Bede : And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I am doing a work in Israel, etc. What the prophet previously foretold to Eli about the judgment of his house, meaning its rejection and the substitution of Samuel in the priesthood, the same Samuel now understands through the oracle of God about himself, and he announces it to Eli; because what the prophets heralded by defining the old and introducing the new — that is, the priesthood of Christ's Church — the same Christ, having conversed in the flesh, clearly heard from the Father in secret, where mortals do not have access, reveals openly and plainly to the leaders of the Jews. — Commentary on Samuel Gregory the Dialogist : 19. For among sublime gifts, the elect mind is restrained from pride all the more cautiously, the more it perceives through the justice of almighty God that even those who seemed to be supported by more sublime gifts have been cast away. For this reason also, concerning the word which the Lord threatens He will accomplish, the ears of those who hear are declared to ring. For the ears of the body ring when they are struck by an unbearable sound. For when a cry is poured into the ear beyond the capacity of hearing, the narrowness of its function converts the sound it rejects into a ringing, because while the voice hisses through the caverns of the ears, having been poured in all at once, it does not pass into the interior. But to the ears of minds, the unbearable cry is the rejection of some great preacher. Therefore the magnitude of the outpoured cry is not grasped, because while the sublime gifts granted to the rejected preacher are recalled, it remains unknown by what examination of divine equity he is cast out. Therefore the magnitude of the outpoured voice is converted into a ringing of the ears, because even if the judgment of God by which it happens is not grasped by the mind's attention, while it is long weighed through consideration, hearts are struck with terror by that consideration. For just as ears ring from the confined sound of a great voice, so the hearts of the righteous tremble greatly from the long-considered rejection of great men. But both ears are said to ring, namely the right and the left. And because by the right eternal life is signified, and by the left the present life, and through the ear we hear what is said, what do we understand by the left ear except the attention to pious works, and what by the right ear except the attention to the heavenly vision? And so both ears of the hearer will ring, because when the ruin of the greatest men is shown, both directions of the elect's attention are disturbed, because they both raise themselves with trembling heart to contemplate eternal things, and do not manage temporal things without great dread. For he had suffered this ringing of the ears, who spoke to the Lord, saying: "Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgments are a great abyss" (Psalms 35:7). For by the mountains of God are understood the highest and elect men. And indeed God's righteousness is matched to those mountains, when they fulfill His lofty commands in deed; but yet the divine judgments are a great abyss, because even if in the eyes of holy men what they do is upright, before the eyes of almighty God they cannot know what quality those things possess. Whence they both ceaselessly do the good works they are able, and tremble at that abyss of judgments thundering above them, because by the accomplished word of the Lord which they hear, their hearts are shaken with the ringing of great terror. But fittingly, only the ears of those who hear are declared to ring. For in the Gospel too He warns of this, saying: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Luke 8:8). For those who with all their attention are watchful for outward things do not know this ringing of fear, because they in no way weigh the height of divine judgments above them. But behold, upon him who refused to weigh God's subtle judgments above himself, how sharp the sentences of those judgments are now unfolded. For He adds, saying: (Verses 13 and 14) "For I foretold that I would judge his house forever because of iniquity, in that he knew his sons were acting unworthily, and he did not correct them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of his house shall not be expiated by victims and offerings forever." — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4 Gregory the Dialogist : But to the one listening, He adds what He desires to make known; for it follows: (Verse 11.) And the Lord said to Samuel: Behold, I am doing a thing in Israel, at which both ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle. And opening up this same word, He says: (Verses 13 and 14.) For I have foretold to him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity, because he knew that his sons were acting unworthily, and he did not correct them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of his house shall not be expiated by sacrifices and offerings forever. 21. For what else is designated by these words than the rejection of the Jews, already explained so many times? For the house of the preacher is the multitude of the people subject to him, which he inhabits as if by possessing it, while he preserves it through the care of his solicitude. The house of Eli, therefore, that is, of the old priesthood, was Judea, which, while he cultivated it through a reprobate manner of life, he made unclean with the stains of his depravity. He indeed saw his sons acting unworthily, because the supreme priesthood saw the priests of a lesser order raging against the Redeemer, and did not rebuke them, nor recalled them by any authority from the shedding of so great blood. Therefore it is promised to him by divine threat that his house would be judged forever. For to judge, in God's case, is to condemn. Therefore it is judged forever, because it is decreed to perish by eternal punishment. And because this happens by God's eternal judgment, He declared that He had affirmed by oath that the iniquity of the house of Eli would not be expiated forever by prayers or offerings. Which we see fulfilled in manifest truth, because the Jewish people perseveres in the obstinacy of its unbelief. For what is the present hardness and blindness of a people once so chosen, if not the oath of divine judgment? For he confined himself under eternal death by a fitting punishment, who did not shrink from forcing eternal life to death in time. But what He asserts by oath, He says He had foretold, because indeed to the subsequent doctors of the holy Church that became known concerning the rejection of Judea which He had previously made manifest to their predecessors, because what is now said through Samuel to Eli is what was said to him above through the man of God. There follows: (Verse 15.) Samuel slept until morning. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1 Origen of Alexandria : Since the divine Scripture was about to foretell the destruction of the sons of Eli, and that the ark of God would be taken by the foreigners, it first prepares the hearer beforehand, lest anyone should suppose God to be harsh. For this reason, as I said, it relates that the wickedness and the sin of the sons of Eli were not lessened by the threat and by the prediction against them, but rather increased. — FRAGMENTS ON KINGDOMS 1 Philoxenus of Mabbug : The Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle," because Eli had heard of the iniquity which his sons were doing in the tabernacle, and had rebuked them not. Now the whole accusation of Eli arose because of his negligence, and because his rebuke was not commensurate with the wickedness of his sons: for it is written that he rebuked them, but the rebuke was feeble and ineffectual, and not one which the serious nature of the iniquity demanded. His negligence alone and not his own wickedness, was the sole object of the condemnation of Eli the priest, and although the matter was thus yet God chose youth rather than him, and He made His conversation with childhood and simplicity. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 4 -- On Faith: First Discourse on Simplicity