essages from God were rare (3:1), and to people later in Israel's history when they went 400 years without a prophetic voice as they awaited the Messiah. John the Baptist's call to "Prepare ye the way of the Lord" summarizes the meaning of when God is silent.
The unnamed prophet's announcement, "And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind; and I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed for ever" (1 Sam. 2:35, RSV) has been variously interpreted. Merrill notes that "in human terms this was fulfilled when the priesthood was taken from Abiathar, a descendant of Aaron's son Ithamar, and given to Zadok, descendant of Aaron's son Eleazar (1 Kings 2:27-35)" (435). However, as with many prophecies in the Bible, there is also an application to the Messiah: "in the ultimate sense, the `faithful Priest' and `Anointed One' are One and the same, the Lord Jesus Christ" (435). This is another sign to Eli and others in that day, but one may doubt whether it was noticed. The people in that time clearly were not looking for the Messiah yet, though Moses spoke of Him (Deut. 18:18-19).
Keil and Delitzsch begin their description of the historical context with the note that Eli was a descendant of Aaron through Ithamar, citing 1 Chron. 24:3 (39). Ahimelech "of the sons of Eleazar" is killed for helping David (1 Sam. 22:17-19) and his son Abiathar is later replaced by Solomon with Zadok "of the sons of Eleazar" (1 Kings 2:35). An unwritten background story is the occasion for the transfer of the priesthood from Eleazar to Ithamar, especially since Num. 25:13 gives Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, a "covenant of perpetual priesthood." Keil and Delitzsch suppose at some point Eli was the only available candidate for the job of high priest (40), even though he was of Ithamar, though this too would contradict Num. 25:13. They note, however, that this promis...