1 Samuel 2:31-36 – Days Are Coming

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 02 Aug 2020

Introduction

I) Days of Judgment Are Coming, so Obey God and don’t give in to sin in the midst of a corrupt generation (vs. 31-32)

A) Distress/an enemy with an envious eye1 in the dwelling/habitation/location of the tabernacle

B) The cutting off of old men from the priestly line of Ithamar and Eli

C) A Sign of God’s Justice is Given

II) Days of Mercy are Available, so don’t neglect the Gospel in the dread of judgment; Repent and ask for God’s mercy. (vs. 33-34)

A) God provides a warning as an opportunity for repentance and healing of the relationship before striking in judgment so His mercy might be obtained

B) God’s mercy is shown in allowing for a remnant of Eli’s house to escape death and serve Him.

III) Days of Hope are coming, so Don’t give in to despair in the absence of Godly leaders, rather, Look to Jesus! (vs.35-36)

A) The Traits of the coming leader

  1. He will be a “faithful” priest who will “do” God’s will

  1. He will have an “enduring house”

  1. He will walk/conduct himself/minister before God’s Anointed10 always/forever11 – literally “all the days” – which, I might point out, does not necessarily mean “forever” but could just refer to his lifetime. So, who is this who will walk in the presence of the Lord?

B) Who is this leader who was prophecied to bring hope?

  1. Is is Samuel? No. He was a faithful priest, but he did not anoint any priests and his sons did not become priests either.

  2. Is it Saul? No. He wasn’t a priest, his dynasty didn’t endure, and he didn’t anoint anybody.

  3. Is it David? No. He was anointed king, and he was promised an enduring house, but He was not a priest, and he didn’t anoint anybody else.

  4. It must be Jesus the Messiah,

IV) Conclusion

  1. Days of Judgment Are Coming, so Obey God and don’t give in to sin in the midst of a corrupt generation.

  2. Days of Mercy are Available, so don’t neglect the Gospel in the dread of judgment; Repent and ask for God’s mercy.

  3. Days of Hope are coming, so don’t give in to despair in the absence of Godly leaders, rather, look to Jesus!

1 Samuel 2:31-36 - Side-by side comparison of versionsA

LXX

Brenton (LXX)

DRB (Vulgate)

KJV

NAW

Masoretic Txt

31 ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται καὶ ἐξ­ολεθρεύσω τὸ σπέρμα σου καὶ τὸ σπέρμα οἴκου πατρός σου,

31 Behold, the days come when I will destroy thy seed and the seed of thy father's house.

31 Behold the days come: and I will cut off thy arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house.

31 Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house.

31 Look, days are coming when I will chop off your arm and the arm of your forefather’s house [from there being an old man in your house,

(לא) הִנֵּה יָמִים בָּאִים וְגָדַעְתִּי אֶת זְרֹעֲךָ וְאֶת זְרֹעַ בֵּית אָבִיךָ B מִהְיוֹת זָקֵן בְּבֵיתֶךָ.

32 C καὶ οὐκ ἔσται σου πρεσβύτης ἐν οἴκῳ μου πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας·

32 And thou shalt not have an old man in my house for ever.

32 And thou shalt see [thy] rival in the temple, in all the prosperity of Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever.

32 And thou shalt see an enemyD in my habitationE, in all the wealth which God shall giveF Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house for ever.

32 and you will perceive distress on location with all of Israel that He makes good], and there will not be an elder of yours in my house all those days.

(לב) וְהִבַּטְתָּ צַר מָעוֹןG בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר יֵיטִיב אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל Hוְלֹא יִהְיֶה I זָקֵן בְּבֵיתְךָJ כָּל הַיָּמִים.

33 καὶ ἄνδρα οὐκ ἐξολεθρεύσω σοι ἀπὸ τοῦ θυσιαστη­ρίου μου ἐκλιπεῖν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ καταρρεῖν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πᾶς περισσεύων οἴκου σου πεσοῦνται ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ ἀνδρῶν.

33 And [if] I do not destroy a man of thine from my altar, it shall be that his eyes may fail and his soul may perish; and every one that remains in thy house shall fall by the sword of men.

33 However, I will not altogether take away a man of thee from my altar: but that thyK eyes may faint, and thy soul be spent: and a great part of thy house shall die, [when they come to] man['s estate].

