Atomic Bible

High priest and judge of Israel at Shiloh

Eli

Named in 30 verses across 2 books, first in 1 Samuel 1:3.

עֵלִיEli

The name means “the offering or lifting up.” Hitchcock's Bible Names, 1869

Father
Unnamed#4
Children
Hophni, Phinehas
People
Tribe of Levi

About Eli Written by AI

Eli, a prominent figure in 1 Samuel, served as the high priest and judge of Israel at the tabernacle in Shiloh. He first appears in the narrative when Hannah, the mother of Samuel, prays at the tabernacle (1 Samuel 1:9 to 17). Eli initially misunderstands her prayer but later blesses her. After Samuel's birth, Hannah dedicates him to serve under Eli at the tabernacle (1 Samuel 1:25 to 28). However, Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were wicked and did not follow God's ways (1 Samuel 2:12 to 17). Eli failed to restrain their behavior, leading to a prophecy of judgment against his family (1 Samuel 2:27 to 36). Eli continued to serve as the high priest and judge, while Samuel grew up in the tabernacle (1Samuel 3). In his old age, Eli received news of Israel's defeat by the Philistines, the capture of the Ark of the Covenant, and the death of his sons. Upon hearing this, Eli fell backward, broke his neck, and died at the age of 98 (1 Samuel 4:12 to 18). His death marked the end of an era and the beginning of Samuel's leadership as a prophet and judge.

Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.

Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897

Ascent, the high priest when the ark was at Shiloh (1 Sam. 1:3, 9). He was the first of the line of Ithamar, Aaron’s fourth son (1 Chr. 24:3; comp. 2 Sam. 8:17), who held that office. The office remained in his family till the time of Abiathar (1 Kings 2:26, 27), whom Solomon deposed, and appointed Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, in his stead (35). He acted also as a civil judge in Israel after the death of Samson (1 Sam. 4:18), and judged Israel for forty years.

His sons Hophni and Phinehas grossly misconducted themselves, to the great disgust of the people (1 Sam. 2:27-36). They were licentious reprobates. He failed to reprove them so sternly as he ought to have done, and so brought upon his house the judgment of God (2:22-33; 3:18). The Israelites proclaimed war against the Philistines, whose army was encamped at Aphek. The battle, fought a short way beyond Mizpeh, ended in the total defeat of Israel. Four thousand of them fell in “battle array”. They now sought safety in having the “ark of the covenant of the Lord” among them. They fetched it from Shiloh, and Hophni and Phinehas accompanied it. This was the first time since the settlement of Israel in Canaan that the ark had been removed from the sanctuary. The Philistines put themselves again in array against Israel, and in the battle which ensued “Israel was smitten, and there was a very great slaughter.” The tidings of this great disaster were speedily conveyed to Shiloh, about 20 miles distant, by a messenger, a Benjamite from the army. There Eli sat outside the gate of the sanctuary by the wayside, anxiously waiting for tidings from the battle-field. The full extent of the national calamity was speedily made known to him: “Israel is fled before the Philistines, there has also been a great slaughter among the people, thy two sons Hophni and Phinehas are dead, and the ark of God is taken” (1 Sam. 4:12-18). When the old man, whose eyes were “stiffened” (i.e., fixed, as of a blind eye unaffected by the light) with age, heard this sad story of woe, he fell backward from off his seat and died, being ninety and eight years old. (See ITHAMAR.)

Read the rest of the entry

Eli, Heb. eli, “my God”, (Matt. 27:46), an exclamation used by Christ on the cross. Mark (15:34), as usual, gives the original Aramaic form of the word, Eloi.

M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.

GenesisMatthewRevelation

Where the Bible names him

  1. 1 Samuel 1:3

    Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD.

  2. 1 Samuel 1:9

    So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.

  3. 1 Samuel 1:12

    As Hannah kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth.

  4. 1 Samuel 1:13

    Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk

  5. 1 Samuel 1:14

    and said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine!”

  6. 1 Samuel 1:17

    “Go in peace,” Eli replied, “and may the God of Israel grant the petition you have asked of Him.”

  7. 1 Samuel 1:25

    And when they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli.

  8. 1 Samuel 2:11

    Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy began ministering to the LORD before Eli the priest.

  9. 1 Samuel 2:12

    Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD

  10. 1 Samuel 2:20

    And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” Then they would go home.

  11. 1 Samuel 2:22

    Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

  12. 1 Samuel 2:27

    Then a man of God came to Eli and told him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to your father’s house when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s house?

  13. 1 Samuel 3:1

    And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare, and visions were scarce.

  14. 1 Samuel 3:2

    And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.

  15. 1 Samuel 3:5

    He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” “I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

  16. 1 Samuel 3:6

    Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” “My son, I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.”

  17. 1 Samuel 3:8

    Once again, for the third time, the LORD called to Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” Then Eli realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy.

  18. 1 Samuel 3:9

    “Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

  19. 1 Samuel 3:12

    On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his house, from beginning to end.

  20. 1 Samuel 3:14

    Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”

  21. 1 Samuel 3:15

    Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,

  22. 1 Samuel 3:16

    but Eli called to him and said, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” answered Samuel.

  23. 1 Samuel 4:4

    So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

  24. 1 Samuel 4:11

    The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

  25. 1 Samuel 4:13

    When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.

  26. 1 Samuel 4:14

    Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” So the man hurried over and reported to Eli.

  27. 1 Samuel 4:15

    Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see.

  28. 1 Samuel 4:16

    “I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked.

  29. 1 Samuel 14:3

    including Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.

  30. 1 Kings 2:27

    So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the LORD and thus fulfilled the word that the LORD had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli.

From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.