New International Version
1 Samuel 2:12
12Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord
Context of 1 Samuel 2:12
10those who oppose the Lord will be broken. The Most High will thunder from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” 11Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest. Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. 13Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled 14and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came 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 4:6my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.
- Malachi 2:1“And now, you priests, this warning is for you.
- 1 Samuel 10:27But some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.
- 1 Samuel 25:17Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.”
- Deuteronomy 13:13that troublemakers have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known),
- Judges 19:22While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”
- 1 Kings 21:10But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have 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 2:10After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.
- Jeremiah 2:8The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.
- Jeremiah 22:16He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord.
- John 8:55Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word.
- John 16:3They will do such 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 have sent.
- Romans 1:21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish 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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