1 Samuel 3:14

1Sa 3:14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

Ver. 14. That the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged.] Hence some concluded that their sin was that sin unto death, {1Jn 5:16} for which "there remaineth no more sacrifice," {Heb 10:26} and that they were damned, because so hardened that they could not repent. {Rom 1:28} If some of that race proved right, as they did, yet the temporal punishment of losing the chief priesthood could not be averted or avoided.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 3:14. I have sworn — Or, I do swear; the past tense being commonly put for the present in the Hebrew tongue. Unto the house of Eli — Or, concerning it. Shall not be purged — That is, the punishment threatened against Eli and his family shall not be prevented by all their sacrifices, but shall infallibly be executed.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:14 Neither blood sacrifices nor offerings would be acceptable on behalf of Eli and his sons. The offerings of Lev 4–5 were for sins committed inadvertently or unintentionally, whereas the sins of Eli and his sons were deliberate and rebellious.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning that his posterity should never enjoy the chief Priest’s office.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 14. Shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering] That is, God was determined that they should be removed by a violent death. They had committed the sin unto death; and no offering or sacrifice could prevent this. What is spoken here relates to their temporal death only.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) Shall not be purged with sacrifice.—No earthly sacrifice, bloody or unbloody, should ever purge on earth the sin of the doomed high priestly house. A great theological truth is contained in these few words. in the sacrificial theory of the Mosaic Law we see there was a limit to the efficacy of sacrifice after a certain point in sin and evil example had been reached: a scar was printed on the life which no blood of bullock or of goat could wash away; but the quiet, though sorrowful, resignation with which the old man received the intimation of the certain earthly doom seems to indicate that Eli, sure of the love of the All-Pitiful, looked on to some other means of deliverance, devised in the counsels of the Eternal Friend of Israel, by which his deathless soul, after the earthly penalty, would be reconciled to the invisible King. Did not men like Eli look on in sure and certain trust to the one hope? Did not these holy, though often erring, patriarchs and priests see in those far-back days, “as in a glass darkly,” the blood of another Victim, which should cleanse the repentant and sorrowing sinner from all sin?

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. shall not be purged] Lit., shall not cover itself; shall not make atonement for itself. The sons of Eli had sinned, ‘with a high hand,’ against light and warnings, and for such unrepentant presumptuous offenders the Law had no atonement. See Num_15:27-31. The doom of their house is pronounced, and ratified by the oath of God. Clearly however it is only to the temporal punishment of Eli’s family that the words refer in the first instance. Cp. Isa_22:14.

sacrifice nor offering] See note on 1Sa_2:29.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli,.... Either had done this before, which was signified to him by the man of God, or did swear now for the confirmation of his threatenings, and to assure the certain performance of them:

that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever: not even typically, which was all that legal sacrifice could do; and not so that the priesthood should ever return to the family again, as the office of high priesthood never did; or, as Abarbinel interprets it, because of sacrifice and offering, that the iniquity Eli's sons were guilty of in taking the flesh of the sacrifices and offerings, which did not belong to them, and before the Lord had his part, should never be expiated. (There are some sins that are not covered in the atonement of Jesus Christ. This is one of them and the sin against the Holy Ghost is another. Mat 12:31. Editor.)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

See the marginal references. The sin of the sons of Eli could not be purged by the appointed sacrifices of the Law. In blessed contrast with this declaration is the assurance of the New Testament 1Jo 1:7; Act 13:39.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Sworn. We read not of an express oath; (Calmet) but the denunciation of God was equivalent. (Haydock) --- Iniquity, or punishment. Nothing could withhold the indignation of the Lord, in correcting the sinner, though he would shew mercy eternally to the penitent. But he saw the obstinacy of these priests, and their unhappy end. The sacrifices of the old law always presupposed suitable internal sentiments, to grant the remission of sin; and even for the avoiding of the legal punishments, they must have been offered in a true spirit of religion, which these abandoned wretches despised and neglected. (Calmet) --- God threatens that he will punish their crimes for ever, as he abominates the contempt of priest. (Tirinus)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

I have sworn; which might be done before, though it be mentioned here only. Or, I do swear; the past tense being commonly put for the present in the Hebrew tongue. Unto the house, or, concerning, as the prefix lamed is oft used, as Exo 14:3; 18:7; 2Sa 11:7; Psa 91:11, compared with Mat 4:6.

Shall not be purged with sacrifice, i.e. the punishment threatened against Eli and his family shall not be prevented or hindered by all their sacrifices, as they fondly imagine, but shall infallibly be executed.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Sacrifice nor offering. The first of these is zebach, the sacrifice of an animal by the shedding of its blood; the second is the minchah, or unbloody sacrifice. The guilt of Eli"s sons could be purged, i.e. expiated, by none of the appointed offerings for sin, because they had hardened themselves in their wrong doing even after the solemn warning in 1Sa_2:27-36. Hence the marked repetition of the denunciation of finality in their doom. Again it is said that it is forever. It has, however, been well noticed that though the message of Samuel confirms all that had been threatened by the man of God, yet that no bitter or painful words are put into the mouth of one who was still a child. For this there may also be a further reason. The first message was intended to give Eli and his sons a final opportunity of repentance, and, that it might produce its full effect, the severity of the doom impending upon them was clearly set before their eyes. They did not repent. Eli hardened himself in his weakness, and took no steps to vindicate God"s service from the slur cast upon it by an unworthy priesthood. His sons hardened themselves in crime, and made their office a reproach. It was enough, therefore, to repeat and confirm generally the terms of the former prophecy, as no moral object would be gained by calling attention to the severity of the coming judgment.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Have sworn - Or, I do swear: the past tense being commonly put for the present in the Hebrew tongue. Unto - Or, concerning it. Purged - That is, the punishment threatened against Eli and his family, shall not he prevented by all their sacrifices, but shall infallibly be executed.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.