John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 2:13
And the priest's custom with the people was ,.... Not what was according to the will and law of God, but which the sons of Eli had introduced; and in which they were followed by the rest of the priests, and so it became an established custom, and had the force of a law, statute, or judgment, as the word signifies: that when any man offered sacrifice ; not any sort of sacrifice, for if it was a burnt offering, it was wholly consumed by fire, and in that the following custom could not... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 2:11-26
In these verses we have the good character and posture of Elkanah's family, and the bad character and posture of Eli's family. The account of these two is observably interwoven throughout this whole paragraph, as if the historian intended to set the one over against the other, that they might set off one another. The devotion and good order of Elkanah's family aggravated the iniquity of Eli's house; while the wickedness of Eli's sons made Samuel's early piety appear the more bright and... read more