Hophni

Hophni was one of the two sons of Eli the high priest who served as priests at the sanctuary of Shiloh. Together with his brother Phinehas, he was guilty of egregious priestly abuses: seizing the best portions of sacrificial meat before the fat was burned (in direct violation of Mosaic law), threatening worshippers who objected, and lying with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Their father Eli rebuked them but failed to remove them, and his leniency was counted as honoring his sons more than God.

A man of God prophesied the end of Eli's priestly house (1 Samuel 2:34), and the sign given was that both Hophni and Phinehas would die on the same day. The prophecy was fulfilled when the Philistines defeated Israel at Aphek: Eli's sons carried the ark of the covenant into battle—an unauthorized act—and both were killed when the Philistines captured it. Eli himself died upon hearing the news. The deaths of Hophni and Phinehas marked the catastrophic end of the house of Eli and set the stage for Samuel's rise to priestly and prophetic leadership in Israel.