1 Samuel 4:14

14 Hearing the cry, Eli asked, "What is this commotion?" So the man went quickly to tell Eli the news.

1 Samuel 4:14 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 4:14

And when Eli heard the noise of the crying
The shrieks of the men and women, which were very clamorous and terrible. Eli had his hearing, though not his sight; he could not see the distress in their countenances, but he heard the lamentations they made:

and said, what meaneth the noise of this tumult?
it seems the people ran about, wringing their hands, and making doleful shrieks; the noise of which Eli heard, and the meaning of which he inquired after, or what should be the cause of it:

and the man came in hastily, and told Eli;
or made haste, and came to him, and related all that is later expressed; for Eli was not in any house, but on a seat by the way side, and therefore could not be said to come "in" to him; but he came to him, where he was, being brought by some of the citizens Eli had inquired of what should be the meaning of this noise; and therefore without delay the man was hastened to give the whole account unto him, as it was highly proper he should, being the supreme magistrate.

1 Samuel 4:14 In-Context

12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the front line of the battle. He went to Shiloh that day with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

13 When he arrived, Eli was sitting on a chair beside the road, watching. He was worried about the ark of God. The man went into the city to tell the news. The whole city cried out.

14 Hearing the cry, Eli asked, "What is this commotion?" So the man went quickly to tell Eli the news.

15 (Eli was 98 years old, and his eyesight had failed so that he couldn't see.)

16 The man told Eli, "I'm the one who came from the battle. I fled from the front line today." "What happened, son?" Eli asked.