What can we learn from Eli?

You cannot serve God in public and let evil settle into your own home: Eli is condemned for not restraining his sons (1 Sam 3:13). Honoring God comes before family attachments, even legitimate ones: “honourest thy sons above me” (1 Sam 2:29-30). Listen before judging by appearances: Eli corrects himself with Hannah and blesses her (1 Sam 1:13-17). Even a flawed man can pass on faith: Eli teaches Samuel to say, “Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth” (1 Sam 3:9).

End of the judges · around 1100–1050 BC

Eli in the Bible

The priest of Shiloh who failed to restrain his sons. Name meaning: Meaning uncertain, often understood as “high” or “ascended”

Eli is priest and judge at Shiloh: he blesses Hannah, takes in young Samuel, and teaches him to answer God’s call. But he did not restrain his sons Hophni and Phinehas, who defile the sacrifices, and the LORD announces judgment on his house. At ninety-eight, he dies when he hears that the ark has been captured, after forty years as judge.

Main books: 1 Samuel

Key moments

He mistakes Hannah for a drunk, then blesses her 1 Samuel 1:17
He receives Samuel, lent to the LORD 1 Samuel 1:27–28
He rebukes his sons for their conduct without restraining them 1 Samuel 2:23–25
A man of God announces the end of his house 1 Samuel 2:31–34
He teaches Samuel to answer the LORD 1 Samuel 3:9
He accepts the sentence: “It is the LORD” 1 Samuel 3:18
He dies on hearing that the ark has been captured 1 Samuel 4:18

Strengths

Kindness
Submission to God’s word
Hesitant authority

Weaknesses

Eli rebukes his sons with words but does not restrain them (1 Sam 2:23-25; 3:13): the LORD charges him with honoring his sons above him (2:29). He is also too quick to judge Hannah, whom he takes for a drunk woman (1:13-14).

Lessons for today

You cannot serve God in public and let evil settle into your own home: Eli is condemned for not restraining his sons (1 Sam 3:13).
Honoring God comes before family attachments, even legitimate ones: “honourest thy sons above me” (1 Sam 2:29-30).
Listen before judging by appearances: Eli corrects himself with Hannah and blesses her (1 Sam 1:13-17).
Even a flawed man can pass on faith: Eli teaches Samuel to say, “Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth” (1 Sam 3:9).

Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?

1 Samuel 2:29

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. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

1 Samuel 3:9

For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

1 Samuel 3:13

People around Eli

Samuel — The young servant he trains and teaches to listen to the LORD
Hannah — Samuel’s mother, whom he blesses after mistaking her for a drunk
Hophni and Phinehas — His two sons, priests, who die on the same day
Ichabod — Grandson, son of Phinehas

Stories with Eli

The Ark Among the Philistines

Quiz: how well do you know Eli?

Which child does Hannah bring to Eli to serve the LORD?

What are the names of Eli’s two sons?

How does Eli die?

There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start your free trial.