Why the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.
Why the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.
And the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah; for the men despised the offering of Jehovah.
And the sin of these young men was very great before the Lord; for they gave no honour to the Lord's offerings.
Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.
The sin of the young men was very great before Yahweh; for the men despised the offering of Yahweh.
And the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.
Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great - That is, Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli.
Men abhorred the offering - As the people saw that the priests had no piety, and that they acted as if there was no God; they despised God's service, and became infidels.
A national priesthood, when the foundation is right, may be a great blessing; but if the priesthood becomes corrupt, though the foundation itself stand sure, the corruption of the national manners will be the unavoidable consequence.
The offering of the Lord - Minchah, here in the general sense of "gift or offering" to God (compare Malachi 1:10-11; Malachi 3:3). In its restricted sense, it is used of the meat offerings, the unbloody sacrifices, and is then coupled with bloody sacrifices, sacrifices of slain beasts. (See 1 Samuel 2:29.)
2:17 Abhorred — But we know the validity and efficacy of the sacraments does not depend on the goodness of those that administer them. It was therefore folly and sin in the people, to think the worse of God's institutions. But it was the much greater sin of the priests, that gave them occasion so to do.