1 Samuel 2:13-17

2:13 Now the priests would always treat the people in the following way: ¹  Whenever anyone was making a sacrifice, while the meat was boiling, the priest’s attendant would come with a three-pronged fork ²  in his hand. 2:14 He would jab it into the basin, kettle, caldron, or pot, and everything that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they used to do to all the Israelites ³  when they came there to Shiloh.

2:15 Even before they burned the fat, the priest’s attendant would come and say to the person who was making the sacrifice, “Hand over some meat for the priest to roast! He won’t take boiled meat from you, but only raw.” ⁴  2:16 If the individual said to him, “First let the fat be burned away, and then take for yourself whatever you wish,” he would say, “No! ⁵  Hand it over right now! If you don’t, I will take it forcibly!”

2:17 The sin of these young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they ⁶  treated the Lord’s offering with contempt.

[2:13]  ¹ tn Heb “the habit of the priests with the people [was this].”

[2:13]  ² sn The Hebrew word occurs only twice in the OT, here and again in v. 14. Its exact meaning is not entirely clear, although from the context it appears to be a sacrificial tool used for retrieving things from boiling water.

[2:14]  ³ tn Heb “to all Israel.”

[2:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “living.”

[2:16]  ⁵ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss (“no”) rather than the Kethib and MT, which read “to him.”

[2:17]  ⁶ tc Heb “the men,” which is absent from one medieval Hebrew ms, a Qumran ms, and the LXX.