1 Samuel 4:7-17

7 And the Philistines, full of fear, said, God has come into their tents. And they said, Trouble is ours! for never before has such a thing been seen.

8 Trouble is ours! Who will give us salvation from the hands of these great gods? These are the gods who sent all sorts of blows on the Egyptians in the waste land.

9 Be strong, O Philistines, be men! Do not be servants to the Hebrews as they have been to you: go forward to the fight without fear.

10 So the Philistines went to the fight, and Israel was overcome, and every man went in flight to his tent: and great was the destruction, for thirty thousand footmen of Israel were put to the sword.

11 And the ark of God was taken; and Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were put to the sword.

12 And a man of Benjamin went running from the fight and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothing out of order and earth on his head.

13 And when he came, Eli was seated by the wayside watching: and in his heart was fear for the ark of God. And when the man came into the town and gave the news, there was a great outcry.

14 And Eli, hearing the noise and the cries, said, What is the reason of this outcry? And the man came quickly and gave the news to Eli.

15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were fixed so that he was not able to see.

16 And the man said to Eli, I have come from the army and have come in flight today from the fight. And he said, How did it go, my son?

17 And the man said, Israel went in flight from the Philistines, and there has been great destruction among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken.

1 Samuel 4:7-17 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.