1 Samuel 2 Eli's Sons

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
1 Samuel 2:12 Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. 13 Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled 14 and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. 15 But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”

16 If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”

17 This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they (b) were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.​


b. 1 Samuel 2:17 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text people

If you've been reading along, you will not be surprised to learn that I don't like Eli much. IMHO the way he dismissed Hannah as a drunk or insane.... was a big clue for me. Now look at what his kids are doing. They don't have any respect for anyone or anything but themselves.

Don't you think what Eli's sons were doing would be like just dipping your hand in the offering plate when it passed, and taking a few dollars for yourself!

Here's the quote from the easy English site.
The priests served God. This was their job. They did not have any land that they could farm. The ordinary people had to give God one tenth of everything that they had. The Bible calls this a ‘tithe’. God gave most of this food to the priests and Levites (Numbers 18:21-28). They could also eat certain parts of the sacrifices (Leviticus 7:28-36). The sons of Eli were priests. But they were wicked men. They did not do what God commanded. They did not understand God or care about him. They were selfish and took what they wanted to eat. They even used force. They did not respect the *sacrifices. They did not respect the people or give honour to God. Eli’s sons did not know God. But God knew them and he was not happy with them.

This is from blueletterbible.org.

With many of the sacrifices brought to the tabernacle, a portion was given to God, a portion was given to the priest, and a portion was kept by the one bringing the offering. According to other passages in the Old Testament, the priest was supposed to receive a portion of the breast and the shoulder. But now, some four hundred years after the law of Moses was given, the priestly custom had changed - they would not take the prescribed portion of the breast and shoulder, but take whatever the fork brought up out of the pot.

The portion that was to be given to God was always to be given first, so it was wrong to take the priest's portion before they burned the fat.

Why did the sons of Eli want raw meat? Perhaps it was so they could prepare it anyway they pleased; or more likely, it was because raw meat was easier to sell, and they would sell meat and pocket the money.​

Nope... don't like Eli much and don't like his boys at all!

:coffee:
 
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