What Does 1 Samuel 2:28 Mean in the King James?
And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse traces both priesthood and its provision back to the same source: Eli’s house receives a trust, not a possession.
THE MEANING
The verse names the receiving before the work: God chooses the priest, assigns the altar service, and gives the house Israel’s fire offerings. The work stands before God, and its provision comes from what God gives. Its living question reaches every entrusted role: does its origin remain visible in how it is held?
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being chosen does not make the role or its benefits self-originating property. The repeated “did I” and “did I give” tie both appointment and provision to the giver.
THE ROOT
בָּחַר
bāḥar
GROWS FROM
בחר
Choose, select.
The priest is chosen from among all Israel’s tribes; the office begins with God’s selection, not Eli’s claim. The root keeps the source of the appointment visible inside the word “choose.”
ALSO GROWS
nivḥar: Chosen, selected.
נִבְחַר
This form names the person as one who receives selection, like the priest in this verse.
mivḥar: Choice, choicest; the best selection.
מִבְחָר
This branch carries the act of choosing into what is selected, echoing the distinction between appointment and entitlement.
לַעֲלוֹת
laʿalot
GROWS FROM
עלה
Go up, ascend.
“to offer upon mine altar” in this verse is laʿalot. The Hebrew verb beneath “to offer” says “to ascend” upon the altar. The same root gives עֹלָה (ʿolah), the burnt offering, the thing that rises, so the English word “offer” carries an image of ascent underneath it.
ALSO GROWS
ʿolah: Burnt offering; literally, that which ascends.
עֹלָה
This offering name shares the root of the altar action in the verse.
maʿalah: Ascent, going up.
מַעֲלָה
It makes the movement contained in the altar verb explicit: the action is an ascent.
לְהַקְטִיר קְטֹרֶת
lehaqtir qetoret
GROWS FROM
קטר
Make smoke; burn incense.
The verb and noun echo the same three consonants: להקטיר קטורת (lehaqtir qetoret), “to burn incense.” What English separates into an action and its material shares one root, joining the rising smoke with the incense that produces it.
ALSO GROWS
qetoret: Incense.
קְטֹרֶת
The incense itself shares its root with the verb for burning it.
qitor: Smoke, rising vapor.
קִיטֹר
This branch makes the smoke inside the incense action visible.
THE PATTERN
The role and the resources that sustain it are received gifts, held for service rather than private possession.
And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever.As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?THE THREAD
Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?The next verse names the breach latent in these questions: the sons make themselves fat from the choicest offerings and honor themselves above the giver. It shows how a gift meant for service becomes private advantage.
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