1-Samuel - 2:28



28 Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? Did I give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of 1-Samuel 2:28.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?
And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my sitar, and burn incense to me, and to wear the ephod before me: and I gave to thy father's house of all the sacrifices of the children of Israel.
even to choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to Me for a priest, to go up on Mine altar, to make a perfume, to bear an ephod before Me, and I give to the house of thy father all the fire-offerings of the sons of Israel?
Did I take him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest and to go up to my altar to make the smoke of the offerings go up and to take up the ephod? Did I give to your father's family all the offerings made by fire by the children of Israel?
And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me. And I gave to the house of your father all the offerings by fire of the children of Israel as food.
And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel for myself as priest, so that he might ascend to my altar, and burn incense to me, and wear the ephod before me. And I gave to the house of your father all the sacrifices of the sons of Israel.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

An ephod - The High Priest's ephod, in which was Urim and Thummim.
Did I give - The bountiful provision made by God for His priests is mentioned as the great aggravation of the covetousness of Eli's sons (compare 2-Samuel 12:7-9).

And did I choose him - The high priesthood was a place of the greatest honor that could be conferred on man, and a place of considerable emolument; for from their part of the sacrifices they derived a most comfortable livelihood.

And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest,.... He did; of all the tribes of Israel the Lord chose the tribe of Levi to place the priesthood in, and of all the families of that tribe he chose the house of Aaron, Eli's ancestor, to minister in the priest's office, see Exodus 28:1.
to offer upon mine altar; burnt offerings, sin offerings, and peace offerings; this is the altar of burnt offering, which stood in the court of the tabernacle:
to burn incense; on the altar of incense, which was in the holy place, and on which incense was burnt morning and evening:
to wear an ephod before me? in which was the breastplate, with the Urim and Thummim, with which the high priest went into the most holy place, where was the ark, the symbol of the divine Presence, and where he inquired of the Lord by the above things:
and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? he did; the priests who were of the house of Aaron had not only the sin offerings, and part of the peace offerings, but even of the offerings made by fire, the burnt offerings; the skin of them was the priest's, and the meat offerings that went along with them, see Leviticus 6:25 and Leviticus 8:8 which were given them for their maintenance. Now these instances of God's goodness to the family of Aaron are mentioned to aggravate the sins of Eli and his sons.

"And did I choose him out of all the tribes for a priest to myself." The interrogative particle is not to be repeated before וּבחור, but the construction becomes affirmative with the inf. abs. instead of the perfect. "Him" refers back to "thy father" in 1-Samuel 2:27, and signifies Aaron. The expression "for a priest" is still further defined by the clauses which follow: על מ לעלות, "to ascend upon mine altar," i.e., to approach my altar of burnt-offering and perform the sacrificial worship; "to kindle incense," i.e., to perform the service in the holy place, the principal feature in which was the daily kindling of the incense, which is mentioned instar omnium; "to wear the ephod before me," i.e., to perform the service in the holy of holies, which the high priest could only enter when wearing the ephod to represent Israel before the Lord (Exodus 28:12). "And have given to thy father's house all the firings of the children of Israel" (see at Leviticus 1:9). These words are to be understood, according to Deuteronomy 18:1, as signifying that the Lord had given to the house of Aaron, i.e., to the priesthood, the sacrifices of Jehovah to eat in the place of any inheritance in the land, according to the portions appointed in the sacrificial law in Leviticus 6-7, and Numbers 18.

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