a signal (literally or figuratively) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
come
יָבֹא֙ya.Vo'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
two
שְׁנֵ֣יshe.Nei
H8147
two · noun, common both genders dual construct
sons
בָנֶ֔יךָva.Nei.kha
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Hophni
חָפְנִ֖יcha.fe.Ni
H2652
Chophni · proper noun, a man's name
Phinehas
וּפִֽינְחָ֑סu.fin.Chas
H6372
Pinechas · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
one
אֶחָ֖ד'e.Chad
H259
properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
day
בְּי֥וֹםbe.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
die
יָמ֥וּתוּya.Mu.tu
H4191
to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
both
שְׁנֵיהֶֽםshe.nei.Hem
H8147
two · noun, common both genders dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Samuel 4:11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
1 Kings 13:3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that ar…
1 Samuel 4:17 And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and…
1 Samuel 3:12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.
1 Kings 14:12 Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 2:27–end
Eli reproved his sons too gently, and did not threaten them as he should, and therefore God sent a prophet to him to reprove him sharply, and to threaten him, because, by his indulgence of them, he had strengthened their hands in their wickedness. If good men be wanting in their duty, and by their carelessness and remissness contribute any thing to the sin of sinners, they must expect both to hear of it and to smart for it. Eli's family was now nearer to God than all the families of the earth, and therefore he will punish them, Amo 3:2. The message is sent to Eli himself, because God would bring him to repentance and save him; not to his sons, whom he had determined to destroy. And it might…
thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation--A successful rival for the office of high priest shall rise out of another family (Sa2 15:35; Ch1 24:3; Ch1 29:22). But the marginal reading, "thou shalt see the affliction of the tabernacle," seems to be a preferable translation.
Next: 1 Samuel Chapter 3
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 2:34
They shall die both of them - Hophni and Phinehas were both killed very shortly after in the great battle with the Philistines in which the Israelites were completely routed, and the ark taken. See Sa1 4:1-11.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 2:34
This shall be a sign unto thee,.... A confirming one, that all which had been now said would be fulfilled:
that shall come upon thy two sons, Hophni and Phinehas; which Eli would live to see fulfilled on them; and when it was, he might be assured the rest would be most certainly accomplished, and it was this:
in one day they shall die both of them; as they did in battle with the Philistines, 1 Samuel 4:11.
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 2:27–end
Announcement of the judgment upon Eli and his house. - Sa1 2:27. Before the Lord interposed in judgment, He sent a prophet (a "man of God," as in Jdg 13:6) to the aged Eli, to announce as a warning for all ages the judgment which was about to fall upon the worthless priests of his house. In order to arouse Eli's own conscience, he had pointed out to him, on the one hand, the grace manifested in the choice of his father's house, i.e., the house of Aaron, to keep His sanctuary (Sa1 2:27 and Sa1 2:28), and, on the other hand, the desecration of the sanctuary by the wickedness of his sons (Sa1 2:29). Then follows the sentence: The choice of the family of Aaron still stood fast, but the deepest d…
The Church Fathers
37. We have shown above that in the two sons of Eli the twofold order of the old priesthood is designated. They certainly died on one day, because they came together simultaneously in the death of the Redeemer. Moreover, the death of the priests is fittingly recorded as placed as a sign of the house that was to die, because when the shepherds perish, it is necessary that the flock follow to the same destruction. And because they were deceived by a false reasoning, they are said to die in the day. Of the falseness of which light blessed Job speaks, saying: 'So in darkness, as in light they walk' (Job 24:17). But He who cast out the old prepared a new priesthood. Whence it is also added: (Verse 35.) 'And I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest.'
This will be the sign for you, etc. These words pertain to Eli and Samuel, because the death of Eli's sons and Samuel's election as priest not from the lineage of Aaron signifies the death not of men, but of the old priesthood, and the substitution of the new, in which Christ is the priest in the church forever according to the order of Melchizedek. But when the Lord says, "Who acts according to my heart and my soul;" do not think that God has a soul, since he is the creator of the soul; but this is said of God figuratively, not literally, as are hands and feet and other parts of the body. And lest it be believed that man is made in the image of God in the likeness of his flesh, other things are added which man does not have, and he might say to God: "Protect me under the shadow of your wings" (Psalm 16); so that men understand these things about that ineffable nature not to be said with proper but with metaphorical terms.
For the age of manhood is the time of administering the priesthood. Therefore the imitator of the reprobate teacher is brought to manhood when he is promoted to the height of holy orders. When indeed he has reached that age, he dies, because whoever has approached so great a ministry unworthily, or has lived unworthily in it, is condemned. Whence Paul also, making mention of the Lord's body and blood, says: "He who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself" (1 Cor. 11:29). Therefore they die in manhood, because they perish from the presumption and boldness of a higher ministry. Hence therefore, hence indeed let the reckless take heed, and let them not eagerly seek but rather dread to undertake the burdens of so great a ministry. For he who is foretold to die when he reaches manhood lives until he reaches it, because indeed all who are weak and unequal to so great a ministry, if they consider the measure of their own smallness, have a place in the holy Church in which, guarding themselves, they may live. Whence the Lord also declares through Moses, saying: "If a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned" (Exod. 19:12; Heb. 12:20). Hence it is also that when Lot went out from Sodom, he refrained from ascending the mountain and turned aside to Zoar, a small city (Gen. 19:20ff.), lest while still small he strives for higher things and, striking against manhood, dies. For we leave Sodom when we turn away from the fires of burning desire. We do not immediately ascend to lofty things, because we do not touch the heights of a superior ministry, while we consider our own weakness by measuring it, lest if we despise keeping the measure of our weak age, we who have lived as little ones may die in manhood. As a sign indeed of the house about to die, both sons of Eli are foretold to die in one day. We have said that those sons signify those who are promoted to holy orders by carnal relatives, not with the intention of administering the order, but for the glory of worldly dignity. Therefore both die in one day, because they perish in the desire for worldly happiness. Worldly glory, the reverence of honor, the power of high position, the splendor of dignity, the throng of attendants, the abundance of possessions loved in a worldly manner—this is a day, but one that kills. Let the sons of Eli hear, therefore, that both die on a single day. For…
Dictionary and topics
Abiathar — Father of abundance, or my father excels, the son of Ahimelech the high priest. He was the tenth high priest, and the fourth in descent from Eli. When his father was slain with the priests of Nob, he…
Eli — Ascent, the high priest when the ark was at Shiloh (1 Sam. 1:3, 9). He was the first of the line of Ithamar, Aaron’s fourth son (1 Chr. 24:3; comp. 2 Sam. 8:17), who held that office. The office…
Fast — The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (q.v.), Lev. 23:26-32. It is called “the fast” (Acts 27:9). The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old…
Hannah — Favour, grace, one of the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel (1 Sam. 1; 2). Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle…
Hophni — Pugilist or client, one of the two sons of Eli, the high priest (1 Sam. 1:3; 2:34), who, because he was “very old,” resigned to them the active duties of his office. By their scandalous conduct they…
Phinehas — Mouth of brass, or from old Egypt, the negro. (1.) Son of Eleazar, the high priest (Ex. 6:25). While yet a youth he distinguished himself at Shittim by his zeal against the immorality into which the…
Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Songs — Of Moses (Ex. 15; Num. 21:17; Deut. 32; Rev. 15:3), Deborah (Judg. 5), Hannah (1 Sam. 2), David (2 Sam. 22, and Psalms), Mary (Luke 1:46-55), Zacharias (Luke 1:68-79), the angels (Luke 2:13), Simeon…
Abiathar · .Thrust out of office by — .Thrust out of office by
live out their days: In the Old Testament, a short life often expresses God’s disfavor, while long life represents God’s blessing (cp. Gen 15:15; 1 Kgs 3:14; Ps 91:16).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 2:34
This is the sign to you. That the prophecy will be fulfilled: In one day your two sons will die, and this will be the sign for you for the fulfillment35He needed a sign in the near future to authenticate the prophecy that all the punishments described will come true. of all the retribution that was said to you, "and you will see a rival in My Sanctuary," "and all those raised in your house will die as [young] men."36Above verses 32-33.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
· Family of Eli degraded from office of, for bad conduct
— Family of Eli degraded from office of, for bad conduct
Hophni · Sin of — Sin of
Judgments · Eli’s house — Eli’s house
Parents · Involved in children’s wickedness — Involved in children’s wickedness
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
