๐ 1 Samuel 1–2: ๐ God Raises Up Those He Chooses for Himself, and Rejects Those Who Are Unfaithful
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Through the books of Judges and Ruth, we can see something important:
While a judge was alive: we saw that God's commands were being observed among the people.
When there was no judge: we saw the true nature of the Israelites, who quickly turned away from God.
And in Ruth, during the period of the judges: we again see people living according to God's commands.
๐ Key Summary of 1 Samuel, Chapters 1–2
๐ 1 Samuel 1 — Samuel's genealogy is recorded in the very first verse
The fact that Samuel's genealogy appears in the very first verse of the book suggests that Samuel is indeed one of the central figures whom the book intends to introduce. ๐ข
Jacob
│
Levi
│
Kohath
│
├──────────────┐
Amram Izhar
│ │
├──────┐ Korah
Aaron Moses
│
Priestly family
(Priestly service)
Zuph → Tohu → Elihu → Jeroham → Elkanah → Samuel
(Levite family / service in the Tabernacle)
✔️ 1 Chronicles 6:34–38 also records Samuel's genealogy.
1. The Establishment of Samuel ๐
Samuel was a descendant of the tribe of Levi, but he was not a descendant of Aaron. Therefore, he was not part of Aaron's priestly lineage.
Moses became Israel's spiritual leader through God's choosing.
Aaron was also chosen by God to establish the priestly family.
Samuel, however, does not appear as someone who became a priest because he belonged to Aaron's lineage.
Therefore, Samuel can be understood as someone who was raised up by the Lord Himself, as stated in 1 Samuel 2:35.
2. “I will raise up for myself a faithful priest...” (1 Samuel 2:35)
๐ 1 Samuel 2:35 contains a particularly significant expression:
“I will raise up for myself a faithful priest...”
The expression “for myself” is especially noteworthy.
๐ Even before Samuel was born, we see the Lord actively involved in his story.
The Bible records twice that Hannah's inability to conceive was related to the Lord's action:
“The LORD had closed Hannah's womb.”
“Because the LORD had closed Hannah's womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.”
(1 Samuel 1:5–6)
Because of this, Hannah was deeply distressed. She prayed to the Lord with tears and made a vow:
“O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”
(1 Samuel 1:10–11)
3. An Age Without a Judge, and a Time When the Priests Were Also Violating God's Commands ๐
✔️ At that time, the priests serving at Shiloh were Eli's two sons.
“Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD there.”
(1 Samuel 1:3)
๐ It is important not to confuse this Phinehas with Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, who appeared earlier in the Pentateuch.
Many generations had passed between these events during the period of the judges. Therefore, these are simply different people with the same name.
The biblical context indicates that Eli and his sons belonged to another priestly line within the descendants of Aaron, apparently connected to Ithamar.
Aaron (1st High Priest)
├── Nadab and Abihu (died)
├── Eleazar (2nd High Priest) → Phinehas → ... → Zadok
└── Ithamar → ... → Eli → Ahimelech → Abiathar
✔️ And regarding Eli's sons, the Bible records something extremely serious:
“Eli's sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD.”
(1 Samuel 2:12)
And:
“This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD's sight, for they were treating the LORD's offering with contempt.”
(1 Samuel 2:17)
In other words, those who were supposed to represent God's holiness before the people were actually despising the worship and offerings of the Lord Himself.
4. The Death of Eli's Sons and the Foretelling of the Fall of His Family (1 Samuel 2:27–34)
A man of God came to Eli and announced judgment against his household.
“All your descendants will die by the sword.”
“And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day.”
(1 Samuel 2:33–34)
It was also foretold that Eli's descendants would eventually become so humiliated that they would ask merely for a piece of bread in order to continue serving as priests.
✔️ “The LORD intended to kill them”
Eli rebuked his sons:
“If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?”
But they did not listen to their father's rebuke.
And the Bible explains:
“His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the LORD's will to put them to death.”
(1 Samuel 2:25)
๐ The Central Message of 1 Samuel 1–2 ๐
These two chapters show that:
God raises up a faithful priest for Himself. ๐
God also rejects those who despise His holiness. ๐
From the Pentateuch onward, we see that the priest was supposed to represent God's holiness before all the people.
But Eli's sons despised precisely what they were supposed to protect: the offering and worship of the Lord.
When we remember that Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu, died immediately after offering unauthorized fire before the Lord, we can see how serious the sins of Eli's sons were.
๐ Interesting Record — 1
At the end of Judges, we encounter two episodes involving Levites.
One Levite became the priest of Micah, even though he did not have the proper legitimacy to serve as a priest.
Another Levite appears in an incident that ultimately led the tribes of Israel into a war against their own brothers.
✔️ Then, as we enter 1 Samuel, another Levite appears: Samuel.
Previously, the Israelites established priests according to their own desires and even went so far as to despise the Lord.
But now we hear:
“I will raise up for myself a faithful priest.”
๐ The expression “for myself” is particularly interesting and stands out in the biblical text.
๐ Interesting Record — 2
In 1 Samuel 2:36, the humiliating future of Eli's family is foretold:
They would eventually reach the point of asking merely for “a piece of bread” so that they could continue serving as priests.
And later, we find an interesting connection.
In 1 Samuel 21, the priest Ahimelech, a descendant of Eli's family, gives bread to David.
Paradoxically, this episode involving the bread becomes part of the tragic circumstances that lead to the complete downfall of Eli's priestly family.
Saul orders the massacre of the priests.
Ahimelech and the other priests are killed.
Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, escapes and takes refuge with David.
Later, when Adonijah attempts to seize the throne, Abiathar joins him.
After Solomon becomes king, Abiathar is removed from the priesthood.
“Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, ‘Go back to your fields in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now, because you carried the ark of the Sovereign LORD before my father David and shared all my father's hardships.’ So Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD, fulfilling the word the LORD had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli.”
(1 Kings 2:26–27)
๐ Thus, the Bible itself records the later fulfillment of the word God had spoken against the house of Eli.
The word announced in 1 Samuel 2 is ultimately fulfilled later in Israel's history.
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