1 Samuel 2:32

32 and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, no one in your family line will ever reach old age.

1 Samuel 2:32 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
32 And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever.
English Standard Version (ESV)
32 Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.
New Living Translation (NLT)
32 You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel. But no members of your family will ever live out their days.
The Message Bible (MSG)
32 You'll see good things that I'm doing in Israel, but you'll see it and weep, for no one in your family will live to enjoy it.
American Standard Version (ASV)
32 And thou shalt behold the affliction of [my] habitation, in all the wealth which [God] shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
32 You will see distress in my dwelling place. In spite of the good that I do for Israel, no one in your family will live to an old age.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
32 You will see distress [in the] place of worship, in spite of all that is good in Israel, and no one in your family will ever again reach old age.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
32 " 'You will see nothing but trouble in the house where I live. Good things will still happen to Israel. But no man in your family line will ever grow old.

1 Samuel 2:32 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 2:32

And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation
Either the Philistines in the land of Israel, where God chose to dwell, who quickly after made war against Israel, and pitched in Aphek, ( 1 Samuel 4:1 ) or, as in the margin of our Bibles, and other versions F9, "thou shalt see the affliction of the tabernacle"; as he did when the ark of God was taken, at the news of which he died, ( 1 Samuel 4:17 1 Samuel 4:18 ) and so the Targum understands it of affliction and calamity, yet not of the house of God, but of his own house; paraphrasing the words thus,

``and thou shall see the calamity that shall come upon the men of thine house, for the sins which they have committed before me in the house of my sanctuary:''

but it seems best to interpret it of a rival, which not he in his own person should see, but whom his posterity should see high priest in the temple; as they did in Solomon's time, when Abiathar, of the family of Eli, was thrust out, and Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, was put in; for, as Kimchi observes, when a man has two wives, they are rivals or adversaries to one another, jealous and emulous of each other, as Elkanah's two wives were, and of one of them the same word is used as here, ( 1 Samuel 1:6 ) so when one high priest was put out, and another taken in, the one was the rival or adversary of the other, as in the case referred to:

in all the wealth which God shall give Israel;
which points exactly at the time when this should be, even men God did well to Israel, gave them great prosperity, wealth and riches, quietness and safety, a famous temple built for the worship of God, and everything in a flourishing condition, both with respect to temporals and spirituals, as was in the days of Solomon, see ( 1 Kings 4:20 1 Kings 4:25 ) ( 10:27 ) and then it was amidst all that plenty and prosperity, and when the high priesthood was most honourable and profitable, that Eli's family was turned out of it, and another put into it:

and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever;
(See Gill on 1 Samuel 2:31) this is repeated for confirmation, and with this addition, that this would be the case for ever.


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (Nwem ru) (yliqin katoikhsewv) Symmachus; "angustiam tabernaculi", Junius & Tremellius. Piscator.

1 Samuel 2:32 In-Context

30 “Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that members of your family would minister before me forever.’ But now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained.
31 The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age,
32 and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, no one in your family line will ever reach old age.
33 Every one of you that I do not cut off from serving at my altar I will spare only to destroy your sight and sap your strength, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.
34 “ ‘And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day.

Cross References 2

  • 1. 1 Samuel 4:3; 1 Samuel 22:17-20; Jeremiah 7:12,14
  • 2. 1 Kings 2:26-27; Zechariah 8:4
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