Eli was a Jewish priest who served God at the tabernacle in Shiloh, a city close to the hill area of Ephraim, during the time of the judges in the Bible. He lived during the reign of the Kings of Israel and was only succeeded by Samuel. Eli is involved in the story of Hannah, with which the book of 1st Samuel begins, and this story brings the good and bad things Eli did. Eli’s role in Samuel’s first prophecy and his blessing of Samuel’s mother are what people commonly associate him with as his good doings.
First, the good thing that Eli did was that he blessed Hannah, who was childless. Hannah went to the house of the Lord to pray. She was praying in the presence of priest Eli while making a loud noise (W. Parry). Eli heard her prayer, and he blessed her, “Go in peace, may the Lord of Israel answer your prayers,” Hannah was blessed with a son named Samuel (1 Samuel 2:25). Secondly, in his good doings, Eli received Samuel and agreed to teach him about the ways of the Lord despite having sons. In addition, Eli gives blessings to Hannah and Elkanah to have more children because they dedicated Samuel to the Lord, and sure God through Elis’s goodness and prayer answered by giving Hannah and Elkanah three sons and two daughters. Finally, because of his goodness, he allowed Samuel to respond to the calling of the Lord.
From this story, what Eli does that is bad is that he falsely accuses Hannah of being a drunkard, yet she is not drunk; she is pouring her heart out so that God can hear and answer her prayer. Furthermore, Eli failed to rebuke the bad behavior of his sons Phineas and Hophni, who preserved and enjoyed flesh from sacrifices that were not intended for them; they broke the Law. They also practiced immorality at the tabernacle, and Eli did nothing about it.
In addition, what Eli does that is bad is that he is not entirely devoted to the Lord; he has his boys at the forefront of his mind rather than the Lord. This is known because God sent a messenger to Eli to warn him about his actions: “I will shorten your life and the life of your household,” but despite being a terrible curse (1 Samuel 2:25). Eli chose to ignore the prophecy, which led to his death and his sons. His ignorance also shows that he did not value the Lord as much as his sons. Eli also threatened to curse Samuel if he did not reveal what God had prophesied to him.
From my point of view priest, Eli, is a good character because he chose to bless Hannah despite being irritated by the noise Hannah was making. He also trained Samuel how to minister despite having sons. The lessons learned from the life of Eli, we, the Christians, learn that we have to value the people God has entrusted to watch and work under us. You might be raising a Samuel without knowing who became a powerful man of God. As a Christian parent, you should discipline your children with actions, not words alone. Eli’s sons were terrible and abused their powers as priests, and Eli only rebuked them and did not remove them from office. We should also value God more than ourselves and our loved ones. Eli could not protest the open immorality committed by his sons in the tabernacle.
Works Cited
Samuel. NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids, Mi, Zondervan Pub. House, 2019.
W. Parry, Donald. “Hannah in the Presence of the Lord.” Archaeology of the Books of Samuel, vol. 249, no. 6. 2010, pp. 53–73. Web.