restrained them not
1 Samuel 3:13
3:13 restrained them not. It was completely inexcusable for those who would be priests to behave as Eli’s sons were doing (I Samuel 2:12-17,22), and it was Eli’s duty to force them to behave responsibly. Their crimes were actually capital crimes and, if unrepented and uncorrected, it would have been his responsibility even to have them executed (note Deuteronomy 21:18-21). Eli rebuked his sons verbally (I Samuel 2:22-25), but they ignored him, and Eli allowed them to continue. God therefore sharply rebuked Eli himself (not just his sons) for honoring his sons more than the Lord (I Samuel 2:29). Eli’s descendants were eventually to be banned from the priesthood as a result.