1 Samuel 4:11

11 The ark of God was taken; and the two sons of `Eli, Hofni and Pinechas, were slain.

1 Samuel 4:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 4:11

And the ark of God was taken
By the Philistines; which was suffered partly as a punishment to the Israelites, for fetching it from the tabernacle without the will of God, and for their vain confidence in it; and partly that the Philistines might have an experiment of the power and might of God, as Procopius Gazaeus observes, by what they would suffer through having it among them; some have thought that this was an emblem of Christ being delivered into the hands of the Gentiles, and of the Gospel being translated from the Jews to them: and the two sons of Eli,

Hophni and Phinehas,
were slain; which fulfilled the prophecy of the man of God, that they should both die in one day, ( 1 Samuel 2:34 ) . It is very probable they stood fast by the ark, and chose rather to die than to give it up freely; having received a charge from their father, that if the ark was taken, not to desire life, nor ever dare to come into his presence more, as Josephus F1 relates.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 11. sect. 2.

1 Samuel 4:11 In-Context

9 Be strong, and behave yourselves like men, O you Pelishtim, that you not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.
10 The Pelishtim fought, and Yisra'el was struck, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Yisra'el thirty thousand footmen.
11 The ark of God was taken; and the two sons of `Eli, Hofni and Pinechas, were slain.
12 There ran a man of Binyamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn, and with dirt on his head.
13 When he came, behold, `Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.