Spiritual Abuse and Enablement in 1 Samuel 2-3
by Quinn
Context:
After the Exodus from Egypt, God instructs Moses to build a tabernacle,¹ a kind of portable sanctuary. It would be the dwelling place of God among the Israelites and their center of worship and sacrifice until Solomon’s temple replaced it hundreds of years later.
The tabernacle would be moved from place to place during the wilderness wanderings. After the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the promised land, the tabernacle remained in Gilgal for seven years.² From there, it was moved to Shiloh, where it remained for the entire period of the Judges.³⁴ This story picks up with the tabernacle resting in Shiloh and the ark of the covenant inside. Samuel is still a boy at this time. Two of the priests at the tabernacle, Hophni and Phinehas, are deeply corrupt. Their father, Eli, is also a priest.⁵
Text:
1Sam. 2:12 ¶ Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD
1Sam. 2:13 and the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.
1Sam. 2:14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
1Sam. 2:15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw.”
1Sam. 2:16 If the man said to him, “They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.”
1Sam. 2:17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of the LORD.
Verses 18-21 are on a different topic
1Sam. 2:22 ¶ Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
1Sam. 2:23 He said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people?
1Sam. 2:24 “No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the LORD’S people circulating.
1Sam. 2:25 “If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the LORD desired to put them to death.
1Sam. 2:26 ¶ Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the LORD and with men.
1Sam. 2:27 ¶ Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house?
1Sam. 2:28 ‘Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?
1Sam. 2:29 ‘Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’
1Sam. 2:30 “Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now the LORD declares, ‘Far be it from Me — for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.
1Sam. 2:31 ‘Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house.
1Sam. 2:32 ‘You will see the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that I do for Israel; and an old man will not be in your house forever.
1Sam. 2:33 ‘Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life.
1Sam. 2:34 ‘This will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them will die.
1Sam. 2:35 ‘But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always.
1Sam. 2:36 ‘Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, “Please assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.”’”
The beginning of chapter 3 is on a different topic
1Sam. 3:11 The LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
1Sam. 3:12 “In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.
1Sam. 3:13 “For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them.
1Sam. 3:14 “Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
Summary / Interpretation:
Hophni and Phinehas use their position of spiritual authority for personal gain. They steal (2:13-14) and even extort (2:16) meat that people brought to sacrifice. Demanding raw meat (2:15) appears to have to do with taking the valuable fat portions that were supposed to be burnt in sacrifice to God (see Leviticus 3:9-11). There were other portions that the priests were allotted to eat (see Leviticus 7:29-34).
Additionally, they would have sex with the female tabernacle workers (2:22). While the text does not explicitly describe the encounters as rape or sexual assault, it seems reasonable to assume that their priestly authority played a significant role in enabling the sexual interactions.
We are used to reading the Old Testament law in context of the gospels – Jesus healing on the Sabbath,⁶ Jesus talking about David eating the consecrated bread (and that being okay),⁷ the priests in the temple breaking the Sabbath and being innocent,⁸ etc. We can get into a frame of mind of thinking that those detailed Levitical laws maybe weren’t the most important thing in the world. But Hophni and Phinehas’ abuses were not just technical infractions of a rigid legal structure. Given they were priests, it seems fair to assume they would’ve had detailed knowledge of the law, which they went on to violate in both letter and spirit. They showed selfish contempt for God’s holiness and arrogant disregard for the people.
The modern equivalent of this might be a pastor who misappropriates funds donated for a ministry purpose for his own personal use. Or one who uses his spiritual authority to get close to women and take advantage of them sexually.⁹
Eli hears about his sons’ abuses and talks to them about it, but his main concern seems to be with his sons’ wellbeing (2:22-25). The sons do not listen to Eli, as it appears God has already made his judgment (2:25). That’s a scary thought. Verse 26 appears to indicate the passage of time – perhaps God is giving Eli a chance to come to his senses and realize he has a responsibility to do more.
Eli is rebuked for honoring his sons above God (2:29). While you could interpret verses 23-25 as Eli rebuking his sons, God says in 3:13 that Eli did not rebuke them. Eli’s response appears to be too soft and ineffectual for God to let him off the hook. With Eli being a priest himself as well as Hophni and Phinehas’ father, I assume he had the ability to remove them from power but chose not to.
This is a cautionary tale not only for church leaders but those who choose to either disengage or engage softly with abusive leaders. At the same time, we should be mindful of the fact that Eli was in a position of power. He was not a victim. And he is the only one we see God holding responsible for being an enabler. Additionally, the story reminds us that as serious as enablement is, it’s the perpetrators who face the most severe penalty (2:25, 34).
Notice also that victim blaming is absent from the text. The victims are not criticized for being too trusting of the priestly leadership, or for the fat offering they intended to make being consumed by the corrupt priests. Nor is there mention of God holding the women responsible for sexual sin.
Footnotes:
1) Exodus 25:8-9
2) Joshua 4:19
3) Joshua 18:1
4) Some info from Easton’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, 1897.
5) 1 Sam 1:9
6) Mark 3:1-6
7) Matthew 12:1-8
8) Same verses.
9) In our country today, there are some states where a clergy member can be charged criminally for sexual contact with a parishioner, even if the parishioner is a “consenting” adult. This can include situations where the clergy member uses spiritual influence to exploit someone’s emotional dependency, or has sexual contact with a person they are providing spiritual counseling to. This is sometimes referred to as “adult clergy sexual abuse.” In cases of child sexual abuse, which would be criminal regardless, penalties can be increased on account of the abuser being in a position of trust or authority.