Bible Dictionaries
Eli

Holman Bible Dictionary

(ee' li) Personal name meaning, “high.” The priest at Shiloh who became the custodian of the child Samuel (1 Samuel 1:3 ). He was the father of Hophni and Phinehas. After Samuel's birth Hannah, his mother, brought him to the sanctuary at Shiloh in fulfillment of a vow she had made to the Lord. Eli thereby became the human agent largely responsible for the religious and spiritual training of the boy. When Samuel mistook the voice of God for the voice of Eli, Eli instructed him to ask the Lord to speak the next time he heard the voice (1 Samuel 3:1 ). Eli's death was precipitated by the news of the death of his sons and the capture of the ark of God by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4:18 ).