Hophni () and Phinehas or Phineas () were the two sons of
Eli. The first
book of Samuel describes them as the officiating
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
s at the sanctuary of
Shiloh at the time of
Hannah. According to
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...
, Phinehas officiated as high priest because Eli had resigned as high priest at Shiloh because of his advanced age.
In the biblical narrative, Hophni and Phinehas are criticised for engaging in illicit behaviour, such as appropriating the best portion of sacrifices for themselves, and having
sexual relations with the sanctuary's serving women. They are described as "sons of
Belial" in ()
KJV
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...
, "corrupt" in the
New King James Version, or "scoundrels" in the
NIV. Their misdeeds provoked the wrath of Yahweh and led to a divine curse being put on the house of Eli, and they subsequently both died on the same day, when Israel was defeated by the Philistines at the
Battle of Aphek near
Eben-ezer
Eben-Ezer () is a location that is mentioned by the Books of Samuel as the scene of battles between the Israelites and Philistines. It is specified as having been less than a day's journey by foot from Shiloh (biblical city), Shiloh, near Aphek ...
; the news of this defeat then led to Eli's death (). On hearing of the deaths of Eli and Phinehas, and of the
capture of the ark,
Phinehas' wife gave birth to a son whom she named ''
Ichabod'' (expressing 'departed glory') before she herself died ().
Death of Eli's sons
In the
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
, some commentators argue that Phinehas was innocent of the crimes ascribed to him and that Hophni alone committed them, though
Jonathan ben Uzziel declares that neither was wicked, and that this part of the biblical narrative, in which the crimes are imputed to them, should be regarded as having a figurative meaning.
According to another part of the Books of Samuel, Ichabod had a brother,
Ahitub. That he is referred to as Ichabod's brother, rather than as another son of Phinehas, is considered by biblical scholars to suggest that Ichabod, barely mentioned in the Bible, was actually an important figure.
References
Attributions
*
*
*
11th-century BC clergy
Jewish priests
Brother duos
Family of Eli (biblical figure)
Military personnel killed in action
{{Tanakh-stub