Shmuel Alef 4:17

17 And the mevaser (herald, bringer of news, bearer of tidings, evangelist) answered and said, Yisroel is fled before the Pelishtim, and there hath been also a magefah gedolah among HaAm, and thy two banim also, Chophni and Pinchas, are dead, and the Aron HaElohim is captured.

Shmuel Alef 4:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 4:17

And the messenger answered and said
He delivered his account gradually, beginning with generals, and then proceeding to particulars, and with what he thought Eli could better bear the news of, and so prepared him for the worst; in which he acted a wise part:

Israel is fled before the Philistines;
they have given way and retreated, and which might possibly be done without great loss, and which, though it was bad news, might not be so very bad:

and there hath also been a great slaughter among the people;
this is worse news still; however, the number of the slain is not given, nor any mention of particular persons that were killed: so that, for any thing yet said, his own sons might be safe: but then it follows,

and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead;
the news of which must be very affecting to him, and strike him closely; though he might expect and be prepared for it by what both the man of God and Samuel from the Lord had related to him:

and the ark of God is taken;
the thing he feared, and his heart trembled before for it; this was the closing and cutting part of the account; the messenger foresaw that this would the most affect him, and therefore referred it to the last.

Shmuel Alef 4:17 In-Context

15 Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were kamah (set, stiff, fixed motionless), that he could not see.

16 And the ish said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the ma’arakhah (battleground), and I fled today from the ma’arakhah. And he said, What happened there, beni?

17 And the mevaser (herald, bringer of news, bearer of tidings, evangelist) answered and said, Yisroel is fled before the Pelishtim, and there hath been also a magefah gedolah among HaAm, and thy two banim also, Chophni and Pinchas, are dead, and the Aron HaElohim is captured.

18 And it came to pass, when he made mention of the Aron HaElohim, that he fell from off the kisse backward by the side of the sha’ar, and his neck was broken, and he died; for the ish was zaken (old) and kaved (heavy). And he had judged Yisroel arba’im shanah.

19 And his kallah (daughter-in-law), eshet Pinchas, was with child, near to be delivered; and when she heard the tidings that the Aron HaElohim was captured, and that her kham (woman’s father-in-law) and her ish were dead, she fell upon her knees in labor and gave birth; for her labor pains came upon her.