33 And the manL of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consumeM thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the [flower of their] ageN.

33 Yet there is a man of yours that I will not cause to be cut off from being at my altar to finish off his eyesight and to grieve his soul, though all the in­crease of your house will fall {by the sword of} men.

(לג) וְאִישׁ לֹא אַכְרִית לְךָ מֵעִם מִזְבְּחִי לְכַלּוֹת אֶת עֵינֶיךָO וְלַאֲדִיבP אֶת נַפְשֶׁךָ וְכָל מַרְבִּיתQ בֵּיתְךָ יָמוּתוּR אֲנָשִׁים.

34 καὶ τοῦτό σοι τὸ σημεῖον, ὃ ἥξει ἐπὶ τοὺς δύο υἱούς σου τούτους Οφνι καὶ Φινεες· ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ ἀποθανοῦνται ἀμφότεροι X.

34 And this which shall come upon thy two sons Ophni and Phinees shall be a sign to thee; in one day they shall both die.

34 And this shall be a sign to thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees: in one day they shall both of them die.

34 And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them.

34 And this will be the sign for you which will come to both of your sons - to Hophni and Phinehas – on one day both of them will die.

(לד) וְזֶה לְּךָ הָאוֹת אֲשֶׁר יָבֹא אֶל שְׁנֵי בָנֶיךָ אֶל חָפְנִי וּפִינְחָס בְּיוֹם אֶחָד יָמוּתוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם.S

35 καὶ ἀναστήσω ἐμαυτῷ ἱερέα πιστόν, ὃς πάντα τὰ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ μου ποιήσει· καὶ οἰκο­δομήσω αὐτῷ οἶκον πιστόν, καὶ διελεύ­σεταιT ἐνώπιον χριστοῦU μου πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας.

35 And I will raise up to myself a faith­ful priest, who shall do all that is in my heart and in my soul; and I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before my Christ for ever.

35 And I will raise me up a faithful priest, who shall do according to my heart, and my soul and I will build him a faithful house, and he shall walk all days before my anointed.

35 And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sureV house; and he shall walkW before mine anointed for everX.

35 Then I will cause to establish for my­self a faithful priest {who} will do {all} that is in my heart and in my soul, and I will build for him a faithful house, and he will conduct himself before the face of my Anointed One all his days.

(לה) וַהֲקִימֹתִי לִי כֹּהֵן נֶאֱמָן Y כַּאֲשֶׁר בִּלְבָבִי וּבְנַפְשִׁי יַעֲשֶׂה וּבָנִיתִי לוֹ בַּיִת נֶאֱמָן וְהִתְהַלֵּךְ לִפְנֵי מְשִׁיחִי כָּל הַיָּמִים.

36 καὶ ἔσται ὁ περι­σσεύωνZ ἐν οἴκῳ σου ἥξει προσ­κυνεῖν αὐτῷ ὀβολοῦAA ἀργυρίου X X XBB λέγων Παράρριψόν με ἐπὶ μίαν τῶν ἱερατειῶν σου φαγεῖν X ἄρτον.

36 And it shall come to pass that he that survives in thy house, shall come to do obeisance before him for a little piece of silver X X X, saying, Put me into one of thy priest's [offices] to eat X bread.

36 And it shall come to pass, that whoso­ever shall remain in thy house shall come that he may be prayed for, and shall offer a piece of sil­ver, and a roll of bread, and shall say: Put me, I beseech thee, to somewhat of the priestly [office], that I may eat a morsel of bread.

36 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouchCC to him for a piece of silver and a morselDD of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests' [offices], that I may eat a pieceEE of bread.

36 So it will come to pass that anyone left in your house will go to prostrate himself before him for the fistfull of change and a slice of bread and say, ‘Assign me to one of the priests to eat a serving of food, please.’”

(לו) וְהָיָה כָּל הַנּוֹתָר בְּבֵיתְךָ יָבוֹא לְהִשְׁתַּחֲו‍ֹת לוֹ לַאֲגוֹרַתFF כֶּסֶף וְכִכַּר לָחֶם וְאָמַר סְפָחֵנִי נָא אֶל אַחַת הַכְּהֻנּוֹת לֶאֱכֹל פַּתGG לָחֶם.


