1 Samuel 2:25

In the original, point is given to Eli's rebuke by the fact that the word here used for 'judge' (Elohim) also means 'God.' The judge was regarded as the representative of God: see Psalms 82:6. If it is a case of men, God has appointed some one to settle the matter; but when God Himself is the offended party, no higher power exists to whom the case can be submitted. God is both adversary and judge.

Would slay them] lit. 'wished to slay them.' In the OT. the direct intervention of God is assumed, and His ever-present agency realised as a determining fact. We say that after a man has persisted for long years in sinful habits, he finds it impossible to alter. The Bible expresses the same truth by stating, first that the sinner (e.g. Pharaoh) hardens his own heart, and then that God hardens the sinner's heart. The punishment of the wicked is considered to be as much in accordance with God's will as the reward of the righteous.