Samuel and the Priest

One aspect of the story of Samuel that has always made me curious was the Levitical priest. Samuel may have been “adopted” by Eli, but he was from the wrong Tribe. He assumed the role of prophet and clearly was a judge (leader of Israel), but he could not be a priest. Eli and his sons died on the same day, so that left his grandsons. They would have needed to be trained. I had written in another post that Samuel may have done this, but I had not counted on the other part of the family that had gone very quiet.

Aaron had four sons during the Exodus. The first two died because they did not have proper respect for God. That left Eleazar and Ithamar. Eli was a descendant of Ithamar. Eleazer’s side of the family had “disappeared” for some reason.

Eli’s side of the family was removed from serving as a priest by Solomon. The two graphics show the list and the family tree of Aaron’s sons. I used the NIV and various concordances to make the list. The websites will help with further study.