1 Samuel 4:16

16 The man said to Eli, "I've just come from the front, barely escaping with my life." "And so, my son," said Eli, "what happened?"

1 Samuel 4:16 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 4:16

And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army,
&c.] It is very probable that the people Eli inquired of told him there was a messenger come from the army, though they did not choose to relate to him the news he brought:

and I fled today out of the army;
so that as he was an eyewitness of what was done in the army, the account he brought was the earliest that could be had, in bringing which he had made great dispatch, having ran perhaps all the way:

and he said, what is there done, my son?
has a battle been fought? on which side is the victory? is Israel beaten, or have they conquered? how do things go? he uses the kind and tender appellation, my son, to engage him to tell him all freely and openly.

1 Samuel 4:16 In-Context

14 They were appalled. Eli heard the loud wailing and asked, "Why this uproar?" The messenger hurried over and reported.

15 Eli was ninety-eight years old then, and blind.

16 The man said to Eli, "I've just come from the front, barely escaping with my life." "And so, my son," said Eli, "what happened?"

17 The messenger answered, "Israel scattered before the Philistines. The defeat was catastrophic, with enormous losses. Your sons Hophni and Phinehas died, and the Chest of God was taken."

18 At the words, "Chest of God," Eli fell backwards off his stool where he sat next to the gate. Eli was an old man, and very fat. When he fell, he broke his neck and died. He had led Israel forty years.