1 Samuel 4:12-22

Eli's Death and Ichabod's Birth

12 That same day, a Benjaminite man ran^[a] from the battle and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, and there was dirt on his head.

13 When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair beside the road watching, because he was anxious about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out.

14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, "Why this commotion?" The man quickly came and reported to Eli.

15 At that time Eli was 98 years old, and his gaze was fixed^[b] because he couldn't see.

16 The man said to Eli, "I'm the one who came from the battle.^[c] I fled from there today." "What happened, my son?" Eli asked.

17 The messenger answered, "Israel has fled from the Philistines, and also there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured."

18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backwards off the chair by the city gate, and since he was old and heavy, his neck broke and he died. Eli had judged Israel 40 years.

19 Eli's daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God's ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her.

20 As she was dying,^[d] the women taking care of her said, "Don't be afraid. You've given birth to a son!"^[e] But she did not respond, and did not pay attention.

21 She named the boy Ichabod,^[f] saying, "The glory has departed from Israel," referring to the capture of the ark of God and to [the deaths of] her father-in-law and her husband.

22 "The glory has departed from Israel," she said, "because the ark of God has been captured."

1 Samuel 4:12-22 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. 1 Sm 8:11; Jos 7:22
• [b]. Lit his eyes stood; 1 Kg 14:4
• [c]. LXX reads camp
• [d]. LXX reads And in her time of delivery, she was about to die
• [e]. Gn 35:16-19
• [f]. Where is Glory?