly persons, when they break through restraints. [MATTHEW HENRY]. and
the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest; he not only read in
the book of the law, but learned to sing the praises of God vocally, and to
play upon an instrument of music used in the service of God in those times, and
to light the lamps in the tabernacle, and open and shut the doors of it, and
the like; which were suitable to his age, and which might not be quite so
tender as some have thought; or this may respect some small beginnings in the
ministry of the sanctuary, in which he gradually increased under the
inspection, guidance, and instruction of Eli, which is meant by ministering
before him; the Targum is, ``in the life of Eli the priest;'' he began his
ministration before his death. [JOHN GILL]. 1 Samuel 12.
Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial --not only careless and irreligious,
but men loose in their actions, and vicious and scandalous in their habits.
Though professionally engaged in sacred duties, they were not only strangers to
the power of religion in the heart, but they had thrown off its restraints, and
even ran, as is sometimes done in similar cases by the sons of eminent
ministers, to the opposite extreme of reckless and open profligacy. [JFB]. Ver. 12. Now the sons of Eli were
sons of Belial, &c.] Not that Eli their father was Belial, a wicked man;
but though they had so good a father, they were very wicked men, unprofitable
abandoned wretches, that cast off the yoke of the law of God, and gave
themselves up to all manner of wickedness: they knew not the Lord; not that they had no
knowledge of God in theory, or were real atheists, but they were so
practically; they denied him in works, they had no love to him, nor fear of
him, and departed from his ways and worship, as much as if they were entirely
ignorant of him; so the Targum, ``they did not know to fear before the Lord,'' or serve him; or, as Kimchi, ``they did not know the way of the Lord,'' that is,
practically. [JOHN GILL]. 1 Samuel 22-24.
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(#Lu 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 JFB on
"De 1 Sam. Verse 23. Why do ye such things!Ρ Eli appears to have
been a fondly affectionate, easy father, who wished his sons to do well, but
did not bring them under proper discipline, and did not use his authority to
restrain them. As judge, he had power to cast them immediately out of the
vineyard, as wicked and unprofitable servants; this he did not, and his and
their ruin was the consequence. [adam
cl]. Ver. 23. And he said unto them, why
do ye such things? &c.] 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. [JOHN GILL]. 1 Sam. Ver. 24. Nay, my sons,
&c.] This seems to be too soft and smooth an appellation, too kind
and endearing, considering the offence they were guilty of, and were now
reproving for; rather they deserved to be called sons of Belial, the children
of the devil, than sons of Eli, or brutes and shameless wretches, and such like
hard names: for it is no good report that I hear; a very
bad one; far from being good, scarce anything worse could have been said of
them; to rob persons of the flesh of their offerings, when there was a
sufficient allowance made for them by law, and to be so impious as to require
what was not their due, and even before the Lord had his; and to debauch the
women that came to religious worship, and that in the sacred place of worship,
they also being priests of the Lord, and married men; sins very shocking and
sadly aggravated, and yet Eli treats them in this gentle manner: ye make the Lord's people to transgress: by
causing them to forbear to bring their sacrifices, being used in such an
injurious and overbearing way; and by decoying the women into uncleanness, and
by setting examples to others: or, "to cry out"; as in the margin of
our Bibles, to exclaim against them for their exorbitant and lewd practices; so
the Targum, ``the people of the Lord murmur because so ill
used by them:'' this clause may be read in connection with the
former, "it is no good report that I hear, which ye cause to pass through
the Lord's people"; ye occasion the people to speak ill of you everywhere,
in the camp of Israel, throughout the whole nation; the report as it is bad, it
is general, is in everyone's mouth; [JOHN GILL]. 1 Sam.2: 25 If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them. 25.
they hearkened not unto the voice of their father,
because --it should be therefore. the Lord would slay
them --It was not God's preordination, but their own wilful
and impenitent disobedience which was the cause of their destruction. [JFB]. notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto the voice of their
father; to his reproofs and counsels, his reasonings
and expostulations; though his rebukes were so gentle, and this last reasoning
of his so close and strong, so nervous and striking: [JOHN GILL]. 2:27 Ά And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? #27-36
Those who allow their children in any evil way, and do
not use their authority to restrain and punish them, in effect honour them more than God. Let Eli's example excite parents
earnestly to strive against the beginnings of wickedness, and to train up their
children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. [MATTHEW H]. 32
And thou shalt see an enemy in my
habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give 27.
there came a man of God unto Eli, and said...that there shall not be an old man
in thine house --So much importance has always, in
the East, been attached to old age, that it would be felt to be a great
calamity, and sensibly to lower the respectability of any family which could
boast of few or no old men. The prediction of this prophet was fully confirmed
by the afflictions, degradation, poverty, and many untimely deaths with which
the house of Eli was visited after its announcement (see#1Sa 1 Samuel that
the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for
ever: not even typically, which was all that legal sacrifice could do; and not
so that the priesthood should ever return to the family again, as the office of
high priesthood never did; or, as Abarbinel
interprets it, because of sacrifice and offering, that the iniquity Eli's sons
were guilty of in taking the flesh of the sacrifices and offerings, which did not
belong to them, and before the Lord had his part, should never be expiated. (There are some sins that are not covered in
the atonement of Jesus Christ. This is one of them and the sin against the Holy
Ghost is another. #Mt 12:31. Editor.) [john gill].
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