Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 2:17

"And the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah; for the men despised the offering of Jehovah." — 1 Samuel 2:17 (ASV)

The sin of the young men was very great. — Grave peccatum sacerdotum ob scandalum datum laicis (“the sin of the priests was a great one, because it put a stumbling-block in the way of the people.”). — A. Lapide, quoted by Wordsworth.

Religion was being brought into general disrepute through the conduct of its leading ministers; was it likely that piety, justice, and purity would be honoured and loved in the land of Israel when the whole ritual of the sacrifices was openly scoffed at in the great sanctuary of the people by the chief priests of their faith?