1This is an odd and probably spurious rendering of מָעוֹן (compare with the word for “eye” עינ in v.33) from the RSV which the ESV kept. In v.29, the ESV rendered it “my dwelling.”

2“ṣar… shrinkage of the size… the decline of the temple despite the prosperity of society is announced as the judgment of God upon the priestly family.” ~Tsumura

3 Gill cites the Talmud in favor of this position (T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 14. 1) as well as Ben Gersom and Abarbinel.

4Keil & Delitzsch commented: “By the ‘tried priest,’ Ephraem Syrus understood both the prophet Samuel and the priest Zadok... Since his time, most of the commentators, including Theodoret and the Rabbins, have decided in favour of Zadok. Augustine, however, and in modern times Thenius and O. v. Gerlach, give the preference to Samuel. The fathers and earlier theologians also regarded Samuel and Zadok as the type of Christ, and supposed the passage to contain a prediction of the abrogation of the Aaronic priesthood by Jesus Christ… only receives its complete and final fulfilment in Christ... But... we must not exclude either Samuel or Zadok... the prophecy was partially fulfilled in both.”

5“[I]n the days of Solomon (1Ki. 4:20)... amidst all that plenty and prosperity, and when the high priesthood was most honourable and profitable... Eli's family was turned out of it, and another put into it...” ~Gill

6 Cf. 1 Chron. 16:3 (David’s rations were much more), Prov. 6:26 (reduction of net worth); Jer. 37:21 (prisoner’s ration).

7Gill commented: “wards of the priests; their custodies... of which there were twenty four…. priests degraded from their office... would solicit the high priest in those days, and beg that he would put them in some inferior post under the priests, to do the meanest offices for them, slay the sacrifices for them, wash their pots, open and shut up doors, and the like, that so they might have a living, though a poor one.

8The New Testament books go on to affirm that God and Jesus and those Old Testament saints were faithful (e.g. Heb. 3:1-6), but the New Testament adds that when we trust Jesus to save us, we too join the ranks of those God considers “faithful”! Jesus often spoke of His followers being faithful (Mat. 24:45; 25:21,23; Luke 12:42; 16:10,11,12; 19:17.)

91 Kings 11:38 “Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you." (NKJV)

10The phrase “my Anointed” occurs one other place in the Bible in the plural rather than the singular, and that is in Psalm 105:15 (and its parallel passage in 1 Chron. 16:22) referring to all the faithful “prophets” of God before David. The only other place in the Bible that this singular name “my anointed” occurs is in Psalm 132:8-17 when David moved the tabernacle into Jerusalem and said, "Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your saints shout for joy. For Your servant David's sake, Do not turn away the face of Your Anointed. The LORD has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from it: "I will set upon your throne the fruit of your body. If your sons will keep My covenant And My testimony which I shall teach them, Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore." For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place... I will also clothe her priests with salvation, And her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There I will make the horn of David grow; I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed." (NKJV) Note that the “Anointed” is mentioned immediately after reference to priests and saints both times.

11 Cf. Goldman “all his days”

12Jehu, however, gets an honorable mention as being the only other person in the Bible that God said “did all that was in my heart” when he destroyed Ahab’s descendants.

AMy original chart includes the NASB and NIV, but their copyright restrictions have forced me to remove them from the publicly-available edition of this chart. I have included the ESV in footnotes when it employs a word not already used by the KJV, NASB, or NIV. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout. And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea Scroll (DSS) containing any part of 1 Samuel 2 is 4Q51Samuela which contains fragments of many of the verses (highlighted in purple), and which has been dated between 50-25 B.C. Where the DSS supports the LXX with text not in the MT, I have highlighted with yellow the LXX and its translation into English.

BThe DSS does not have room for any more text than this, supporting the LXX. There are, however other Greek manuscripts which support the MT (Fields cites: Codd. III, 19, 93, 108, 247, Arm. I, Procop. p.10).

CAlthough not in the Vaticanus or the majority of Septuagint (LXX) manuscripts, the additional text in the MT is found in the Second and Third Century AD Greek versions made by Judaistic-leaning translators Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotian. From this it appears that both textual traditions go back approximately to the time of Christ. The question of “How much further back in time are the textual traditions divided?” is currently unanswerable due to lack of manuscript evidence.

