New English Translation
1 Samuel 2:12
12The sons of Eli were wicked men. They did not recognize the Lord’s authority.
1 Samuel 2:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord.
- New International Version (NIV)Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.
Context of 1 Samuel 2:12
10The Lord shatters his adversaries; he thunders against them from the heavens. The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth. He will strengthen his king and exalt the power of his anointed one.” 11Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of Eli the priest. The sons of Eli were wicked men. They did not recognize the Lord’s authority. 13Now the priests would always treat the people in the following way: Whenever anyone was making a sacrifice, while the meat was boiling, the priest’s attendant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand. 14He would jab it into the basin, kettle, caldron, or pot, and everything that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they used to do to all the Israelites when they came there to Shiloh.
Read all of 1 Samuel 21 Samuel 2:12 word by word
וּבְנֵ֥י עֵלִ֖י בְּנֵ֣י בְלִיָּ֑עַל לֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּ אֶת־יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Samuel 2:12
- Hosea 4:6You have destroyed my people by failing to acknowledge me! Because you refuse to acknowledge me, I will reject you as my priests. Because you reject the law of your God, I will reject your descendants.
- Malachi 2:1“Now, you priests, this commandment is for you.
- 1 Samuel 10:27But some wicked men said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and did not even bring him a gift. But Saul said nothing about it.
- 1 Samuel 25:17Now be aware of this, and see what you can do. For disaster has been planned for our lord and his entire household. He is such a wicked person that no one tells him anything!”
- Deuteronomy 13:13some evil people have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before).
- Judges 19:22They were having a good time, when suddenly some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, surrounded the house and kept beating on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Send out the man who came to visit you so we can have sex with him.”
- 1 Kings 21:10Also seat two villains opposite him and have them testify, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:15And what agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever?
- 1 Samuel 3:7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord; the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
- Judges 2:10That entire generation passed away; a new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the Lord’s presence or seen what he had done for Israel.
- Jeremiah 2:8Your priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those responsible for teaching my law did not really know me. Your rulers rebelled against me. Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. They all worshiped idols that could not help them.
- Jeremiah 22:16He upheld the cause of the poor and needy. So things went well for Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’
- John 8:55Yet you do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey his teaching.
- John 16:3They will do these things because they have not known the Father or me.
- John 17:3Now this is eternal life – that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
- Romans 1:21For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.
Commentaries on 1 Samuel 2:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12The sons of Eli were sons of Belial - They were perverse, wicked, profligate men; devil's children. They knew not the Lord. "They know! nor would an angel show Him; They would not know, nor choose to know Him." These men were the principal cause of all the ungodliness of Israel. Their most execrable conduct, described 1 Samuel 2:13-17, caused the people to abhor the Lord's offering. An impious priesthood is the grand cause of the transgressions and ruin…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Sons of Belial - See the marginal reference note. The phrase is very frequent in the books of Samuel. In the New Testament, Paul contrasts Christ and Belial, as if Belial were the name of an idol or the personification of evil 2 Corinthians 6:15. This probably led to the use of the term “Belial” in the the King James Version, instead of expressing its meaning, which is “mischief, wickedness.”Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-26Verses 11-26 Samuel, being devoted to the Lord in a special manner, was from a child employed about the sanctuary in the services he was capable of. As he did this with a pious disposition of mind, it was called ministering unto the Lord. He received a blessing from the Lord. Those young people who serve God as well as they can, he will enable to improve, that they may serve him better. Eli shunned trouble and exertion. This led him to indulge his…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12wicked men (Hebrew sons of Belial): See study note on 1:16. had no regard for (literally did not know) the LORD: Even though they were priests among God's people, they ignored God and did not follow his will (compare Jeremiah 2:8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial--not only careless and irreligious, but men loose in their actions, and vicious and scandalous in their habits. Though professionally engaged in sacred duties, they were not only strangers to the power of religion in the heart, but they had thrown off its restraints, and even ran, as is sometimes done in similar cases by the sons of eminent ministers, to the opposite extreme of reckless and open profligacy.Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Samuel 2:12
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
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