Parents, Restrain Your Children

Parenting is a significant theme in the Book of Samuel. Three of the four major characters have difficulty with their children: Eli, Samuel and David. Ironically, the only major character in the book who seems to have produced a truly great kid is Saul, whose other faults were legion. Reflecting on the book as a whole, the reader may be led to conclude that while parents are not responsible for outcomes, they are held accountable by God for process. Eli’s sons were known to be defrauding worshippers and to be sexually abusing the female servants who worked in the central shrine at Shiloh. While Eli did not approve of what they were doing, neither did he actively restrain them, and for that, he was judged by God. The Lord said:

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