Bible Dictionaries
Eli

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A high priest of the Jews, the first in the line of Ithamar, 1 Samuel 2:27 . He was also a judge of Israel forty years, and was eminent for piety and usefulness, but criminally negligent of family discipline. For this the judgments of God fell upon his house, 1 Samuel 3:11-18 . In battle with the Philistines his two sons were slain, and Israel defeated; but it was the capture of the ark of God that broke his heart, 1 Samuel 4:1-22 . The divine threatening was fully performed in the day of Abiathar, which see.

Bibliography Information
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Eli'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​ats/​e/eli.html. 1859.