1 Samuel 4:16

16 He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.” Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”

1 Samuel 4:16 in Other Translations

16 And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?

16 And the man said to Eli, "I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today." And he said, "How did it go, my son?"

16 He said to Eli, “I have just come from the battlefield—I was there this very day.” “What happened, my son?” Eli demanded.

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?"

16 The man said to Eli, "I'm the one who came from the battle. I fled from there today." "What happened, my son?" Eli asked.

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 outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?” The man hurried over to Eli,

15 who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see.

16 He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.” Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”

17 The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led Israel forty years.