1 Samuel 4:13-22

13 When he came, behold, ¹Eli was sitting on his seat by the road eagerly watching, because his heart was trembling for the ark of God. So the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city cried out.

14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, "What does the noise of this commotion mean?" Then the man came hurriedly and told Eli.

15 Now Eli was ninety-eight * years old, and ²his eyes were set so that he could not see.

16 The man said to Eli, "I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today." And he said, "³How did things go, my son?"

17 Then the one who brought the news replied, "Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken."

18 When he mentioned the ark of God, ⁴Eli fell off * the seat backward beside * the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years.

19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas's wife, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her.

20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, "⁵Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer or pay attention.

21 And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, "⁶The glory has departed from Israel," because ⁷the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

22 She said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken."

1 Samuel 4:13-22 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.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Samuel 1:9; 1 Samuel 4:18
• 2. 1 Samuel 3:2; 1 Kings 14:4
• 3. 2 Samuel 1:4
• 4. 1 Samuel 4:13
• 5. Genesis 35:16-19
• 6. Psalms 26:8; Jeremiah 2:11
• 7. 1 Samuel 4:11

Footnotes

• [a] Gr version reads "beside the gate watching the road"
• [b] Lit "he"
• [c] Lit "the man"
• [d] I.e. No glory