God’s Word Translation
1 Samuel 2:31
31The time is coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house so that no one will grow old in your family.
1 Samuel 2:31 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house.
- New International Version (NIV)The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age,
- English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.
Context of 1 Samuel 2:31
29Why do you show no respect for my sacrifices and grain offerings that I have commanded people to make in my dwelling place? Why do you honor your sons more than me by making yourselves fat on the best of all the sacrifices offered by my people Israel? 30“Therefore, the Lord God of Israel declares: I certainly thought that your family and your father’s family would always live in my presence. “But now the Lord declares: I promise that I will honor those who honor me, and those who despise me will be considered insignificant. The time is coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house so that no one will grow old in your family. 32You will see distress in my dwelling place. In spite of the good that I do for Israel, no one in your family will live to an old age. 33Any man in your family whom I do not remove from my altar will have his eyes fail, and he will be heartbroken. And all your descendants will die in the prime of life.
Read all of 1 Samuel 21 Samuel 2:31 word by word
הִנֵּה֙ יָמִ֣ים בָּאִ֔ים וְגָֽדַעְתִּי֙ אֶת־זְרֹ֣עֲךָ֔ וְאֶת־זְרֹ֖עַ בֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ מִֽהְי֥וֹת זָקֵ֖ן בְּבֵיתֶֽךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Behold, the daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- that I will cut offגָּדַעgâda‛ · to cut down/offH1438
- thine armזְרוֹעַzerôa‛ zerôa‛ zerô‛âh zerô‛âh · armH2220
- of thy father’sאָב'âb · fatherH1
- houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: householdH1004
- that there shall not be an old manזָקֵןzâqên · oldH2205
Cross-references for 1 Samuel 2:31
- 1 Samuel 4:2The Philistines organized their troops to meet Israel in battle. As the battle spread, the Philistines defeated Israel and killed about 4,000 soldiers in the field.
- 1 Samuel 14:3in addition to Ahijah, the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub, who was the son of Phinehas and the grandson of Eli, the Lord’s priest at Shiloh. Ahijah was wearing the priestly ephod. The troops didn’t know Jonathan had left.
- 1 Samuel 22:17“Turn and kill the Lord’s priests because they support David,” the king said to the runners standing around him. “When they knew David was fleeing, they didn’t inform me.” But the king’s men refused to attack the Lord’s priests.
- 1 Kings 2:26The king told the priest Abiathar, “Go to your land in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I won’t kill you at this time because you carried the ark of the Almighty Lord ahead of my father David and because you shared all my father’s sufferings.”
- Job 22:9You send widows away empty-handed, and the arms of orphans are broken.
- Psalms 37:17The arms of wicked people will be broken, but the Lord continues to support righteous people.
- Ezekiel 30:21“Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. His arm isn’t bandaged, so it can’t heal and be strong enough to hold a sword.
- Ezekiel 44:10“ ‘Some Levites went far away from me when Israel wandered off to follow their idols. They must be punished for their sins.
Commentaries on 1 Samuel 2:31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31I will cut off thine arm - I will destroy the strength, power, and influence of thy family.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31I will cut off thine arm - A strong phrase for breaking down the strength and power, of which the arm is the instrument in man (compare Zechariah 11:17). See 1 Samuel 2:33.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 27-36Verses 27-36 Those who allow their children in any evil way, and do not use their authority to restrain and punish them, in effect honour them more than God. Let Eli's example excite parents earnestly to strive against the beginnings of wickedness, and to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In the midst of the sentence against the house of Eli, mercy is promised to Israel. God's work shall never fall to the ground for want…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3131. I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house--By the withdrawal of the high priesthood from Eleazar, the elder of Aaron's two sons (after Nadab and Abihu were destroyed, [Nu 3:4]), that dignity had been conferred on the family of Ithamar, to which Eli belonged, and now that his descendants had forfeited the honor, it was to be taken from them and restored to the elder branch.Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Samuel 2:31
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Samuel 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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