Hophni and Phinehas

Biblical Account

Hophni and Phinehas were brothers who served as priests at the sanctuary in Shiloh at the close of the period of the judges. Their father was the priest Eli (1 Samuel 1:3). Their story appears in 1 Samuel 2–4.

• Contempt for the offerings: When the people offered sacrifices, the brothers sent a servant to take meat with a fleshhook from the pot while it was still boiling. They also demanded raw meat by force before the fat had been burned. Scripture characterizes this conduct by saying that "men abhorred the offering of the LORD" (1 Samuel 2:12-17).
• Lying with the women at the tabernacle: Word reached Eli that his sons lay with the women who served at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Eli rebuked them, but they would not listen (1 Samuel 2:22-25).
• Announcement of judgment: A man of God foretold the downfall of Eli's house and gave as a sign that his two sons would die on the same day (1 Samuel 2:27-36). The same message was also given to the young Samuel (1 Samuel 3:11-14).
• Death: After Israel was defeated by the Philistines near Ebenezer, the elders brought the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh to the battlefield, and the two brothers accompanied it. Israel was defeated again, the Ark was captured, and both brothers were killed. When Eli heard the news, he fell backward from his seat, broke his neck, and died. As Phinehas's wife was dying in childbirth, she named her child Ichabod, meaning "The glory is departed from Israel" (1 Samuel 4).

The priesthood of Eli's family is recorded as continuing through the house of Ahitub, the son of Phinehas (1 Samuel 14:3). First Kings records that when Solomon removed the priest Abiathar, it was "that he might fulfil the word of the LORD, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh" (1 Kings 2:27). This Phinehas is a different person from Phinehas the grandson of Aaron (Numbers 25), with whom he shares only his name.

Significance Within Scripture

First Samuel alternates between the corrupt sons of Eli and Samuel, who grows up faithfully at the sanctuary, setting the two in contrast (1 Samuel 2:11-26). Bringing the Ark to the battlefield in order to secure victory is commonly read as an attempt to use God's presence as a tool. Psalm 78:60-64 looks back on the event, recalling how God forsook Shiloh and how "their priests fell by the sword." Jeremiah 7:12-14 cites what befell Shiloh as a warning concerning the Temple in Jerusalem. The New Testament does not mention Hophni and Phinehas directly.

Interpretations and Debates

• Eli's responsibility: The text gives as grounds for judgment that Eli honored his sons above God (1 Samuel 2:29) and that, although his sons made themselves vile, "he restrained them not" (1 Samuel 3:13). For this reason the passage is often read as addressing the responsibility of parents and leaders.
• "Because the LORD would slay them" (1 Samuel 2:25): Commentators in the Calvinist tradition often explain this verse as an example of God's sovereign will and human obstinacy operating together. Those in the Arminian and Wesleyan traditions tend to explain it as describing a condition in which judgment had already been settled as a result of a long refusal to repent.
• "A faithful priest" (1 Samuel 2:35): Interpretations differ as to whom this priest refers. Some identify him with Samuel, others with Zadok, the priest in Solomon's time, and still others see him as a foreshadowing of the Messiah.
• Distinguishing text from tradition: The latter part of 1 Samuel 2:22, which concerns lying with the women at the tabernacle, is reported to be absent from the Septuagint and from some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some rabbinic interpretations also hold that the verse does not refer to literal sexual relations. Such interpretations should be distinguished from what the biblical text itself directly states.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, Hophni and Phinehas are commonly referred to as "the two sons of Eli the priest." Their story is frequently cited in connection with the faith formation of children and as a warning concerning the holiness required of church officers and ministers. In Sunday school, they are usually treated as part of the story of Samuel and presented as figures who stand in contrast to him.