“Precious deposits, your children, you received from God; take good care that the enemy may not steal them from you.“
Saint John Chrysostom, my own free English translation from the German version: Johannes Chrysostomus und Dr. Sebastian Haidacher: Des Hl. Johannes Chrysostomus Büchlein über Hoffart und Kindererziehung, Leopold Classic Library, p. 105
The bad example of Eli: a lack of correction
Ever thought about the Hebrew priest Eli and his two sons Hophni and Phinehas? Saint John Chrysostom did. In one of his discourses he recounts the story and explains why Eli made a mistake in how he handled the waywardness of his sons. The mistake was that he did not really earnestly do something about it. The only thing he did was speaking to them “amicably“:
“The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD there (i.e. at Shiloh).“1
1 Samuel 1: 3; 2: 12; 17; 22-25; 3: 21
“Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they cared nothing for the LORD, nor for the way priests should behave towards the people.“
“The young men‘s sin was very great in the LORD‘s eyes, because they treated with contempt the offering made to the LORD.“
“Eli was very old, but he heard about everything that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He said, ‘Why are you behaving like this, the evil deeds that I hear from all the people? (…)‘ But they did not listen to their father‘s words (…).“
“Eli was very old, and his sons continued to live a life that was evil in the eyes of the LORD.“
Eventually the two wayward sons die on the battlefield and are thus punished by God because Eli “has not corrected them“ (1 Sam 3: 13). And Eli‘s whole family is rejected as a priestly family for all future generations.
But why does Sacred Scripture say that Eli did not “correct“ his sons though he did in fact talk to them about their bad conduct and tell them that their actions are clearly wrong?
“Admonishing does not just mean encouraging amicably, but to arise with gravity and force and to apply an effective medicine that is demanded by the sepsis of the abscess. Talking alone is not enough; one has to unsettle the child with salutary dread to cast out the youthful recklessness. Because Eli admonished his sons, yet not with the required sternness, he handed them over to the enemies in battle (…).“
Saint John Chrysostom, my own free English translation from the German version: Johannes Chrysostomus und Dr. Sebastian Haidacher: Des Hl. Johannes Chrysostomus Büchlein über Hoffart und Kindererziehung, Leopold Classic Library, p. 100; 101
“You, o father, are the leader of the whole household (…).“
Methods of correction in education then, according to Sacred Scripture and the holy bishop, cannot only consist in words but must include deeds. This could mean to make the consequences of following a bad path experienceable for the child (to some degree) before the “wages of sin“ which is “death“ (Rom 6: 23) fully crystallize, which is the meaning and purpose of all punishment, or to demand certain actions from the child to correct its ways – not just by “asking“ but rather by “commanding“ and “pursuing“ the desired re-formation with authority.
“And parents, do not provoke children to anger but nourish them with discipline and the instruction of the Lord.“
Ephesians 6: 4
The example of a good mother: Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel
Hannah is a troubled woman for her husband Elkanah has two wives. Though Elkanah seems to love her more than the other woman, Hannah is barren – “the LORD had closed her womb“ (1 Sam 1: 5).
One more time they altogether go up to Shiloh where the Ark of the Covenant resides for worshipping God. Yet Hannah is full of sorrow and bitterness because of her fate. And the rival wife Peninnah keeps despising her.
But Saint John Chrysostom takes Hannah as an example of a good and devout mother. First of all, he praises the petition she makes in the holy place, remarking how “effective“ a prayer “from a sorrowful soul“ is, as well as her confidence in God. There, in the presence of God, Hannah is “pouring out (her) soul before the LORD“ (1 Sam 1: 15), “speaking from the depth of (her) grief and (her) resentment“ (1 Sam 1: 16).
“When they had finished eating and drinking, Hannah got up and stood before the LORD. (…) In the bitterness of her soul she prayed to the LORD with many tears, and she made this vow, ‘O LORD Sabaoth! If you will truly take notice of the misery of your servant, and remember her instead of disregarding your servant, and if you give her a male child, I will give him to the LORD for the whole of his life and no razor shall ever touch his head.‘“
1 Samuel 1: 9-11
If her womb is opened to give birth, she will give the given child completely back to God, she will consecrate it to the Lord. That is her vow.
Saint Chrysostom’s second praise for her is that, having given birth, she names the boy Samuel (“God has heard“). His name is a testimony: She was heard by God, and now the boy‘s calling will be to grow up to become a priestly prophet continually listening to God.
Thirdly, Hannah loves her son not only from the source of nature (with a mother‘s natural affection) but also from the source of grace and love of God. Her love is doubly strong. She knows that Samuel is a gift from God that she wants and needs to give back to God.
And so she goes up to Shiloh with her son – he is still “very young“ (1 Sam 2: 24) – and hands him over to Eli, the priest, so that Samuel may learn to minister in the holy place.
“This is the child for which I was praying, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. Now I make him over to the LORD. For the whole of his life he is made over to the LORD.“
1 Samuel 1: 27-28; 2: 5-6
“(…) the barren woman bears sevenfold but the mother of many is left desolate. The LORD gives death and gives life, brings down to Sheol and raises up (…).“
Saint John Chrysostom praises her sacrifice and elevates her even above the patriarch Abraham offering Isaac:
“For Abraham placed his son Isaac on the altar and brought him back home alive; but this mother left her son behind in the temple forever.“
Saint John Chrysostom, my own free English translation from the German version: Johannes Chrysostomus und Dr. Sebastian Haidacher: Des Hl. Johannes Chrysostomus Büchlein über Hoffart und Kindererziehung, Leopold Classic Library, p. 108
He charges all mothers to act like Hannah, to follow her example. To consider their children as precious “temple offerings“, to treat them with “pious awe“.
“When you will be a mother, then dedicate your child to the Lord. Hannah brought her son to the temple, but may you build up yourself to a temple of the heavenly King. Because Scripture says: Your bodies are members of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit that is in you; and also: I will dwell and be in you. (…) The soul of the child is a temple. So do not let the house of God become a robber‘s den (…). Take Hannah as your example, you women, imitate her, you men! Take good care of your children, educate them toward all that is good, especially purity of heart.“
Saint John Chrysostom, my own free English translation from the German version: Johannes Chrysostomus und Dr. Sebastian Haidacher: Des Hl. Johannes Chrysostomus Büchlein über Hoffart und Kindererziehung, Leopold Classic Library, p. 109
Saint John Chrysostom, pray for us!
- Shiloh in Samaria, 31 kilometers north of Jerusalem and 16 kilometers north of Bethel, was chosen for the Tent of Meeting after the Israelites had conquered the land under Joshua, before the days of the temple in Jerusalem. ↩︎