Eli (priest)
Eli ( Hebrew עלי, from על ʿal , "high / sublime") is a priest of the Tanach or the Old Testament .
biography
| The judges of Israel |
|---|
| Book of Judges |
Eli served as the priest of the Israelites in the tabernacle in Shiloh . He was the father of the sons Hofni and Pinchas .
According to the biblical story , Eli saw Hannah in the tabernacle , a barren woman praying for a child. Eli sent her home with the assurance that her wish would come true. Hannah gave birth to the son of her husband Elkanah , the later prophet Samuel . On the basis of a vow in the event of childbirth, she brought him to be raised by the priest Eli.
Samuel soon noticed that Eli's sons, the priests Hofni and Pinchas, were stealing offerings from pilgrims and visiting prostitutes , which Eli did not approve of, but did not prevent. Once Samuel heard the call of God . At Eli's command, he reluctantly carried out God's resolution that Hofni and Pinchas would soon die.
Hofni and Pinchas went with them in the war against the Philistines . To do this, they had the Ark of the Covenant come out of Silo and demonstrated it as divine support for the troops. But Hofni and Pinchas died in the fight, as did 30,000 other Israelite soldiers. The Philistines captured the ark.
When Eli found out about the disaster, he fell off his chair and broke his neck . After 40 years as a priest, Eli died at the age of 98.
In the margin it is noted that Eli's daughter-in-law, the widow of Pinchas, gave birth to a son shortly afterwards, whom she named Ikabod (German: "The glory is gone from Israel!").
The name Eli can be found in the first book of Samuel in the places 1.9 1.12-13 1.17 1.25 2.11 2.20 2.22 2.27 3.1-2 3.5-6 3 , 8 3.12 3.14-16. 4.13-16
Web links
- Reinhard Müller: Eli / Eliden. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (eds.): The scientific biblical dictionary on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff., Accessed on September 2, 2009.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Samson | Judge | Samuel |