Eli

Eli was the high priest at the sanctuary of Shiloh and a judge of Israel for forty years (1Sa.4.18). When Hannah came to the tabernacle in distress, her lips moving silently in prayer, Eli initially mistook her for a drunk and rebuked her — then blessed her when she explained her anguish. Her son Samuel was brought to Eli to serve at the tabernacle from infancy, and the old priest became his guardian and teacher. Eli's sons Hophni and Phinehas abused their priestly office, taking the best portions of sacrificial meat by force and sleeping with the women who served at the tabernacle entrance. Eli rebuked them but did not remove them. A man of God pronounced doom on Eli's house, and God confirmed it to the young Samuel in his first prophetic call. In the disastrous battle of Aphek, both sons died, the ark was captured, and a messenger ran to Shiloh with the news. Eli, ninety-eight years old, heavy and near blind, fell backward from his seat when he heard the ark was taken and broke his neck. The glory of God had departed from Israel.