The original text of this chapter, as with the rest of the Books of Samuel, was written in Hebrew.

[3] Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q51 (4QSama; 100–50 BCE) with extant verses 1–10, 16–36.

Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B;

[8][a] The New Revised Standard Version organises this chapter as follows: Verses 22 to 25 introduce a topic dealing with the condemnation of the house of Eli on account of his sons' transgressions.

The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, Targum, and Vulgate translation refer to Hophni and Phinehas' sins including both the misappropriation of food brought to sacrifice at the shrine in Shiloh and also their sexual relations with "the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting".