Bible Strands
1 Samuel 2:31
Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that no one in it will reach old age.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through the prophet to Eli’s priestly line, delivering a declaration of judgment during a direct confrontation. This pronouncement follows a prior promise of permanence and precedes the historical unraveling of Eli’s household.
The words — The verb גָּדַעְתִּי (ga.da.Ti) literally means “I will cut off” or “sever,” paired with זְרוֹעַ (ze.ro.a), meaning “arm,” which denotes strength or power. The text states the LORD will sever the strength of Eli and his father’s house so that no one in it reaches old age.
The thread — This judgment runs forward to 1 Samuel 22:17 where Saul orders the priests killed, 1 Kings 2:26 where Solomon banishes Abiathar, and 1 Samuel 4:11 where Eli’s sons die and the ark is captured. The thread tracks the progressive dismantling of the priestly house across Israel’s monarchy and military history.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine honor and disdain operate on human reverence, not institutional privilege. It asks the reader to acknowledge that spiritual authority carries accountability and that broken promises of permanence follow contempt for God.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 22:17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they did not tell me.” But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
- 1 Kings 2:26 Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”
- 1 Samuel 4:11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
- 1 Samuel 14:3 including Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.
- 1 Samuel 4:2 The Philistines arrayed themselves against Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.
- 1 Kings 2:35 And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar’s place.
- Job 22:9 You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
- Psalms 37:17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.
- Ezekiel 30:21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. See, it has not been bound up for healing, or splinted for strength to hold the sword.
- Ezekiel 44:10 Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.