2:22 Now Eli. Again as at v. 12, the focus shifts from the boy Samuel to the house of Eli.

kept hearing. Eli had to be told about what he should have already observed and controlled on his own. But his offenses run much deeper than mere inattentiveness (v. 29).

lay with the women. On the “tent of meeting,” see note 1:9; on “the women who were serving,” see Ex. 38:8. Though explicitly condemned by the Law (Deut. 23:17, 18), religious prostitution was practiced by the Canaanites and posed a constant danger to the Israelites (1 Kin. 15:12; 2 Kin. 23:7; Hos. 4:14).