“Why are you doing these things?” Eli said to his sons. “I hear about your wicked deeds from all these people.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to them, “Why do you do such things? for I hear of your evil dealings from all this people.
- KJV And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people.
- NKJV So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people.
- NASB So he said to them, “Why are you doing such things as these, the evil things that I hear from all these people?
- NLT Eli said to them, “I have been hearing reports from all the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Eli rebuked his sons, asking why they did such evil things he kept hearing about. His words were too little and too late.
Overview
Eli confronted his sons with their reported wickedness, showing he was not wholly silent. Yet his rebuke was merely verbal and ineffective, lacking the decisive action his office and the law required. His feeble response illustrates how honoring his sons above God led to ruin for his house.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Acts 14:15“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
- 1 Kgs 1:6(His father had never once reprimanded him by saying, “Why do you act this way?” Adonijah was also very handsome, born next after Absalom.)
- Jer 8:12Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.
- Phil 3:19Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
- Acts 9:4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
- Jer 3:3Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.
- Isa 3:9The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 2:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.