Bede

And I will build a faithful house for him, etc. The faithful house, which is built for the faithful priest on the rock foundation by the wise man, is the Church; which walked before Christ all the days of this present life, and never will the gates of hell prevail against its perfect progress. And it is beautifully said, "She will walk all the days;" because when the course of fleeting days has passed and the better day comes in His courts, which is better than thousands, and He grants the blessing, who gave the law, this house has nothing more to improve, walking from strength to strength; because she will see the God of gods in Zion and will praise Him blessed in His house, indeed even the house itself forever. For a faithful house cannot easily be understood as built for Samuel, whose sons are reported to have turned aside to greed and not walked in his ways, unless perhaps his house is to be considered the people he was leading, about which it is written: "And all the house of Israel longed for the Lord" (1 Samuel 7). And to have walked before Christ the Lord, either the Lord Himself before Samuel, or Samuel himself, whether Saul or David can be understood.

"And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will act according to my heart, etc." [1 Samuel 2:35] What the prophet says, speaking to Eli in the person of God: And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will act according to my heart and my soul: and I will build him a faithful house, and he will walk before my Christ all days, must be understood under the figure of Samuel as referring to the Lord Savior, namely the highest and true high priest. For just as Samuel succeeded Eli in the priesthood after his death, chosen not from the lineage of Aaron, but from another family of Levi: For he was the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, the son of Tahath, the son of Asir, the son of Abiasaph, the son of Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel (I Chronicles VI), as the words of the Chronicles narrate: so also the Mediator of God and men, to be our priest, took on flesh not from Levi but from another tribe, namely Judah; he offered another sacrifice than the legal one, that is, his own flesh to the Father for us; he left others than those of the lineage of Aaron as heirs of his priesthood, namely the sons of grace of the new testament, gathered from the whole nation of the Gentiles. And God, as if speaking in a human manner, says: Who will act according to my heart and my soul; it can be rightly taken to refer to Samuel, who in all things obeyed his will as a man would obey God; but concerning the Lord Savior, it means that as the only begotten Son, he is aware of all the secrets of the Father, as he himself clearly testifies about himself, saying: And I do nothing of myself, but as the Father has taught me, so I speak. And he who sent me is with me; and he has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him (John VIII). To whom the Father builds a faithful house, which house we are, if we hold firmly to the confidence and the glory of hope until the end. And this house will walk before his Christ, that is, the highest priest himself, all days; for the holy Church up to the end of the world will never cease to grow with the increase of its members. Otherwise, how can it be understood about Samuel, that a faithful house was built for him, which would walk before the Christ of the Lord, that is, Samuel himself, all the days; since we read later that his sons turned aside from his ways after greed, and perverted judgment? Unless perhaps in this place we understand his house to mean the Israelite people, who served the Lord all the days of his priesthood. Concerning which it is written: And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. And shortly after: So the children of Israel put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served only the Lord (1 Samuel VII). But as for what follows: However, it shall come to pass, that whoever remains in your house, shall come to pray for him, and to offer a piece of silver, and a morsel of bread (1 Samuel II); this both in the present time is somewhat fulfilled, and in the end of the world will be completely fulfilled. For even if few, yet some daily from the Jews, not only of the common people, but also from the priestly lineage flee to the Church; and when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel shall be saved (Romans II). Whoever from these is to be saved is indeed the one who is said to remain in the house. With the priesthood of Eli perishing, it is necessary for him to offer to the Church for himself a piece of silver of devoted confession to God, which is contained in the creed; short in word, but significant in virtue. Silver represents the clarity of the heavenly word, as gold often represents the splendor of spiritual wisdom. He shall also offer the bread of the saving sacrifice, with the legal victim's flesh rejected, and shall say: Grant me, I pray, one priestly portion (1 Samuel II), that is, to the same people splendid with Christ as priest, to whom Peter said: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood (1 Peter II). And what he adds: That I may eat a morsel of bread (1 Samuel II), he also elegantly expressed the very type of sacrifice, concerning which the priest himself said: The bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world (John VI). For what he had said above, that he had given to the house of Aaron food from the sacrifices of the Old Testament, which were the sacrifices of the Jews; therefore here he said that one should ask to eat a morsel of bread, which is in the New Testament the sacrifice of Christians.

It happened on a certain day, Eli was lying in his place, etc. He designates the lamp of God according to the dignity of Eli's rank. But by signification, we correctly take the lamp to mean the old priesthood, necessary indeed in the night under the shadow of the serving people, but to be removed with the approach of the day of new grace. For just as the lamp shining only in houses during the night, closed off, is not sufficient to spread the rays of its brightness more widely, but the sun, when it rises, illuminates everything both outside and inside so thoroughly that even the light of the lamp becomes less useful or indeed extinguishable; rightly, this is compared to the knowledge of the law, which shone as if enclosed within one house of Judea, while the other nations outside were oppressed by the terror of blind night. To the Gospel, which, after enlightening Judea, also dispelled the far-reaching shadows of Gentilism. And just as the rising sun would hide or even extinguish the lamp, the Apostle shows, speaking of the letter and the spirit: "For what was glorified has no glory now in comparison to the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts" (2 Corinthians 3). Therefore, Eli was lying in his place, and his eyes had grown dim, and he could not see the lamp of God, before the dignity of the old priesthood and law he served was extinguished; which ought to have watched, stood firm in faith, acted manfully, and been strengthened at the time of the Lord's Incarnation, degenerating from the alacrity of its original state, was languishing as if worn out by old age; nor was it yet clear in the light of true sense, for it had been greatly deprived of this light by the secondary interpretations of the Pharisees, after the things perfected by Christ's blood.