1 Samuel 4
4
The Philistines Capture the Ark
1And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.
Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at #[ch. 5:1; 7:12] Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at #ch. 29:1; Josh. 12:18Aphek. 2The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. 3And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here #Josh. 18:1from Shiloh, that it#4:3 Or he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 4So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, #Ex. 25:22; 2 Sam. 6:2; Ps. 80:1; 99:1; [Num. 7:89]who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel #Josh. 6:5, 20gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. 6And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, 7the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. 9#[2 Sam. 10:12; 1 Cor. 16:13] Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews #Judg. 13:1as they have been to you; be men and fight.”
10So the Philistines fought, #ver. 2; Ps. 78:62; [Lev. 26:17; Deut. 28:25] and Israel was defeated, #2 Sam. 18:17; 19:8; 2 Kgs. 14:12; 2 Chr. 25:22and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11#[ch. 2:32; Ps. 78:60, 61] And the ark of God was captured, #ch. 2:34; Ps. 78:64and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
The Death of Eli
12A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, #See Josh. 7:6with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. 13When he arrived, #ver. 18; ch. 1:9Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out. 14When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. 15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old #1 Kgs. 14:4; [ch. 3:2]and his eyes were set so that he could not see. 16And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, #2 Sam. 1:4“How did it go, my son?” 17He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward #ver. 13from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.
19Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 20And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, #Gen. 35:17“Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21And she named the child #ch. 14:3 Ichabod, saying, #Ps. 78:61; [Ps. 26:8] “The glory has departed#4:21 Or gone into exile; also verse 22 from Israel!” because #ver. 11the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, #[See ver. 21 above]for the ark of God has been captured.”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 4
4
1and Samuel's words were communicated to all the Israelites.
The Israelites marched out to confront the Philistines in battle. They set up camp at Ebenezer, while the Philistines set up camp at Aphek. 2The Philistines attacked the Israelites in formation, and when the battle spread, the Philistines defeated the Israelites, killing 4,000 of them on the battlefield. 3When the Israelite army returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord defeat us before the Philistines today? Let's go and get the Ark of the Lord's Agreement from Shiloh, so that he can accompany us and save us from our enemies.”
4So the army sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the Ark of the Lord Almighty's Agreement, he who sits on his throne between the cherubim. Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were there with the Ark of the God's Agreement. 5When the Ark of the Lord's Agreement arrived in the camp, all the Israelites gave such a loud shout it made the ground shake.
6When the Philistines heard all the shouting, they asked, “What's the meaning of this shouting in the Israelite camp?” When they found out that the Ark of the Lord had arrived in the camp, 7the Philistines were afraid. “A god has arrived in the camp,” they said. “We're in trouble, for nothing like this has happened before. 8This is disaster for us! Who will save us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who attacked the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9Be brave, and fight like real men, Philistines! Otherwise you'll end up as slaves to the Israelites, just as they were your slaves. Now be real men and fight!”
10So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated—every man ran away home. The death toll was very large: thirty thousand of the Israelite infantry were killed. 11The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, Eli's two sons, died.
12A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battle that day all the way to Shiloh. His clothes were torn and he had dirt on his head.#4:12. “His clothes were torn and he had dirt on his head.” This was symbolic of great distress. 13When he arrived, Eli was sitting there on his chair by the road, watching out for news because he was worried about the Ark of God. When the man came into town and gave his report, the whole town cried out loud.
14Eli heard the crying and asked, “What's all this noise?” The man rushed over to Eli and told him what had happened.
15Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were fixed because he couldn't see.
16“I've just come from the battle,” the man said. “I ran away from it today.”
“What happened, my son?” Eli asked.
17“Israel ran away from the Philistines—we were badly defeated,” the messenger replied. “Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed, and the Ark of God has been captured.”
18As soon as the Ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the town gate. Since he was old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. Eli had been Israel's leader for forty years.
19His daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news that the Ark of God had been captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but her labor pains were too strong. 20Just before she died, the women caring for her said, “Don't give up—you have given birth to a son!” But she didn't answer or give any response.
21She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has left Israel,” because Ark of God had been captured, and her father-in-law and her husband had died. 22She said, “The glory has left Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com