Eli (26 mai 1107 av. J.-C. – 20 déc. 1067 av. J.-C.)

Description:

1 Samuel 1; 2:12-4:22

Eli was a priest, and thus belonged to the tribe of Levi. He would have already been a priest long before Samuel was even conceived and born. He witnessed Hannah, Samuel's mother, praying to God asking for a child. Seeing her soberness - he first thought she was drunk - he encourages her by saying "may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him." Eli would later mentor Samuel for service to God.

Eli's sons were renowned for their wickedness, halfheartedly serving as priests for Israel. Being a descendant of Aaron, he lived in the promise of an eternal line of priests (see Exodus 28:43), but this would be stripped away from him and his sons (see 1 Samuel 3:11-14). Eli reacted by saying that God will do as he judges best.

After the ark was captured by the Philistines, Eli (who was blind at this point) asked what all the commotion in the city was about. Upon hearing the bad news, he fell backward in his chair and hit his head; he died in this way.

Extra Detail:
Jeremiah is believed to be a descendant of Eli. Eli's son, Abiathar, was a priest who was exiled to Anathoth by King Solomon (see 1 Kings 2:26-27), where Jeremiah would later become a priest (see Jeremiah 1:1).

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