1 Raja-raja 14:12-13

14:12 “As for you, get up and go home. When you set foot in the city, the boy will die. 14:13 All Israel will mourn him and bury him. He is the only one in Jeroboam’s family ¹  who will receive a decent burial, for he is the only one in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good.

1 Raja-raja 14:1

14:1 ² At that time Jeroboam’s son Abijah became sick.

1 Samuel 2:20-34

2:20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying, “May the Lord raise up for you descendants ³  from this woman to replace the one that she ⁴  dedicated to the Lord.” Then they would go to their ⁵  home. 2:21 So the Lord graciously attended to Hannah, and she was able to conceive and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. The boy Samuel grew up at the Lord’s sanctuary. ⁶ 

2:22 Now Eli was very old when he heard about everything that his sons used to do to all the people of Israel ⁷  and how they used to have sex with ⁸  the women who were stationed at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 2:23 He said to them, “Why do you behave in this way? For I hear about these evil things from all these ⁹  people. 2:24 This ought not to be, ¹⁰  my sons! For the report that I hear circulating among the Lord’s people is not good. 2:25 If a man sins against a man, one may appeal to God on his behalf. But if a man sins against the Lord, who then will intercede for him?” But Eli’s sons ¹¹  would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided ¹²  to kill them.

2:26 Now the boy Samuel was growing up and finding favor both with the Lord and with people.

The Lord Judges the House of Eli

2:27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Did I not plainly ¹³  reveal myself to your ancestor’s ¹⁴  house when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharaoh? 2:28 I chose your ancestor ¹⁵  from all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifice on my altar, to burn incense, and to bear the ephod before me. I gave to your ancestor’s house all the fire offerings made by the Israelites. 2:29 Why are you ¹⁶  scorning my sacrifice and my offering that I commanded for my dwelling place? ¹⁷  You have honored your sons more than you have me by having made yourselves fat from the best parts of all the offerings of my people Israel.’

2:30 Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I really did say ¹⁸  that your house and your ancestor’s house would serve ¹⁹  me forever.’ But now the Lord says, ‘May it never be! ²⁰  For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed! 2:31 In fact, days are coming when I will remove your strength ²¹  and the strength ²²  of your father’s house. There will not be an old man in your house! 2:32 You will see trouble in my dwelling place! ²³  Israel will experience blessings, ²⁴  but there will not be an old man in your ²⁵  house for all time. ²⁶  2:33 Any one of you that I do not cut off from my altar, I will cause your ²⁷  eyes to fail ²⁸  and will cause you grief. ²⁹  All of those born to your family ³⁰  will die in the prime of life. ³¹  2:34 This will be a confirming sign for you that will be fulfilled through your two sons, ³²  Hophni and Phinehas: in a single day they both will die!

1 Samuel 4:18-20

4:18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli ³³  fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he ³⁴  was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.

4:19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she doubled over and gave birth. But her labor pains were too much for her. 4:20 As she was dying, the women who were there with her said, “Don’t be afraid! You have given birth to a son!” But she did not reply or pay any attention. ³⁵ 

[14:13]  ¹ tn Heb “house.”

[14:1]  ² tc Some mss of the Old Greek lack vv. 1-20.

[2:20]  ³ tn Heb “seed.”

[2:20]  ⁴ tn The MT has a masculine verb here, but in light of the context the reference must be to Hannah. It is possible that the text of the MT is incorrect here (cf. the ancient versions), in which case the text should be changed to read either a passive participle or better, the third feminine singular of the verb. If the MT is correct here, perhaps the masculine is to be understood in a nonspecific and impersonal way, allowing for a feminine antecedent. In any case, the syntax of the MT is unusual here.

[2:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “his.”

[2:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “with the Lord.” Cf. NAB, TEV “in the service of the Lord”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “in the presence of the Lord”; CEV “at the Lord’s house in Shiloh.”

[2:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “to all Israel.”

[2:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “lie with.”

[2:23]  ⁹ tc For “these” the LXX has “of the Lord” (κυρίου, kuriou), perhaps through the influence of the final phrase of v. 24 (“the people of the Lord”). Somewhat less likely is the view that the MT reading is due to a distorted dittography of the first word of v. 24. The Vulgate lacks the word.

[2:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “no.”

[2:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Eli’s sons) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:25]  ¹² tn Heb “desired.”

[2:27]  ¹³ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[2:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to your father’s” (also in vv. 28, 30).

[2:28]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Eli’s ancestor, i.e., Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:29]  ¹⁶ tc The MT has a plural “you” here, but the LXX and a Qumran ms have the singular. The singular may be the correct reading; the verb “you have honored” later in the verse is singular even in the MT. However, it is more probable that the Lord here refers to Eli and his sons. Note the plural in the second half of the verse (“you have made yourselves fat”).

[2:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “which I commanded, dwelling place.” The noun is functioning as an adverbial accusative in relation to the verb. Since God’s dwelling place/sanctuary is in view, the pronoun “my” is supplied in the translation.

[2:30]  ¹⁸ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[2:30]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “walk about before.”

[2:30]  ²⁰ tn Heb “may it be far removed from me.”

[2:31]  ²¹ tn Heb “chop off your arm.” The arm here symbolizes strength and activity.

[2:31]  ²² tn Heb “arm.”

[2:32]  ²³ tn Heb “you will see [the] trouble of [the] dwelling place.” Since God’s dwelling place/sanctuary is in view, the pronoun is supplied in the translation (see v. 29).

[2:32]  ²⁴ tn Heb “in all which he does good with Israel.”

[2:32]  ²⁵ tc The LXX and a Qumran manuscript have the first person pronoun “my” here.

[2:32]  ²⁶ tn Heb “all the days.”

[2:33]  ²⁷ tc The LXX, a Qumran ms, and a few old Latin mss have the third person pronominal suffix “his” here.

[2:33]  ²⁸ tn Heb “to cause your eyes to fail.” Elsewhere this verb, when used of eyes, refers to bloodshot eyes resulting from weeping, prolonged staring, or illness (see Lev 26:16; Pss 69:3; 119:82; Lam 2:11; 4:17).

[2:33]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and to cause your soul grief.”

[2:33]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and all the increase of your house.”

[2:33]  ³¹ tc The text is difficult. The MT literally says “they will die [as] men.” Apparently the meaning is that they will be cut off in the prime of their life without reaching old age. The LXX and a Qumran ms, however, have the additional word “sword” (“they will die by the sword of men”). This is an easier reading (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT), but that fact is not in favor of its originality.

[2:34]  ³² tn Heb “and this to you [is] the sign which will come to both of your sons.”

[4:18]  ³³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:18]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the man.”

[4:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and she did not set her heart.”