Manuscript variant · disputed
What the source reads — 'because his sons were cursing God' (mekalelim Elohim) — the reading behind the Septuagint, and named by the Masoretes' own note
What this version reads — 'because his sons made themselves vile / cursed themselves' (lahem, 'to them') — the Masoretic text
One of the tikkune sopherim — the 'corrections of the scribes' the Masorah itself lists. The older reading has Eli's sons 'cursing God'; the scribes changed 'Elohim' (God) to 'lahem' ('themselves' / 'to them') to avoid writing a curse against God, and the sentence has read awkwardly ever since. Recorded by the Masoretic tradition's own margin — though our Greek text is damaged just here, so it is flagged disputed.
Read this chapter side by side — 1 Samuel 3:13 →