1 Samuel 4:3-13

3 When some Israelite soldiers went back to their camp, the older leaders of Israel asked, "Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us? Let's bring the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord here from Shiloh and take it with us into battle. Then God will save us from our enemies."

4 So the people sent men to Shiloh. They brought back the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord All-Powerful, who sits between the gold creatures with wings. Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the Ark.

5 When the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord came into the camp, all the Israelites gave a great shout of joy that made the ground shake.

6 When the Philistines heard Israel's shout, they asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?" Then the Philistines found out that the Ark of the Lord had come into the Hebrew camp.

7 They were afraid and said, "A god has come into the Hebrew camp! We're in trouble! This has never happened before!

8 How terrible it will be for us! Who can save us from these powerful gods? They are the ones who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of disasters in the desert.

9 Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men! In the past they were our slaves. So fight like men, or we will become their slaves."

10 So the Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, and every Israelite soldier ran away to his own home. It was a great defeat for Israel, because thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed.

11 The Ark of God was taken by the Philistines, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

12 That same day a man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battle. He tore his clothes and put dust on his head to show his great sadness.

13 When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was by the side of the road. He was sitting there in a chair, watching, because he was worried about the Ark of God. When the Benjaminite entered Shiloh, he told the bad news. Then all the people in town cried loudly.

1 Samuel 4:3-13 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.