person · P0031

Eli עלי הכהן

Kohen Gadol at the Mishkan of Shilo and judge of Israel for forty years. Raised and trained the young Shmuel. Per the Rambam he received the Oral Torah from the Elders and from Pinchas, and transmitted it to Shmuel. Died at ninety-eight on hearing that the Ark was captured.

I. Who

Hebrew: עלי הכהן
Also known as: Eli HaKohen, Eli the Priest
Era: bible

Received the mesorah from: Pinchas, Zekenim (the Elders)
Transmitted the mesorah to: Shmuel

Students: Shmuel

II. When

Traditional: c. 2772–2870 AM
Lifespan (traditional): ≈98 years
Precision: approximate

V. How do we know

Claim	Evidence	Confidence	Sources
Received the Oral Torah from the Elders and from Pinchas, and transmitted it to Shmuel — the fourth link in Rambam's forty-generation chain. Confidence is for the chain as stated by the Rambam.	rabbinic	★★★★★	Rambam, Introduction to Mishneh Torah (Transmission of the Oral Law 5)
Served at the sanctuary of Shilo, where the young Shmuel ministered before him in the days when "the word of God was rare." Confidence is for what the biblical text states.	biblical	★★★★★	Shmuel I 3:1
Eli served as a priest at Shilo; his sons Hophni and Pinchas also served there as priests.	biblical	★★★★★	Shmuel I 1:3 Shmuel I 1:9
He was ninety-eight years old and blind at the time of the Philistine capture of the Ark.	biblical	★★★★★	Shmuel I 4:15
On hearing that the Ark had been captured, Eli fell backward from his seat by the gate, broke his neck, and died; the text says he had judged Israel for forty years.	biblical	★★★★★	Shmuel I 4:17–18
His two sons were killed in the same battle, and his daughter-in-law died after giving birth to a son named Ichabod.	biblical	★★★★★	Shmuel I 4:11 Shmuel I 4:19–22
Traditional placement c. 2772–2870 AM, anchored to the destruction of Shilo near the end of its traditional 369 years and to the forty years he judged Israel. Schematic traditional dating.	tradition reconstruction	★☆☆☆☆	Seder Olam Rabbah (chronological framework); Zevachim 118b (span of Shilo)