1 Samuel 4

One might wonder why thirty thousand men had to die for the sins of Eli’s two sons, but the Israelites themselves were not without guilt. They had worshiped false gods and intermarried with the Canaanites instead of driving them out; they too, as well as the house of Eli, were reaping the punishment for their disobedience (Leviticus 26:23–25).

The Death of Eli (4:12–22)

12–18 Meanwhile Eli was sitting by the road just outside Shiloh waiting for news of the battle. When a Benjamite with torn clothes and dust on his head (signs of mourning) arrived from the battleground, it was clear the news would be bad. When Eli heard the ark had been captured by the Philistines, he was so shocked he fell off his chair, broke his neck, and died (verse 18). He had led (judged) Israel for forty years.

19–22 Eli’s daughter-in-law, who was pregnant, went into premature labor when she heard the news that her husband and father-in-law were dead. She died in childbirth, but her son survived. Just before she died she named her son Ichabod, which means “no glory.” She understood correctly that the glory—the honor and privilege of the priesthood—had departed from Eli’s house forever; her son’s name symbolized that fact.

But there was a deeper significance to the name Ichabod. Not only had “glory” gone forever from the house of Eli but also the GLORY—the Presence—of God had gone (temporarily) from the house of Israel. God had said that the tabernacle would be consecrated by His glory (Exodus 29:43; 40:34)—that is, by His presence. And His presence would be particularly manifested above the ark between the two cherubim (Exodus 25:22; Hebrews 9:5). When the ark, the symbol of God’s presence, departed from Shiloh, God’s glory . . . departed from Israel²⁶ (verse 22). Eli’s daughter-in-law spoke more truly than she knew.