Ebed-melech is the Hebrew for “servant (ebed) of the king (melech)”. It seems that we don’t know his real name, and that being of no real significance or importance—perhaps he was a runaway slave or captive of war—he was pressed into service in Judah’s royal household and named according to his function.

It is sometimes said that all sins are equal in the sight of God, but it is not true. Some sins are more grievous than others. In referring to Jesus’ warning in Matt 18:6 about causing “one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble”, Warfield describes the offence as “a sin almost too great for words.”

In 1 Samuel 3:13, God explains to the boy Samuel that he will hold Eli to account, not for what he has done personally, but for what he has allowed to continue under his watch:

“And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.” (ESV, my emphasis)