There is one major difficulty of interpretation that must be resolved before this verse and the following can be translated. Which parts of verses 13-15 describe unacceptable conduct? (1) Do all of verses 13-15 describe the wrong behavior of Eli’s sons? (2) Or does only verse 15 describe the corrupt practice of Eli’s two sons, while verses 13-14 describe what the correct practice was supposed to be? The second interpretation is followed in Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and Klein. But the first is clearly expressed in Good News Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and La Bible du Semeur. It also seems to be the sense of the translation found in Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible.
If the priests refers to priests in general, then this verse and the next verse seem to be describing the accepted pattern of behavior (so Revised English Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). If, on the other hand, the priests refers specifically to Eli’s sons, then the practice described in verses 13-14 is being condemned (so Good News Translation). To make clear the two different ways of rendering these verses, compare the following Revised English Bible rendering of verses 13-15 with that of Good News Translation (see also Klein’s translation, quoted at the end of verse 15).
Revised English Bible (similarly the New English Bible [New English Bible]) says:
The custom of the priests in their dealings with the people was this: when anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the flesh was stewing and would thrust a three-pronged fork into the cauldron or pan or kettle or pot; and the priest would take whatever the fork brought out. This should have been their practice whenever the Israelites came to sacrifice at Shiloh; but now, even before the fat was burnt, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give me meat to roast for the priest; he will not accept what has been already stewed, only raw meat.”
Notice that Good News Translation inserts the word “Instead” in the middle of verse 13 to show that the practice described was not the accepted practice. La Bible du Semeur, which follows the same interpretation as Good News Translation, begins verse 13 as follows: “Indeed here is how they [the sons of Eli] acted toward the people.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible also identifies the priests in verse 13 with the sons of Eli in verse 12 by saying “In their relationship to the people, these priests acted in the following way.” See also Bible en français courant: “Even though they [sons of Eli] were priests, here is how they conducted themselves in regard to the people.”
Revised English Bible clearly expresses the opposite interpretation by rendering the beginning of verse 13 as “The custom of the priests in their dealings with the people was this,” and the end of verse 14 as “This should have been their practice…; but now….”
Similar to Revised English Bible is New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, which begins verse 13 “This is how the priests used to deal with the people” and translates 14b-15a as “This was the practice at Shiloh with all the Israelites who came there. [But now] even before….” While the interpretation of Revised English Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is clearly a possible way of understanding the text, the majority of modern versions seem to adopt the interpretation followed by Good News Translation, and this is the interpretation recommended to translators.
The identity of the priest’s servant is not entirely clear. The Hebrew is literally “the young man of the priest,” and the plural form of the word rendered servant here is rendered “young men” in verse 17. It is usually assumed that the servant is different from the priests, and nearly all translations reflect this understanding. It is possible, however, that Eli’s sons are referred to in both cases, and that the Hebrew should be rendered “son” rather than servant. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “the priest’s boy.” In other words, Eli’s two sons may be “the young men [= sons] of the priest [= Eli]” and they are also themselves priests. This is the interpretation favored in Klein and in the notes in La Bible Pléiade, but neither translation reflects this interpretation.
In addition to the above problems of interpretation and translation, the first words of verse 13, The custom of the priests with the people, may be connected to the end of verse 12. Compare New Revised Standard Version: “they had no regard for the LORD or for the duties of the priests to the people” (so also Good News Translation, New American Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible). Either interpretation is acceptable.
Three-pronged fork: in some languages this will have to be translated “a fork with three teeth” or “a fork with three fingers.” Others may have a special term for a fork with three prongs.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .