Eli
He taught young Samuel to say, "Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth."
Old Testament · c. 1100 BC · 1 Samuel · Also known as Eli the priest
About Eli
Eli was the priest at Shiloh, where the tabernacle stood. He mistook Hannah’s silent prayer for drunkenness, then blessed her, and later raised her son Samuel in the house of the LORD. His own sons, Hophni and Phinehas, abused their office, and Eli rebuked them but did not stop them. When God called the boy Samuel in the night, it was Eli who recognised the voice and taught him to answer, "Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth." He accepted God’s judgement on his house humbly. At ninety-eight, hearing that the ark of God was captured and his sons dead, he fell and died.
Shiloh was Israel’s centre of worship before Jerusalem. Eli is also said to have "judged Israel forty years." The fall of his house and the loss of the ark mark the end of an era and the rise of Samuel.
The story
Go in peace
Eli sat by a post of the temple of the LORD and watched Hannah praying silently. Thinking her drunk, he rebuked her. When she explained, he said, "Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him." Years later she brought Samuel to him to serve the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:9-28
He restrained them not
Eli’s sons "were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD." They took the best of the offerings by force. Eli, very old, asked them, "Why do ye such things?" but "they hearkened not unto the voice of their father." God later said Eli’s house would be judged "because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not."
1 Samuel 2:12-25; 3:13
Speak, LORD
Three times the boy Samuel ran to Eli in the night. "And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth."
1 Samuel 3:1-10
It is the LORD
In the morning Eli made Samuel tell him everything God had said about his house. "And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good." Later, when a messenger reported that the ark of God was taken and his sons were dead, Eli, ninety-eight and nearly blind, fell backward from his seat by the gate and died.
1 Samuel 3:15-18; 4:12-18
Key moments
- Blesses Hannah: "Go in peace." (1 Samuel 1:17)
- Raises Samuel: In the house of the LORD. (1 Samuel 2:11)
- Fails to restrain his sons: "They hearkened not." (1 Samuel 2:25)
- "Speak, LORD": Teaches Samuel to listen. (1 Samuel 3:9)
- Dies at 98: When the ark is taken. (1 Samuel 4:18)
Questions about Eli
In meetBible these answers are given in Eli’s voice. They are written by hand and checked against Scripture.
Why didn’t you stop your sons?
I did rebuke them: "Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people." But "they hearkened not unto the voice of their father." God’s word to Samuel names my failure: "his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not." As priest and father I had the duty to remove them, and I didn’t. Scripture doesn’t say why.
How did you know God was calling Samuel?
The third time the boy came to me, "Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child." Scripture notes that "the word of the LORD was precious in those days," rare, and that Samuel "did not yet know the LORD." So I told him to lie down and answer, "Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth."
What did you mean by "It is the LORD"?
Samuel told me God’s judgement on my house, hiding nothing. I answered, "It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good." Scripture records the words without explaining my heart. Many read them as humble acceptance that God is just, even when his word is hard to hear.
Connected people
Read it yourself
Start with 1 Samuel 1–4.