Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Samuel 2:12 - 2:17

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Samuel 2:12 - 2:17


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The Wicked Practices of Eli's Sons

v. 12. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial,
worthless, profitless rascals; they knew not the Lord, they did not fear Him, they had no faith in Him.

v. 13. And the priest's custom with the people was that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a flesh-hook of three teeth,
a trident, or three-pronged fork, in his hand;

v. 14. and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took for himself.
That was the greedy conduct of the priests in the preparation of the sacrificial meal after the sacrifice proper had been brought. This manner of acting had already become the rule. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither, thus robbing the people and the Lord, instead of confining themselves to the wave-breast, the heave-shoulder, and certain other perquisites, Lev_7:28-36; Numbers 18.

v. 15. Also before they burned the fat,
before the sacrifice proper, which included the fat, Lev_3:3-5, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest, for they did not want boiled meat all the time; for he will not have sodden flesh of' thee, but raw, such as was still full of strength and juice.

v. 16. And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently,
that is, he was about to have the fat of his offering burned, according to law, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he, the priests' servant, would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now; and if not, I will take it by force. These abuses had been introduced by Eli's sons in connection with the peace-offerings, with which a sacrificial meal was connected.

v. 17. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord,
it was an outrage equivalent to sacrilege; for men abhorred the offering of the Lord, they despised and blasphemed it as a form of graft in holy places. That is the height of corruption in the Church, when the servants of the sanctuary themselves are godless rascals, having only their temporal advancement in view, and thus give the enemies of the Lord occasion to blaspheme.