1 Samuel 2:25

Contextual Overview

¹¹ And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the lad was ministering to Yahweh before Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy served the Lord by assisting Eli the priest. ¹¹ And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy continued to serve the Lord under Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of Eli the priest. ¹¹ And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest. ¹¹ Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. The child did minister to Yahweh before Eli the priest. ¹¹Elkanah [and his wife Hannah] returned to Ramah to his house. But the child [Samuel] served the LORD under the guidance of Eli the priest. ¹¹ Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. And the boy was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest. ¹¹ And Helcana yede in to Ramatha, in to his hows; forsothe the child was seruaunt in the siyt of the Lord bifor the face of Ely the preest.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

sin against: Deuteronomy 17:8-12, Deuteronomy 25:1-3

if a man: 1 Samuel 3:14, Numbers 15:30, Psalms 51:4, Psalms 51:16, Hebrews 10:26

who shall: 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 7:25

hearkened: Deuteronomy 2:30, Joshua 11:20, 2 Chronicles 25:16, Proverbs 15:10, John 12:39, John 12:40

because: Rather, therefore, as the particle kee also signifies (see note on Psalms 116:10), so Noldius, Ideo voluit Jehova eos interficere, "Therefore Jehovah purposed to destroy them."

Reciprocal: Judges 20:13 - would not 1 Samuel 19:4 - sin against 2 Samuel 21:3 - wherewith 2 Chronicles 10:15 - the cause Job 9:33 - is there Proverbs 1:8 - hear Proverbs 13:1 - but Proverbs 29:1 - General Ecclesiastes 3:3 - time to kill Acts 24:10 - a judge 1 Corinthians 8:12 - when 1 John 5:16 - There

Cross-References

Genesis 2:10
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.

Genesis 2:10
And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became four heads.

Genesis 2:10
A river flowed through Eden and watered the garden. From there the river branched out to become four rivers.

Genesis 2:10
Now a river flows from Eden to water the orchard, and from there it divides into four headstreams.

Genesis 2:10
And a river went out of Eden to water the garden: and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

Genesis 2:10
A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became four heads.

Genesis 2:10
Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four [branching] rivers.

Genesis 2:10
And a ryuer yede out fro the place of likyng to moyste paradis, which ryuer is departid fro thennus in to foure heedis.

Genesis 2:10
And a river is going out from Eden to water the garden, and from thence it is parted, and hath become four chief [rivers];

Genesis 2:10
Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters:

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him, c. When one man does an injury to another in his person and property, the case is brought before the judge, he hears it, examines into it, and determines upon it, and does justice, orders that the injured person have satisfaction made him, and so the matter is ended:

but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? all sin is in some sense against God, as it is contrary to his nature, and a breach of his law, and especially bold, daring, presumptuous sins but there are some sins that are more immediately and particularly against God, as sins against the first table of the law, which relate to the worship of God, and such were the sins of Eli's sons in the affair of sacrifices; all sin against God is aggravated by the perfections of his nature, and made tremendous, as being against a God of strict justice, of unspotted purity and holiness, and who is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent; and by the relation and connection there is between God and men, he is their Creator and Preserver, the God of their lives and mercies, and of all the blessings they enjoy, and yet sin against him! who will entreat the favour of God for such persons, ask pardon for them, and beseech the Lord to be propitious and merciful to them? who on earth will do it? such persons are scarce and rare, few care to stand up in the gap between God and sinners; in some cases they ought not, in others they cannot. Eli suggests by this question, that he could not, even for his own sons; and who in heaven can or will do it? not saints departed, who know nothing of what is done below, nor angels, only the Lord Jesus Christ; he is the only Mediator between God and men, who has engaged his heart to approach unto God, and interpose between him and sinful men, and has made peace and reconciliation by his blood, and is become the propitiation for sin, and ever lives to make intercession for transgressors, and is always prevalent and successful in his mediation and intercession; excepting him, there is none to entreat for those that have sinned against the Lord, see 1 John 2:1. In answer to this question, who shall entreat for him? the Jews say x repentance and good works; but these are insufficient advocates for a sinner, without the atoning sacrifice of Christ, who is propitiation for sin, and upon which a plea can only be founded:

notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto the voice of their father; to his reproofs and counsels, his reasonings and expostulations; though his rebukes were so gentle, and this last reasoning of his so close and strong, so nervous and striking:

because the Lord would slay them; it was his purpose and decree, his will and pleasure, to cut them off for their wickedness; wherefore he gave them up to a judicial blindness, and hardness of heart, as he did Pharaoh, so that they were proof against all advice, admonitions, and arguments used with them: some choose to read the words, "therefore the Lord would slay them" y, because they were disobedient to the voice of their father; but the former sense is best; for his will to destroy them was not so much for their disregard to the reproofs of their father in which he himself was culpable, as for their breach of his laws.

x T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 87. 1. y כי "ideo", Noldius, p. 395. No. 1342. "idcirco vel quapropter", Quistorp, so Patrick.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The sense seems to be, If one man sin against another, the judge shall amerce him in the due penalty, and then he shall be free; but if he sin against the Lord, who shall act the part of judge and arbiter for him? His guilt must remain to the great day of judgment.

Because the Lord would slay them - There is a sense in which whatever comes to pass is the accomplishment of God’s sovereign will and pleasure, and all the previous steps, even when they involve moral causes, by which this will and pleasure are brought about, are in this sense also brought about by God. How this truth, which reason and revelation alike acknowledge, consists with man’s free will on the one hand; or, when the evil deeds and punishment of a sinner are some of the previous steps, with God’s infinite mercy and love on the other, is what cannot possibly be explained. We can only firmly believe both statements,

(1) that God hath no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, and that He willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live;

(2) that the sins and the punishments of sin are accomplishments of God’s eternal purpose (compare the marginal references, and Isaiah 6:9-10; Mark 4:12; Romans 9:15). It may be explained by saying that in the case of Hophni and Phinehas God’s will to kill them was founded upon His foreknowledge of their impenitence; while from another point of view, in which God’s will is the fixed point, that impenitence may be viewed in its relation to that fixed point, and so dependent upon it, and a necessary step to it.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 2:25. If one man sin against another — All differences between man and man may be settled by the proper judge; but if a man sin against the Supreme Judge, God himself, who shall reconcile him to his Maker? Your sin is immediately against God himself, and is the highest insult that can be offered, because it is in the matter of his own worship, therefore ye may expect his heaviest judgments.

But if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? — This was a question of the most solemn importance under the old covenant, especially after the death of Moses, the mediator. The law had determined what sins should be punished with death; and it was supposed that there was not any appeal from the decision there pronounced. 1 John 2:1 is an answer to this question; but it is an answer which the Gospel alone can give: My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not; but if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Because the Lord would slay them. — The particle כי ki, which we translate because, and thus make their continuance in sin the effect of God's determination to destroy them, should be translated therefore, as it means in many parts of the sacred writings. See Noldius's Particles, where the very text in question is introduced: Sed non auscultarunt, c., IDEO voluit Jehova eos interficere "But they would not hearken, c. THEREFORE God purposed to destroy them." It was their not hearkening that induced the Lord to will their destruction.