D NASB/NIV=distress

E NASB/NIV=dwelling, ESV=with envious eye

F NASB/NIV=good be done, ESV=prosperity bestowed

GGill says that the Targums explain this as calamity upon Eli’s house then argues that it is actually Samuel and Zadock as “rival” priests, but Keil & Delitzsch noted that there was no rivalry between them so it must have been calamity upon the tabernacle as it was ravaged by Philistines and moved from place to place during Samuel’s lifetime (cf. JFB).

H The DSS appears to pick back up here, supporting the LXX.

I DSS inserts לך "to you,” supporting the LXX.

J The pronomial suffix in the DSS is first singular, matching the LXX

K A couple of Latin codices (93 & 94) match the LXX & DSS with a third person singular pronoun here.

L NASB = “[every] man” NIV = “[every] one” ESV = “the [only] one”

MNASB=fail from weeping, NIV= blind with tears, ESV=weep his eyes out. [ESV matches LXX with 3rd person pronoun instead of MT’s 2nd person pronoun]

N NASB & NIV = “in the prime of life” | ESV & LXX = “by the sword of men”

O The prepositional suffix in the DSS is 3rd singular, matching the LXX “his.”

P This Hebrew verb for “grieve” occurs nowhere else in scripture.

QThe Vulgate supports the MT, but the LXX reads “remainder.” The DSS is obliterated at this point, and its word spacing does not favor either way. The word “remainder” does occur later in v.26, by all accounts.

RHere, the DSS reads יפולו בחרב "they will fall by the sword of,” matching the LXX. Fields was only able to cite a marginal note in one Greek manuscript in support of the MT. The obscurity of the MT has occasioned the addition of all sorts of words to make it intelligible. In addition to the above versions, there’s: “young” (AJV), “common” (Erlich), “full bloom of” (K&D), “grown” (Gill).

SAlthough obliterated at this point, DSS has more space than the words of the MT would require. It is believed that “by the sword of men” may have been repeated at this point.

TCf. synonyms from Aquila (εμπεριπατησει “walk around in”) and Symmachus (αναστραφησεται “live a lifestyle” -literally “turn up”).

USymmachus matched the LXX here with Christos. Fields cites 5 Greek manuscripts, however, which make “anointed one[s]” plural, narrowing the meaning down to “priests” and making the singular Messiah less in view. Aquila, on the other hand kept the singular, but translated it ηλειμμενου “the one who was shown mercy.”

V NASB=enduring, NIV=establish

W NIV=minister, ESV=go in and out

X NASB & NIV=always

YDSS is obliterated at this point, but it has more space than the wording in the MT, supporting the extra words ὃς πάντα in the LXX, and BHS cites multiple Hebrew manuscripts which read אשר כל like the LXX.

ZField cites 10 other Greek manuscripts (Ald., X, XI, 19, 29, 82, 93, 108, 158, 243) which substituted a synonym based on the passive form of the Greek root leipw “to be left,” closer to the meaning of the Hebrew word in the MT and DSS.

AA Cf. synonyms in Aq. συλλογην (“a mutually agreed upon amount”) and Symm. Μισθαρνηση (“a working-man’s wage”)

BBThere are Greek manuscripts and versions apart from the LXX tradition which include the additional phrase in the MT (and supported by the DSS) about a crust of bread. Field cites codex III, 44, 74, and 92, as well as Symmachus η κολλυρας αρτου (“or a cake of bread”).

CC NASB & NIV = “and bow down,” ESV = “to implore”

DD NASB=loaf, NIV=crust

EE ESV=morsel, NIV follows the LXX in omitting this word

FFHapex Legomenon. Related to a verb for “gather,” other forms of which are found in Dt. 28:39 & Prov. 6:8; 10:5, & 30:1. Gill speaks for several commentators who equated this “agorat” with the similar Hebrew word “gerah” saying,a piece of silver, even the smallest piece, that is, as the word signifies, a ‘gerah’ or ‘meah’, about a penny or three halfpence of our money, the twentieth part of a shekel (Eze. 45:12) and a piece of bread, not a whole loaf, but a slice of it...(cf. Tsumura)

GGThis word is used to describe the size of hail in Ps. 147:17, but it is also used to describe the size of food-servings made to honored guests, (Gen. 18:5), a king (1 Sam. 28:22), and a nobleman (Job 31:17), so I don’t think this word connotes “smallness” of portion but merely “a serving/apportionment.”

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