1 Samuel 4:8

8 We're in trouble now! Who can save us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every kind of plague in the desert.

1 Samuel 4:8 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 4:8

Woe unto us, who shall deliver us out of the hand of these
mighty gods?
&c.] Of whom they spoke in an ironical and sneering manner; or if seriously and through fear, they use their own Heathenish language, as if the Israelites had many gods, as they had, though mightier than theirs; though the Syriac and Arabic versions read in the singular, out of the hand of God, or the most strong God; and so the Targum, out of the hand of the Word of the Lord:

these are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the
wilderness:
the ten plagues were inflicted on the Egyptians in the land of Egypt, and not in the wilderness; wherefore the Philistines may be supposed to be mistaken in this circumstance; which is not to be wondered at, since many historians who have written of the affairs of the Jews have been mistaken in them, as Justin, Tacitus, and others; nay, even Josephus himself in some things: but perhaps respect is had to the drowning of Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea, which had the wilderness of Etham on both sides of it; and this stroke was the finishing one of the plagues on the Egyptians. R. Joseph Kimchi supposes the word for wilderness has the signification of speech, as in ( Song of Solomon 4:3 ) and that the sense of the Philistines is, that God smote the Egyptians with all the plagues he did by his word, his orders, and commands; but now he was come in person, and would smite them by himself; this sense Abarbinel calls a beautiful one.

1 Samuel 4:8 In-Context

6 As the Philistines heard the noise, they asked, "What's [all] this shouting in the Hebrew camp?" The Philistines found out that the LORD's ark had come into the camp.

7 Then they were frightened and said, "A god has come into [their] camp." They also said, "Oh no! Nothing like this has ever happened before.

8 We're in trouble now! Who can save us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every kind of plague in the desert.

9 Be strong, Philistines, and act like men, or else you will serve the Hebrews as they served you. Act like men and fight."

10 The Philistines fought and defeated Israel. Every [Israelite] soldier fled to his tent. It was a major defeat in which 30,000 Israelite foot soldiers died.