1 Samuel 2:34

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(34) In one day they shall die both of them.—See for a literal fulfilment the recital in 1Samuel 4:11. This foreshadowing of terrible calamity which was to befal Israel was to be a sign to Eli that all the awful predictions concerning the fate of his doomed house would be carried out to the bitter end.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:27-36 Those who allow their children in any evil way, and do not use their authority to restrain and punish them, in effect honour them more than God. Let Eli's example excite parents earnestly to strive against the beginnings of wickedness, and to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In the midst of the sentence against the house of Eli, mercy is promised to Israel. God's work shall never fall to the ground for want of hands to carry it on. Christ is that merciful and faithful High Priest, whom God raised up when the Levitical priesthood was thrown off, who in all things did his Father's mind, and for whom God will build a sure house, build it on a rock, so that hell cannot prevail against it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The meaning is explained by 1 Samuel 2:36. Those who are not cut off in the flower of their youth shall be worse off than those who are, for they shall have to beg their bread. (Compare Jeremiah 22:10.)

Thine eyes ... thine heart - For a similar personification of the tribe or family see Judges 1:2-4.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

32. thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation—A successful rival for the office of high priest shall rise out of another family (2Sa 15:35; 1Ch 24:3; 29:22). But the marginal reading, "thou shalt see the affliction of the tabernacle," seems to be a preferable translation.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This shall be a sign unto thee, to wit, of the certain truth of those sad predictions; and it was fulfilled, 1 Samuel 4:11.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

This shall be a sign unto thee,.... A confirming one, that all which had been now said would be fulfilled:

that shall come upon thy two sons, Hophni and Phinehas; which Eli would live to see fulfilled on them; and when it was, he might be assured the rest would be most certainly accomplished, and it was this:

in one day they shall die both of them; as they did in battle with the Philistines, 1 Samuel 4:11.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

34. this shall be a sign unto thee] The immediate fulfilment of one prediction will serve as a sign or assurance that the rest will not fail to come to pass. Such signs were often given by prophets as the credentials of their mission. Cp. ch. 1 Samuel 10:7-9; 1 Kings 13:3; 2 Kings 20:8-9; Luke 1:18; Luke 1:20.

in one day they shall die] See ch. 1 Samuel 4:11.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 34. - With this the sign here given exactly agrees. Hophni and Phinehas died fighting valiantly in battle, and then came the sacking of Shiloh, and the slaughter of the ministering priests (Psalm 78:64). Upon this followed a long delay. For first Eli's grandson, Ahitub, the son of Phinehas, was high priest, and then his two sons, Ahiah and Ahimelech, and then Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech. It was in Ahimelech's days that the slaughter took place at Nob, from which the house of Ithamar seems never to have fully recovered. 1 Samuel 2:34

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"And let this be the sign to thee, what shall happen to (come upon) thy two sons, Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall both die." For the fulfilment of this, see 1 Samuel 4:11. This occurrence, which Eli lived to see, but did not long survive (1 Samuel 4:17.), was to be the sign to him that the predicted punishment would be carried out in its fullest extent.