Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD’s people to transgress.
Parallel translations
- WEB No, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear! You make Yahweh’s people disobey.
- BSB No, my sons; it is not a good report I hear circulating among the LORD’s people.
- NKJV No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress.
- NASB No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the Lord’s people circulating.
- NLT You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the Lord’s people are not good.
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 warned that their bad reputation was leading the Lord's people into transgression. Their sin was harming the whole community.
Overview
Eli recognized that his sons' scandalous conduct was spreading evil among God's people, not only condemning themselves. Their misuse of holy office turned others away from proper worship. This communal damage underscores the seriousness of unfaithful leadership, whose sin ripples outward to many.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Sam 2:17Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.
- 1 Sam 2:22Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
- 2 Pet 2:18For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
- 2 Kgs 10:31But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.
- Acts 6:3Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
- Rev 2:20Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
- Mal 2:8But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
- 1 Tim 3:7Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
- Matt 18:7Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
- Exod 32:21And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
- 1 Kgs 15:30Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
- 3 Jn 1:12Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.
- 1 Kgs 13:18–21He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
- 2 Cor 6:8By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;
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 2:24 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.