1 Samuel 3:13

Because his sons made themselves vile, &c.— Here we read the crime of Eli, and the sad cause of all his misfortunes. He knew the wickedness of his sons, and, content with chiding them gently, he had not resolution enough to chastise them with severity. The Hebrew is very expressive: it says, that the sons of Eli rendered themselves execrable, or accursed; or, according to Houbigant, that they caused the name of God to be blasphemed. Their intolerable conduct cried aloud for vengeance; yet their father frowned not upon them: he shewed only a slight indignation, instead of testifying a just horror of their crimes, by chastising them in an exemplary manner, and removing them from the priest's office. Unhappy those superiors, and more particularly those parents, who, by a blind indulgence, omit to chastise their inferiors and children for their crimes! They provide for themselves the most vexatious evils, and afflictive punishments.