1 Samuel 2:12

Contemporary English Version

Eli's sons were priests, but they were dishonest and refused to obey the Lord . So, while people were boiling the meat from their sacrifices, these priests would send over a servant with a large, three-pronged fork.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Eli’s sons were wicked men; they did not respect the Lord

Hebrew Names Version
Now the sons of `Eli were base men; they didn't know the LORD.

King James Version
Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord .

Lexham English Bible
Now the sons of Eli were worthless scoundrels; they did not know Yahweh.

English Standard Version
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord .

New Century Version
Now Eli's sons were evil men; they did not care about the Lord .

New English Translation
The sons of Eli were wicked men. They did not recognize the Lord 's authority.

Amplified Bible
The sons of Eli [Hophni and Phinehas] were worthless (dishonorable, unprincipled) men; they did not know [nor respect] the LORD

New American Standard Bible
Now the sons of Eli were useless men; they did not know the LORD.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Now the sonnes of Eli were wicked men, and knewe not the Lord.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now the sons of Eli were vile men; they did not know Yahweh.

Complete Jewish Bible
‘Eli's sons were scoundrels who had no regard for Adonai .

Darby Translation
Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not Jehovah.

Easy-to-Read Version
Eli's sons were evil men who did not care about the Lord .

George Lamsa Translation
Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they did not know the LORD.

Good News Translation
The sons of Eli were scoundrels. They paid no attention to the Lord

Literal Translation
And the sons of Eli were sons of worthlessness; they did not know Jehovah.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But Elis sonnes were the childre of Belial, and knewe not the LORDE,

American Standard Version
Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew not Jehovah.

Bible in Basic English
Now the sons of Eli were evil and good-for-nothing men, having no knowledge of the Lord.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But the sonnes of Eli were children of Belial, and knewe not the Lord.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew not the LORD.

King James Version (1611)
Now the sonnes of Eli were sonnes of Belial, they knewe not the Lord.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the sons of Heli the priest were evil sons, not knowing the Lord.

English Revised Version
Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible
Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe the sones of Hely weren sones of Belial,

Young's Literal Translation
and the sons of Eli [are] sons of worthlessness, they have not known Jehovah.

Update Bible Version
Now the sons of Eli were base men; they didn't know Yahweh.

Webster's Bible Translation
Now the sons of Eli [were] sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

World English Bible
Now the sons of Eli were base men; they didn't know Yahweh.

New King James Version
Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; [fn] they did not know the Lord.

New Living Translation
Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord

New Life Bible
The sons of Eli were men of no worth. They did not know the Lord.

New Revised Standard
Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, the sons of Eli, were abandoned men, - they knew not Yahweh.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Now the sons of Heli were children of Belial, not knowing the Lord,

Revised Standard Version
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they had no regard for the LORD.

THE MESSAGE
Eli's own sons were a bad lot. They didn't know God and could not have cared less about the customs of priests among the people. Ordinarily, when someone offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant was supposed to come up and, while the meat was boiling, stab a three-pronged fork into the cooking pot. The priest then got whatever came up on the fork. But this is how Eli's sons treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices to God . Before they had even burned the fat to God , the priest's servant would interrupt whoever was sacrificing and say, "Hand over some of that meat for the priest to roast. He doesn't like boiled meat; he likes his rare." If the man objected, "First let the fat be burned—God's portion!—then take all you want," the servant would demand, "No, I want it now. If you won't give it, I'll take it." It was a horrible sin these young servants were committing—and right in the presence of God !—desecrating the holy offerings to God .

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD

Contextual Overview

¹¹ Elkanah and Hannah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed to help Eli serve the Lord . ¹²Eli's sons were priests, but they were dishonest and refused to obey the Lord . So, while people were boiling the meat from their sacrifices, these priests would send over a servant with a large, three-pronged fork. ¹⁴ The servant would stick the fork into the cooking pot, and whatever meat came out on the fork was taken back to the priests. That is how these two priests treated every Israelite who came to offer sacrifices in Shiloh. ¹⁵ Sometimes, when people were offering sacrifices, the servant would come over, even before the fat had been cut off and sacrificed to the Lord . Then the servant would tell them, "The priest doesn't want his meat boiled! Give him some raw meat that he can roast!" ¹⁶ Usually the people answered, "Take what you want. But first, let us sacrifice the fat to the Lord ." "No," the servant would reply. "If you don't give it to me now, I'll take it by force." ¹⁷ Eli's sons did not show any respect for the sacrifices that the people offered. This was a terrible sin, and it made the Lord very angry. ¹⁸ The boy Samuel served the Lord and wore a special linen garment ¹⁹ and the clothes his mother made for him. She would bring new clothes every year, when she and her husband came to offer sacrifices at Shiloh. ²⁰ Eli would always bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "Samuel was born in answer to your prayers. Now you have given him to the Lord . I pray that the Lord will bless you with more children to take his place." After Eli had blessed them, Elkanah and Hannah would return home. ²¹ The Lord was kind to Hannah, and she had three more sons and two daughters. But Samuel grew up at the Lord 's house in Shiloh.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the sons: Hosea 4:6-9, Malachi 2:1-9

sons of Belial: 1 Samuel 10:27, 1 Samuel 25:17, Deuteronomy 13:13, Judges 19:22, 1 Kings 21:10, 1 Kings 21:13, 2 Corinthians 6:15

knew: 1 Samuel 3:7, Judges 2:10, Jeremiah 2:8, Jeremiah 22:16, John 8:55, John 16:3, John 17:3, Romans 1:21, Romans 1:28-30

Reciprocal: Exodus 5:2 - I know not Numbers 17:10 - rebels 1 Samuel 1:3 - And the 1 Samuel 1:16 - a daughter 1 Samuel 3:13 - his sons 1 Samuel 4:4 - Hophni 2 Samuel 16:7 - man of Belial 2 Samuel 20:1 - a man 2 Samuel 23:6 - the sons Job 18:21 - knoweth Isaiah 56:11 - they are Jeremiah 9:3 - they know Jeremiah 31:34 - Know the Ezekiel 22:26 - priests Hosea 5:4 - and Nahum 1:11 - wicked counsellor Zephaniah 3:4 - her priests John 7:28 - whom Romans 16:18 - but 2 Thessalonians 1:8 - that know

Cross-References

Exodus 28:20
and in the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. Mount the stones in delicate gold settings

Exodus 39:13
and a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper were in the fourth row. They were mounted in a delicate gold setting,

Numbers 11:7
The manna was like small whitish seeds

Job 28:16
or precious stones.

Ezekiel 28:13
You lived in the garden of Eden and wore jewelry made of brightly colored gems and precious stones. They were all set in gold and were ready for you on the day you were born.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial,.... Not that Eli their father was Belial, a wicked man; but though they had so good a father, they were very wicked men, unprofitable abandoned wretches, that cast off the yoke of the law of God, and gave themselves up to all manner of wickedness:

they knew not the Lord; not that they had no knowledge of God in theory, or were real atheists, but they were so practically; they denied him in works, they had no love to him, nor fear of him, and departed from his ways and worship, as much as if they were entirely ignorant of him; so the Targum,

"they did not know to fear before the Lord,''

or serve him; or, as Kimchi,

"they did not know the way of the Lord,''

that is, practically.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Sons 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.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 2:12. The 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 of any nation; witness France, Germany, Spain, Ac., from 1792 to 1814.