1 Samuel 2:28

28 From all the tribes of Israel I chose his family to be my priests, to serve at the altar, to burn the incense, and to wear the ephod to consult me. And I gave them the right to keep a share of the sacrifices burned on the altar. ¹

1 Samuel 2:28 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 2:28

And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my
priest
He did; of all the tribes of Israel the Lord chose the tribe of Levi to place the priesthood in, and of all the families of that tribe he chose the house of Aaron, Eli's ancestor, to minister in the priest's office, see ( Exodus 28:1 )

to offer upon mine altar;
burnt offerings, sin offerings, and peace offerings; this is the altar of burnt offering, which stood in the court of the tabernacle:

to burn incense;
on the altar of incense, which was in the holy place, and on which incense was burnt morning and evening:

to wear an ephod before me?
in which was the breastplate, with the Urim and Thummim, with which the high priest went into the most holy place, where was the ark, the symbol of the divine Presence, and where he inquired of the Lord by the above things:

and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by
fire of the children of Israel?
he did; the priests who were of the house of Aaron had not only the sin offerings, and part of the peace offerings, but even of the offerings made by fire, the burnt offerings; the skin of them was the priest's, and the meat offerings that went along with them, see ( Leviticus 6:25 Leviticus 6:26 ) and ( Leviticus 8:8-10 Leviticus 8:33-35 ) ( Numbers 18:8-10 ) which were given them for their maintenance. Now these instances of God's goodness to the family of Aaron are mentioned to aggravate the sins of Eli and his sons.

1 Samuel 2:28 In-Context

26 The boy Samuel continued to grow and to gain favor both with the Lord and with people.

27 A prophet came to Eli with this message from the Lord: "When your ancestor Aaron and his family were slaves of the king of Egypt, I revealed myself to Aaron.

28 From all the tribes of Israel I chose his family to be my priests, to serve at the altar, to burn the incense, and to wear the ephod to consult me. And I gave them the right to keep a share of the sacrifices burned on the altar.

29 Why, then, do you look with greed at the sacrifices and offerings which I require from my people? Why, Eli, do you honor your sons more than me by letting them fatten themselves on the best parts of all the sacrifices my people offer to me?

30 I, the Lord God of Israel, promised in the past that your family and your clan would serve me as priests for all time. But now I say that I won't have it any longer! Instead, I will honor those who honor me, and I will treat with contempt those who despise me.

Cross References

• 1. 2.28 aExodus 28.1-4; bLeviticus 7.35, 36.

Footnotes

• [a]. ephod: [See Word List.]