Eli (biblical figure)

The sons of Eli

Depiction of Eli and Samuel by John Singleton Copley, 1780.

The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, meanwhile, are behaving wickedly, for example by taking for themselves all the prime cuts of meat from sacrifices, and by committing adultery with the women who serve at the sanctuary entrance. Eli is aware of their behavior but he rebukes them too lightly and ultimately does not stop them. The sons continue in their sinful behavior, and it is Hannahs' son Samuel who, several years later, prophesies to Eli that Eli and his family will be punished for this, with all male descendants dying before reaching old age and being placed in positions subservient to prophets from other lineages.^[1] The curse alludes to a previous (not appearing elsewhere in the Bible) promise from God of Eli's lineage continuing eternally (c.f. similar promises to King David and Jehonadab). While this continuation is not revoked, a curse is placed on all of Eli's male descendants forever. As a sign of the accuracy of this future, Eli is told by the man of God that his sons will die on the same day.

Samuel's training

Eli goes on to train Samuel. When Samuel hears God speaking to him, he at first thinks it is Eli; Eli, who doesn't hear God calling Samuel, eventually realizes the truth, and instructs Samuel on how to respond. Samuel is told that God's threat (which isn't elaborated further) will be carried out on Eli and his family, and that there is nothing that can be done to prevent it. Eli asks Samuel what he had been told, insisting that he be told the whole truth, and so Samuel does; Eli reacts by saying that God will do as he judges best.

Philistine attack and the death of Eli

Some years later, when Samuel has become an adult, the Philistines attack Eben-Ezer, eventually capturing the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites and killing Eli's sons who accompany the Ark to battle as priests. The Israelites had brought the Ark with them to battle under the premise that there was no possible way God would allow it to enter enemy hands, an assumption that proved to be incorrect. Eli, who is nearly blind, is unaware of the event until he asks about all the commotion. Eli, sitting in a chair, is told what has happened by a soldier who has fled the battle. In reaction to the news that the Ark of God has been captured, Eli falls backwards out of the chair and dies from a broken neck, on the 10th day of Iyar.^[2] He was a Judge of Israel for a total of 40 years, and dies at the age of 98. His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, is pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she hears the news that the Ark of God has been captured and that her father-in-law and husband are dead, she goes into labour and gives birth, but is overcome by labour pains. As she is dying, the women attending her say, Don't despair; you have given birth to a son. But she does not respond or pay any attention. She names the boy Ichabod, saying The Glory has departed from Israel- because of the capture of the Ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.

Era

The Philistine incursions spanned a period of 40 years; and Samson, who fought the Philistine incursions, judged Israel for 20 years. Some scholars, like Kessler,^[3] and Nowack^[4] have argued that there is likely to have been some overlap between the time of Samson and that of Eli.^[5] However, the Book of Judges always mentions the years of oppression in contrast to the period of a judge's dispensation; since the early parts of Eli's rule do not appear to occur during a time of oppression, this appears to rule out any overlap with the Philistine oppression that Samson, a previous judge, had lived under.^[5]

Identity

Though his own genealogy is not given by the text, a number of scholars have determined a genealogy for Eli, based on that given to his sons in other passages. Abiathar is described by the Book of Chronicles as being a direct (paternal) descendant of Ithamar; the Books of Samuel state that Abiathar was a son of Ahimelek and that Ahimelek was a son of Ahitub, who is the brother of Ichabod. Consequently, since the narrative states that Ichabod was the son of Phinehas, and that Phinehas was the son of Eli, a number of scholars have drawn the conclusion that Eli must be a descendant of Ithamar.^[6]

Descendants

• Ahimelech, great-grandson of Eli: slain by Doeg the Edomite, fulfilling part of the curse on the House of Eli that none of his male descendants would live to old age.^[7] According to the Jewish Encyclopedia on David's descendant Jehoash of Judah: In Rabbinical Literature: As the extermination of the male descendants of David was a divine retribution for the extermination of the priests by Saul (comp. I Sam. xxii. 17-21), Joash escaped death because in the latter case one priest, Abiathar, survived (Sanh. 95b).
• Abiathar, son of Ahimelech: the only survivor of the massacre at Nob; great-great-grandson of Eli and last High Priest of the House of Eli; deposed from office of High Priest which went to the house of Zadok after God deserted Abiathar and without which the Urim and Thummin could not be consulted (fulfilling the other part of the Curse on the House of Eli that the priesthood would pass out of his descendants hands-the house of Zadok was descended from the family of Eleazar and Phinehas)
• Jeremiah: it is suggested that Jeremiah was descended from Abiathar.^[8]
• Rabbah bar Nahmani, Babylon Jewish Talmudist (Amora)
• Abaye, Babylon Jewish Talmudist, nephew of Rabbah bar Nahmani (Amora)
• Bebai ben Abaye, Babylon Jewish Talmudist, son of Abaye

Rabbah died at age 40 and his nephew Abaye died at age 60.^[9][10]

Talmud

The Talmud lists him as a prophet.^[11]

Samaritan sources

The Samaritans assert that Mount Gerizim was the original Holy Place of Israel from the time that Joshua conquered Israel and the ten tribes settled the land. According to the Bible, the story of Mount Gerizim takes us back to the story of the time when Moses ordered Joshua to take the Twelve Tribes of Israel to the mountains by Shechem and place half of the tribes, six in number, on the top of Mount Gerizim (Mount of the Blessing), and the other half in Mount Ebal (Mount of the Curse). The two mountains were used to symbolize the significance of the commandments and serve as a warning to whoever disobeyed them.

Abu l-Fath, who in the fourteenth century C.E. wrote the major work of Samaritan history, comments on Samaritan origins as follows:

Further, the Samaritan Chronicle Adler, or New Chronicle, believed to have been composed in the 18th century C.E. using earlier chronicles as sources states:

According to the Samaritans this marked the end of the Age of Divine Favor called רידון (Ridhwan) or רהוּתה (Rahuta), which began with Moses. Thus began the פנוּתה (Fanuta) Era of Divine Disfavor when God looks away from the people. According to the Samaritans the age of divine favor will only return with the coming of the Taheb (Messiah or Restorer).^[15]

Likewise according to Samaritan sources, the high priests line of the sons of Phineas died out in 1624 C.E. with the death of the 112th High Priest Shlomyah ben Pinhas when the priesthood was transferred to the sons of Ithamar; see article Samaritan for list of High Priests from 1613 to 2013-the 132nd High priest of the Samaritans was Aharon ben Ab-Chisda ben Yaacob who was succeeded by Aabed-El ben Asher ben Matzliach (Eli was of the House of Ithamar).