1 Samuel 2:31

Contextual Overview

²⁷ And a man of God came to Eli, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Did I reveal myself to the house of your father, when, in Egypt, they belonged to the house of Pharaoh? ²⁷ One day a man of God came to Eli and gave him this message from the Lord : "I revealed myself to your ancestors when they were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. ²⁷ And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I reveal myself unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt [in bondage] to Pharaoh’s house? ²⁷ A man of God came to Eli and said, "This is what the Lord says: ‘I clearly showed myself to the family of your ancestor Aaron when they were slaves to the king of Egypt. ²⁷ A man of God came to Eli and said to him, "This is what the Lord says: ‘Did I not plainly reveal myself to your ancestor's house when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharaoh? ²⁷ And there came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, Thus saith the LORD, Did I plainly appear to the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? ²⁷ There came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Did I reveal myself to the house of your father, when they were in Egypt [in bondage] to Pharaoh's house? ²⁷Then a man of God (prophet) came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Did I not plainly reveal Myself to the house of your father (ancestor) when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house? ²⁷ And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the Lord , ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? ²⁷ Sotheli a man of God cam to Hely, and seide to hym, The Lord seith these thingis, Whether Y was not schewid apertli to the hows of thi fadir, whanne he was in Egipt, in the hows of Farao?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I will cut: That is, I will destroy the strength, power, influence, and authority of thee and thy family; of which the arm of man being the instrument, is used as the emblem. 1 Samuel 4:2, 1 Samuel 4:11, 1 Samuel 4:17-20, 1 Samuel 14:3, 1 Samuel 22:17-20, 1 Kings 2:26, 1 Kings 2:27, 1 Kings 2:35, Job 22:9, Psalms 37:17, Ezekiel 30:21-24, Ezekiel 44:10

Reciprocal: Genesis 18:19 - that the 1 Samuel 3:13 - For I have told him 1 Samuel 4:18 - his neck Psalms 109:13 - Let his Zechariah 8:4 - There Zechariah 11:17 - his arm Malachi 2:12 - cut

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Behold, the days come,.... Or, are coming g; and will quickly come, in a very little time the things, after threatened, began to take place, even in the days of Eli's sons, and the whole was accomplished in about eighty years after:

that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house: that is, the strength of him and them, as the Targum, the strength of a man for doing business lying in his arm; meaning by it not long life, as Kimchi, who concludes this sense from what follows; but rather power and authority, or the exercise of the office of high priest, which gave him and his family great esteem and power; or it may be best of all, his children, which are the strength of a man, and the support of his family, see Genesis 49:3

that there shall not be an old man in thine house; as there were none when he died, and his two sons, the same day; and the children they left were very young, and Ahitub, who was one of them, could not die an old man, since Ahimelech his son was priest in the time of Saul, who with eighty five priests were slain by his order; and Abiathar his son was deprived of his priesthood in the time of Solomon; though some understand this not of an elder in years, but in office; and that the sense is, that there should be none of his family a senator, or a member of the great sanhedrim, or court of judicature; and so it is interpreted in the Talmud h; with which agree Ben Gersom and Abarbinel.

g באים "venientes", Montanus. h T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 14. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will cut off thine arm ... - A strong phrase for breaking down the strength and power, of which the arm is the instrument in man (compare Zechariah 11:17). See 1 Samuel 2:33.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 2:31. I will cut off thine arm — I will destroy the strength, power, and influence of thy family.