וַתְּהִ֨י חַטַּ֧את הַנְּעָרִ֛ים גְּדוֹלָ֥ה מְאֹ֖ד אֶת־פְּנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה כִּ֤י נִֽאֲצוּ֙ הָאֲנָשִׁ֔ים אֵ֖ת מִנְחַ֥ת יְהֹוָֽה׃
The sin of the young men against GOD was very great, for those men treated GOD’s offerings impiously.
(The above rendering comes from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation. Before accounting for this rendering, I will analyze the plain sense of the Hebrew term containing אִישׁ — or in this case, its plural אֲנָשִׁים.)
At first glance, this new label הָאֲנָשִׁים must refer to someone else than does הַנְּעָרִים ‘the young men’, which has been the prevailing label in vv. 13–17. Yet David Tsumura’s excursus in his commentary (NICOT series) makes a convincing case that all of those נַעַר labels refer to the same party, namely Eli’s wayward sons; and therefore הָאֲנָשִׁים must have the same referent, as well.
In other words, the verse’s final clause functions as a classic (schematic) summary clause, in which הָאֲנָשִׁים plays its usual re-situating function on the discourse level: it profiles its referent in terms of the previously depicted situation—referring to the same party who has been the topic until now.
Indeed, in Biblical Hebrew, the changed label הָאִישׁ or הָאֲנָשִׁים—the substitution of a different substantive label for the primary referring expression—is a standard device for summary statements that re-characterize a participant of interest. The exemplar is Gen 30:43, where הָאִישׁ replaces the name Jacob; cf. also 2 Kgs 5:24, where הָאֲנָשִׁים likewise replaces the label הַנְּעָרִים in v. 23.
As for rendering into English, the NJPS ‘the men’ is confusing in light of the phrase ‘young men’ earlier in the verse; at first glance, this new label must refer to a different party. The revised rendering employs a demonstrative pronoun to clarify the intended reference and to relate the assessment to the previously depicted situation.