1 Samuel 2:31 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Behold, the days are 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.

NIV: The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age,

NASB: Behold, the days are coming when I will eliminate your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.

CSB: Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your forefather's family, so that none in your family will reach old age.

NLT: The time is coming when I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will reach old age.

KJV: Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house.

NKJV: Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.

The Lord continues to declare His judgment on Eli. This is for allowing his sons to wickedly abuse their power as priests and thereby insult the worship of God. Through His unnamed prophet, the Lord has said He will remove the priestly role—and the honor which comes with it—from Eli's household and descendants (1 Samuel 2:30; 3:12–14).

Now the Lord declares, in the common language of judgment prophecies, "behold, the days are coming." This means it won't be long before God cuts off Eli's strength and the strength of his father's house. The prediction is that God will shrivel up Eli's branch of the family line from Aaron. All of Eli's descendants will die young. None of them will reach old age as his line continues to shrink and move closer to extinction. Every son or generation of sons will die in the prime of their lives.

This prophecy will be fulfilled first with the death of Eli's own sons (1 Samuel 4:11), then a massacre of his descendants by Saul (1 Samuel 22:18–19), and then finally by David's removal of Eli's descendant Abiathar from the priesthood (1 Kings 2:26–27).

First Samuel 2:27–36 describes a meeting between Eli and an unnamed prophet of the Lord. The anonymous messenger confronts the old priest, as the Lord asks Eli why he has insulted the Lord's sacrifices and honored his own sons over God. For this sin, God will afflict Eli's descendants, causing all who come after him to die young. Eli's own two sons will die on the same day as a sign this is true. The Lord will raise up a faithful priest from another branch of the family line of priests.

After delivering Samuel to the Lord, Hannah offers a poetic prayer of praise. The sons of Eli the priest are evil, depraved men who abuse their power as priests. They coerce worshippers to give them additional meat. They sleep with women who serve at the sanctuary. In contrast, Samuel grows in favor with God and others as he grows up physically. Hannah and Elkanah continue to go to Shiloh yearly; they also have more children. Eli rebukes his sons, but they don't repent. The Lord tells Eli that all his descendants will die young and his two rebellious sons will die on the same day. The Lord will raise up a faithful priest to do His will.

The prior chapter explained how Hannah cried out to God for a son, and that her request was granted. First Samuel 2 begins with Hannah's praise to the Lord in response. Samuel remains in Shiloh where he ministers and matures. By contrast, Eli's sons are wicked and abuse their power as priests. A prophet reveals that God will cause all Eli's descendants to die young and his two sons to die on the same day. The Lord will raise up a faithful priest from another part of the family line. This provides background for Samuel's call from God in chapter 3.

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.