Meaning of ELI

(a) = "high, elevated."
Descendant of Ithamar and high priest of Israel (1 Sam. 1:9; cp. 1 Kings 2:27; 1 Chron. 24:3, 6). The first book of Samuel begins with Eli as a priest.

Samuel was consecrated to the service of the Lord by his pious mother, and served in the tabernacle under Eli. Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were "sons of Belial."

They helped their father, but interfered with the offerings of the townspeople, and they sinned greatly before the people.

Eli spoke to his sons about the evil deeds they were committing, but not with the energy necessary to prevent them from dishonoring the Lord.

The responsibility of keeping God's people before Him resided in the priestly house. Hence the enormous sin of the young people, and the great responsibility of Eli for their negligence.

A man of God came to Eli, and told him clearly that he was honoring his children before God, detailing to him some of the judgments that were going to come upon his house, and that his two sons would die in the same day.

As Eli allowed his sons to continue in their sins, God sent him a message through Samuel, reminding him of the judgments of which the man of God had warned him, and repeating that it was because "his sons have blasphemed God, and he has not hindered them.

Eli piously submitted to God, saying: “He is Jehovah; He does what seems right to him. »But he continued without correcting the evil, for which he was possibly already powerless.

This was Eli's great failure, although it is evident that he on the other hand sought to maintain the honor of God. He trembled with fear when the ark was carried onto the battlefield, which ended in the disaster of the capture of the ark by the Philistines and the death of his two sons.

"Ichabod" is the name that marks the state of Israel due to the sin of Eli: "the glory is pierced." Upon hearing this sad news, Eli fell back from the chair in which he was sitting and died, breaking his neck.

He had judged Israel for forty years and was 98 (1 Sam. 1-4). His descendant Abiathar was expelled from the priesthood by Solomon in fulfillment of the word of the Lord regarding the house of Eli in Shiloh (1 Kings 2:27).

(b) ELÍ, ELÍ, LAMA SABACTANI?
Aramaic phrase that means "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" (Matt. 27:46).

It seems strange that there were those who believed it was a call to "Elias." This mistake may have been made by some who did not understand the language used. A variant, "Eloi," is used in Mr. 15:34.