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ELI
Priest in the sanctuary of the Lord at Shiloh in the period of the judges (1 Sm 1:3, 9). Shiloh, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Jerusalem, was the central shrine of the Israelite tribal confederation. Eli had two sons who were priests, Hophni and Phinehas (which are Egyptian names). No lineage is recorded for Eli, but there are two possible suggestions: he is a descendant of Ithamar, Aaron’s younger son (1 Sm 22:20; 1 Kgs 2:27; 1 Chr 24:3); or he comes from the house of Eleazar (Ex 6:23-25; 2 Esd 1:2-3). In 1 Samuel 1, Eli blessed the childless Hannah, Elkanah’s wife, after learning of her prayer for a son. Subsequently, Samuel was born, and when he was weaned, he was brought by his mother to Eli for service and training in the sanctuary, according to her promise to the Lord.
Hophni and Phinehas were corrupting the Israelites despite Eli’s protests, and for this sin God promised judgment upon Eli’s family (1 Sm 2:27, 36). The sons of Eli were to die on the same day (v 34), and the fulfillment came in a battle with the Philistines at Aphek (4:11, 17). Eli, too, died when he heard of the defeat and the loss of the ark of the covenant to the Philistines. At his death he was 98 years old, and besides being priest, he also had judged Israel for 40 years (vv 15-18). Eli’s daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, died in childbirth, brokenhearted over the loss of her husband and the ark. She named her son Ichabod because she felt that there was no more hope (vv 19-22).
Eli was not characterized by a firm personality. He was no doubt sincere and devout, but he was also weak and indulgent.