1 Samuel 4:16

16 The Benjaminite told him, "I have come from the battle. I ran all the way here today." Eli asked, "What happened, my son?"

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 Eli heard the crying and asked, "What's all this noise?" The Benjaminite ran to Eli and told him what had happened.

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

16 The Benjaminite told him, "I have come from the battle. I ran all the way here today." Eli asked, "What happened, my son?"

17 The Benjaminite answered, "Israel ran away from the Philistines, and the Israelite army has lost many soldiers. Your two sons are both dead, and the Philistines have taken the Ark of God."

18 When he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair. He fell beside the gate, broke his neck, and died, because he was old and fat. He had led Israel for forty years.