1 Samuel 4:14

14 When `Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What means the noise of this tumult? The man hurried, and came and told `Eli.

1 Samuel 4:14 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 4:14

And when Eli heard the noise of the crying
The shrieks of the men and women, which were very clamorous and terrible. Eli had his hearing, though not his sight; he could not see the distress in their countenances, but he heard the lamentations they made:

and said, what meaneth the noise of this tumult?
it seems the people ran about, wringing their hands, and making doleful shrieks; the noise of which Eli heard, and the meaning of which he inquired after, or what should be the cause of it:

and the man came in hastily, and told Eli;
or made haste, and came to him, and related all that is later expressed; for Eli was not in any house, but on a seat by the way side, and therefore could not be said to come "in" to him; but he came to him, where he was, being brought by some of the citizens Eli had inquired of what should be the meaning of this noise; and therefore without delay the man was hastened to give the whole account unto him, as it was highly proper he should, being the supreme magistrate.

1 Samuel 4:14 In-Context

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.

14 When `Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What means the noise of this tumult? The man hurried, and came and told `Eli.

15 Now `Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see.

16 The man said to `Eli, I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. He said, How went the matter, my son?