Person Old Testament
Phinehas
Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest, was known for his wickedness and died in battle against the Philistines along with his brother Hophni. Mentioned in 7 verses across 1 book, first at 1 Samuel 1:3.
Why it matters. Wicked son of Eli the priest
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Phinehas
Phinehas was one of the two sons of Eli, the priest who served in the tabernacle at Shiloh (1Sa.1.3). Along with his brother Hophni, Phinehas was described as a worthless man who did not know the Lord (1Sa.2.12). They abused their priestly duties by taking more than their share of the sacrificial meat and engaging in sexual immorality with the women who served at the entrance of the tabernacle (1Sa.2.13-17, 22).
Eli rebuked his sons for their wicked behavior, but they did not listen (1Sa.2.22-25). As a result, a prophecy was given to Eli that his two sons would die on the same day (1Sa.2.34). This prophecy was fulfilled when the Philistines defeated the Israelites in battle, captured the Ark of the Covenant, and killed Hophni and Phinehas (1Sa.4.11). Upon hearing the news of his sons' deaths and the capture of the Ark, Eli fell backward, broke his neck, and died (1Sa.4.17-18). Phinehas' wife, who was pregnant, went into labor and died after giving birth to a son named Ichabod, which means "the glory has departed from Israel" (1Sa.4.19-22).
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
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Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 7 verses across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.