Who Was Eli In The Bible?

In the Book of Samuel, Eli was an elderly priest in the city of Shiloh who was sitting in the temple when a woman named Hannah came to pray. Hannah was one of the wives of Elkanah, who loved her dearly but had no children with her. His other wife, Peninnah, had many children and enjoyed gloating over her rival. Hannah prayed to God for a son and promised that should she be so blessed, she would give her son over to the Lord.

Because she prayed silently, Eli at first assumed Hannah was drunk and reprimanded her. But when he saw that Hannah was in earnest, Eli blessed her. Soon after, Hannah gave birth to Samuel, and once her son was weaned, she turned him over to Eli's care — to be taught and raised as a priest to the Lord as she promised. For this, she and Elkanah were blessed with five more children.

Prophetic visions were supposedly rare at this time in Israel, but while studying under Eli, Samuel heard the voice of God. At first, he mistook it for Eli's voice, and it was Eli who realized what was happening. He told Samuel to heed the Lord's voice, and it told the boy that Eli's family was doomed. Samuel was afraid for his master, but when he heard the words of God, Eli said (via BibleGateway), "He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes."

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