27 A man of God came to Eli, and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Did I reveal myself to the house of your father, when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? 28 Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? Did I give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel my people?’ 30 “Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever.’ But now Yahweh says, ‘Be it far from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days come, that I will cut off your arm, and the arm of your father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in your house. 32 You shall see the affliction of my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 The man of yours, whom I shall not cut off from my altar, shall be to consume your eyes, and to grieve your heart; and all the increase of your house shall die in the flower of their age. 34 “‘This shall be the sign to you, that shall come on your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall both die. 35 I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before my anointed forever. 36 It shall happen, that everyone who is left in your house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread, and shall say, “Please put me into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 2:27-36
Commentary on 1 Samuel 2:27-36
(Read 1 Samuel 2:27-36)
Those who allow their children in any evil way, and do not use their authority to restrain and punish them, in effect honour them more than God. Let Eli's example excite parents earnestly to strive against the beginnings of wickedness, and to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In the midst of the sentence against the house of Eli, mercy is promised to Israel. God's work shall never fall to the ground for want of hands to carry it on. Christ is that merciful and faithful High Priest, whom God raised up when the Levitical priesthood was thrown off, who in all things did his Father's mind, and for whom God will build a sure house, build it on a rock, so that hell cannot prevail against it.