1 Samuel 2:15-16 sits inside this longer paragraph.
12Now the sons of Eli were wicked men. They didn’t know Yahweh. 13The custom of the priests with the people was that when anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant came while the meat was boiling, with a fork of three teeth in his hand; 14and he stabbed it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot. The priest took all that the fork brought up for himself. They did this to all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. 15Yes, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat to roast for the priest; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but raw.”
16If the man said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take as much as your soul desires;” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.” 17The sin of the young men was very great before Yahweh; for the men despised Yahweh’s offering. 18But Samuel ministered before Yahweh, being a child, clothed with a linen ephod. 19Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, “May Yahweh give you offspring from this woman for the petition which was asked of Yahweh.” Then they went to their own home. 21Yahweh visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. The child Samuel grew before Yahweh.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15–16 Which was commanded first to have been offered to…
Which was commanded first to have been offered to God.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–16 1Sa 2:15 Also before they burnt the fat, the…
1Sa 2:15 Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.
Ver. 15. Also before they burnt the fat.] Due to God by the law, {Lev 3:3-4; Lev 3:9} who well may call for the best of the best; but these liquorish Lurcos would needs be served before him, and be their own carvers. Neither waved they the breast and shoulder before the Lord, in token that they had it of his free gift: but ravenously seized upon whatsoever they liked, and said in effect, We are lords.
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Give flesh to roast for the priest.] Boiled meat would not content them. But it ill becometh a servant of the Lord to be a slave to his palate. Christ biddeth his apostles when they come into a house, "eat such things as are set before them," {a} if wholesome, though but homely.
{a} τα παρατιθεμενα.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–16 The fat, and the other parts to be burnt…
The fat, and the other parts to be burnt with it. See Lev 3:3,4,9; 7:31. So this was an additional injury; for lest the fork should mistake and injure them, they took such parts as they best liked whilst it was raw, when it might be better discerned.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–16 And if any man said unto him, let them…
And if any man said unto him, let them not fail to burn the fat presently,.... Or stay till they have offered the fat, as the Targum; let that be done in the first place, which may be quickly done, in a very little time, and let as much haste be made as can be to do it:
and then take as much as thy soul desireth; by which it appears that the men that brought the sacrifice had more religion at heart, and were more concerned for the honour and glory of God than the priest; being willing to suffer in their property, but could not bear that the Lord should be dishonoured, and so rudely treated: they were willing the priests should take what they pleased of theirs, though they had no right to any; only they desired the Lord might be served first, which was but reasonable:
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then he would answer him, nay, but thou shall give it me now, and if not, I will take it by force; signifying, he would not stay till the fat was burnt, and the Lord had his portion, but he would have it directly; and if he would not give it him freely, he would take it whether he would or not; to such a height of insolence and impiety were the priests arrived, as to put it in the power of their servants to make such wicked demands, and treat God, and those that brought their sacrifices to him, in such a contemptuous manner.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v15 The fat - And the other parts to be…
The fat - And the other parts to be burnt with it. So this was all additional injury; for they took such parts as they best liked whilst it was raw.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v15 Verse 15. Before they burnt the fat] They would…
Verse 15. Before they burnt the fat] They would serve themselves before GOD was served! This was iniquity and arrogance of the first magnitude.
He will not have sodden flesh] He chooses roast meat, not boiled; and if they had it in the pot before the servant came, he took it out that it might be roasted.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v16 1Sa 2:16-17. Nay, but thou shalt give it me…
1Sa 2:16-17. Nay, but thou shalt give it me now, &c. — This was the very height of haughty impiety. That such submissive language did not prevail with them to have so much respect for God, as to permit his portion to be presented to him in the first place, especially as they offered to the priest more than his share afterward, manifested excessive profaneness and contempt of things sacred. To what pitch of wickedness may not a man arrive who has shaken off the fear of God, and all sense of his presence and power! Men abhorred the offering of the Lord — Nothing brings religion so much into contempt with the people as the open profaneness of those that are ministers of it. The validity, however, and efficacy of God’s ordinances, do not depend altogether on the piety of those that minister in them. So that it was a sin in the people to neglect divine institutions because of the wickedness of the priests. But it was a still much greater sin in the priests to give them occasion so to do.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv15–16 Raw. Here are two other abuses. The fat ought…
Raw. Here are two other abuses. The fat ought first to have been burnt, in honour of the Lord; and the meat should have been boiled, in order that the priest might not be taken off from his sacred functions; as custom, it seems, had determined, though the law be silent on this head.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–16 15. Also] Even. The climax of their transgression was…
15. Also] Even. The climax of their transgression was the offence against Jehovah.
sodden] Boiled: the perf. of ‘seethe’ is ‘sod’ (Gen_25:29), and the past partic. ‘sodden.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–16 (15) Before they burnt the fat.—This was a still…
(15) Before they burnt the fat.—This was a still graver offence against the ritual of the sacrifice. A contemptuous insult was here offered to the Lord. This fat was not to be eaten or taken by any one; it was God’s portion, to be burnt by the priest on the altar (Lev_3:16; Lev_7:23; Lev_7:25; Lev_7:30-31).
In all these strange rites and ceremonies there was a higher symbolism involved. This was ruthlessly set at nought and trampled on by these reckless, covetous guardians of the worship of Israel.
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Portions of the sacrifice fell legally to the ministering priests in lieu of fee. It was fair “that they which ministered at the altar should live of the altar.” The “heave leg” and the “wave breast” of the slaughtered victim were theirs by right, and these the sacrificing priest was to receive after the fat portion of the sacrifice had been burnt upon the altar. But to take the flesh of the victim, and roast it before the symbolic offering had been made, was a crime which was equivalent to robbing God. It dishonoured the whole ceremony.
He will not have sodden flesh.—The meaning of this is, these priests and their attendants insisted on having the best part of the sacrificed victim raw, not boiled—that is, fresh, full of juice and strength—before the offering had been made.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 General Information:
General Information:
When people would offer animals as sacrifices, they would first burn the animal's fat and then boil the meat, give some to the priest, and eat the rest.
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Worse, before
"They even did something worse than that. Before"
they burned
The person who actually did the burning can be made explicit. AT: "the man who was sacrificing took his sacrifice to the priests and the priests burned" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Give meat to roast for the priest
"Give me some meat so I can give it to the priest so he can roast it"
roast
cook over a fire
boiled
cooked in water
raw
not cooked
despised Yahweh's offering
The young men did not like Yahweh's instructions regarding the offering and paid no attention to them.
translationWords
sin
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 2:15 God’s law stipulated that the sacrificial animal’s fat…
2:15 God’s law stipulated that the sacrificial animal’s fat was the Lord’s portion and had to be burned on the altar first (Lev 3:3-17).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.