1 Samuel 2

“Grave” is literally “he sends us to Sheol,” which is the place of the dead. When Old Testament writers talked about life after death, it was usually about a place called Sheol, where the dead spirits go and tend not to come back (Genesis 37:35), except for Samuel, conjured up by a medium (1 Samuel 28:15). In King Solomon’s day, most Israelite ancestors of today’s Jewish people didn’t seem to believe in an afterlife where good people get rewarded and bad people get punished. Some Jewish scholars say Isaiah 26:19 helped convince Jews in Medieval times that there is a resurrection. Rabbinic Judaism, like much of Christianity, teaches that all people will rise from the dead.

“Saves us” is more literally “raises up.” As in, he can drop us into a grave or lift us from our sickbed. Most scholars, it seems, say this isn’t a reference to resurrection after death. Instead, the writer seems to be talking about a rescue from death. Some psalms do the same thing, “LORD, you lifted me out of the grave…and spared my life” (Psalm 30:3).

This was a bit of an overreach, to use a pun. If this is a peace offering, which worshipers get to help eat, then the priests are allowed “the breast and the right thigh” (Leviticus 7:35). If the worshiper slaughtered a cow, the priests got: “shoulder, stomach, and both cheek muscles from the head” (Deuteronomy 18:3). Not what you’d call choice cuts.

Juicy fat was considered the Food of God. “All of the best part of the animal—the fat—belongs to the LORD” (Leviticus 3:16).

“Apron” is a guess. Scholars aren’t sure what an ephod looked like. Several centuries before Samuel, in the time of Moses, an ephod was an apron or vest worn by the high priest. Some scholars describe it as a skirt or a shift-like garment that covered the body from about the waist to the mid-thigh. Priests, after the time of Samuel, would use what was described as an ephod to store the sword of Goliath. That was after David killed this Philistine champion warrior (1 Samuel 23:9). Some scholars suggest the Hebrew word ephod was related to the Akkadian word epattu. Assyrian writings say epattu were idols dressed in expensive clothing worn by high officials.

Eli died at age 98 (2 Samuel 4:15).

The worship center may have been a tent, or perhaps something more permanent, with the old name still sticking. Bible writers talk about this Meeting Tent in Exodus 36-40.

Leviticus 8:7.

The Bible describes several kinds of sacrifices, including burnt, grain, and peace, along with the sin and guilt offerings. Only the “burnt offering” was entirely burned. Worshipers and priests shared some of the offerings. For a description of the sacrifices, see Leviticus, chapters 1-5.

Eli’s sons will die in a battle with the Philistines. And when Eli gets that bad news, he will fall out of a chair and break his neck (1 Samuel 4:17-18). But scholars say fulfillment of the prophecy comes later, when King Saul, on a hunt for runaway David, wipes out the priests of Nob (1 Samuel 22:11-23). Those priests were reportedly descended from Eli. Only a priest named Abiathar survives. He serves King David, but gets fired from the service of David’s son and successor, Solomon.

Many scholars say this was the family of Zadok, which rose to power and served King David and his son King Solomon. Aaron, brother of Moses, was the founding priest of Israel. All priests came from his descendants. But among those descendants, there were power struggles, pitting one extended family of priests against other groups. Levites from the same tribe but unqualified to serve in the worship center rituals, became second-class priests. The kind of person who would pick up the boss’s laundry and run across the street to get him a maple long john with Bavarian crème.