1 Samuel 2:12
New International Version
Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the LORD.

New Living Translation
Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD

English Standard Version
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible
Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD

King James Bible
Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

New King James Version
Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD.

New American Standard Bible
Now the sons of Eli were useless men; they did not know the LORD.

NASB 1995
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD

NASB 1977
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD

Legacy Standard Bible
Now the sons of Eli were vile men; they did not know Yahweh.

Amplified Bible
The sons of Eli [Hophni and Phinehas] were worthless (dishonorable, unprincipled) men; they did not know [nor respect] the LORD

Christian Standard Bible
Eli’s sons were wicked men; they did not respect the LORD

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD

American Standard Version
Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew not Jehovah.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the sons of Eli, the sons of sin, did not know LORD JEHOVAH

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the sons of Heli the priest were evil sons, not knowing the Lord.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Now the sons of Heli were children of Belial, not knowing the Lord,

English Revised Version
Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Eli's sons, [Hophni and Phinehas,] were good-for-nothing priests; they had no faith in the LORD.

Good News Translation
The sons of Eli were scoundrels. They paid no attention to the LORD

International Standard Version
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men who did not know the LORD.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew not the LORD.

Literal Standard Version
and the sons of Eli [are] sons of worthlessness, they have not known YHWH.

Majority Standard Bible
Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD

New American Bible
Now the sons of Eli were wicked; they had respect neither for the LORD

NET Bible
The sons of Eli were wicked men. They did not recognize the LORD's authority.

New Revised Standard Version
Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they had no regard for the LORD

New Heart English Bible
Now the sons of Eli were base men; they did not know the LORD.

Webster's Bible Translation
Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

World English Bible
Now the sons of Eli were wicked men. They didn’t know Yahweh.

Young's Literal Translation
and the sons of Eli are sons of worthlessness, they have not known Jehovah.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Eli's Wicked Sons
12Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD 13or for the custom of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling…

Cross References
2 Corinthians 6:15
What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

Judges 2:10
After that whole generation had also been gathered to their fathers, another generation rose up who did not know the LORD or the works that He had done for Israel.

Judges 19:22
While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!"

1 Samuel 3:13
I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God and he did not restrain them.

1 Kings 21:10
But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify, 'You have cursed both God and the king!' Then take him out and stone him to death."

Jeremiah 2:8
The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD?' The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.

Jeremiah 9:3
"They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account," declares the LORD.


Treasury of Scripture

Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

The sons

Hosea 4:6-9
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children…

Malachi 2:1-9
And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you…

sons of Belial

1 Samuel 10:27
But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.

1 Samuel 25:17
Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.

Deuteronomy 13:13
Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;

knew

1 Samuel 3:7
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.

Judges 2:10
And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

Jeremiah 2:8
The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

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Base Belial Eli Eli's Evil Regard Wicked Worthless Worthlessness
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Base Belial Eli Eli's Evil Regard Wicked Worthless Worthlessness
1 Samuel 2
1. Hannah's song in thankfulness
12. The sin of Eli's sons
18. Samuel's ministry
20. by Eli's blessing Hannah is more fruitful
22. Eli reproves his sons
27. A prophecy against Eli's house














(12) Sons of.--The word Belial is printed here and 1Samuel 1:16, as though Belial were the name of some pagan deity, but it simply signifies "worthlessness." It is a common term in these records of Samuel, being used some nine or ten times. It is rarely found in the other historical books. "Sons of Belial" signifies, then, merely "sons of worthlessness," worthless, good-for-nothing men. The Speaker's Commentary ingeniously accounts for the use of Belial in the English Version here, and in other places in the Old Testament, by referring to the contrast drawn by St. Paul between Christ and Belial, as if Belial were the name of an idol. or the personification of evil (2Corinthians 6:15).

They knew not the Lord.--The whole conduct of these high priestly officials showed they were utter unbelievers. They used their sacred position merely as affording an opportunity for their selfish extortions; and, as is so often the case now, as it was then, their unbelief was the source of their moral worthlessness (see 1Samuel 2:22). "Hophni and Phinehas (the two sons of Eli) are, for students of ecclesiastical history, eminently suggestive characters. They are true exemplars of the grasping and worldly clergy of all ages.

"It was the sacrificial feasts that gave occasion for their rapacity. It was the dances and assemblies of the women in the vineyards and before the sacred feast that gave occasion for their debaucheries. They were the worst development of the lawlessness of the age, penetrating, as in the case of the wandering Levite of the Book of Judges, into the most sacred offices.

"But the coarseness of these vices does not make the moral less pointed for all times. The three-pronged fork which fishes up the seething flesh is the earliest type of grasping at pluralities and Church preferments by base means, the open profligacy at the door of the Tabernacle is the type of many a scandal brought on the Christian Church by the selfishness or sensuality of the ministers."--Dean Stanley, On the Jewish Churchy Lecture 17, Part I.

Verse 12. - Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial, i.e. worthless men (see on 1 Samuel 1:16). They knew not Jehovah. He had never been revealed to their consciences, and so his fear had no influence upon their lives. The next words, in ver. 13, are difficult, but lit. mean, "The legal right of the priests, towards, or as respects, the people." On this account the Vulgate and several commentators couple the sentence with what precedes: "they knew neither Jehovah, nor their own legal rights." But the word also in ver. 15 is incompatible with this rendering; for if what is mentioned there be illegal, so must also the practice be which is recorded here. But neither does custom give the sense; for the Hebrews has not priest's (sing.) as the A.V., but of the priests, of all priests generally, and not of Eli merely and his sons. The right translation is that given by the Sept., Syriac, and Chaldee, namely, "the due of the priests from the people," on which see Leviticus 7:31-35. In the original this is put absolutely "And as to the priests' due from the people, when," etc., but our language requires some insertion to make it read more smoothly. "And as to the due of the priests from the people, the manner of its exaction was as follows: When," etc. But besides the due and legal portion, which, nevertheless, they took in an illegal way, they demanded a part of the flesh reserved for the feast of the offerer, and to which they had absolutely no right (see Leviticus 8:31; 2 Chronicles 35:13). The legal due of the priest was the right shoulder and the wave breast; but before he took them they were to be consecrated to God by the burning of the fat upon the altar (Leviticus 3:5; Leviticus 7:31, 34). It is worth observing that the people seem well acquainted with the words of the Law, and are indignant because the priests, its proper guardians, do not abide literally by them. This contempt of the Law distressed their religious susceptibilites, while the cupidity of Eli's sons offended their moral nature. And so men abhorred the offering of Jehovah. Lit. it is the minchah, the unbloody sacrifice, or meat offering, but it is put here forevery kind of sacrificial offering.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now the sons
וּבְנֵ֥י (ū·ḇə·nê)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of Eli
עֵלִ֖י (‘ê·lî)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5941: Eli -- a priest at Shiloh

were wicked
בְלִיָּ֑עַל (ḇə·lî·yā·‘al)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1100: Without profit, worthlessness, destruction, wickedness

men;
בְּנֵ֣י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

they had no
לֹ֥א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

regard
יָדְע֖וּ (yā·ḏə·‘ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 3045: To know

for the LORD
יְהוָֽה׃ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel


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OT History: 1 Samuel 2:12 Now the sons of Eli were base (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 2:11
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