1 Samuel 4:4-14

4 So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of the hosts, who dwells between the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5 And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with such a great shout that the earth trembled.

6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What great shout of joy is this in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp.

7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God has come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! For yesterday and day before yesterday it was not so.

8 Woe unto us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

9 Be strong and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye not serve the Hebrews as they have served you; quit yourselves like men and fight.

10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled each one into his tent, and there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand footmen of Israel fell.

11 And the ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

12 And running out of the battle, a man of Benjamin came to Shiloh that same day with his clothes rent and with earth upon his head.

13 And when he came, behold Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and gave the news, all the city cried out.

14 And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What is the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily and told Eli.

1 Samuel 4:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 4

This chapter is a narrative of a war between Israel and the Philistines, in the time of Samuel, and of the consequences of it. In the first battle, the Philistines had the better of the Israelites, which caused the latter to inquire into the reason of it, and who proposed to fetch the ark of the Lord, and did, to repair their loss, and prepare for a second battle, in which they hoped to succeed, and which struck a panic into their enemies, 1Sa 4:1-7, who yet encouraged and stirred up one another to behave in a courageous manner, and victory a second time was on their side, a great number of the Israelites were slain, among whom were Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, and the ark of God was taken, 1Sa 4:8-11, the news of which being brought to Eli, he fell back and died, 1Sa 4:12-18 and to his daughter-in-law, who upon it fell into labour, and died also, 1Sa 4:19-22.