1 Samuel 4:5-15

5 And when the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord had come into the tents (And when the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came to the camp), all Israel cried [out] with [a] great cry, and the earth sounded.
6 And the Philistines heard the voice of their cry, and they said, And what is this voice of great cry in the tents of Hebrews? And they knew, that the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord had come into the tents of Israel. (And the Philistines heard the sound of their cry, and they said, And what is this sound of a great cry from the Hebrews? tents? And then they knew, that the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord had come to Israel's camp.)
7 And the Philistines dreaded, and said, God is come into their tents; and they wailed, and said, Woe to us! for so great out-joying was not there yesterday, and the third day passed; (And the Philistines were afraid, and said, God hath come to their tents; and they wailed, and said, Woe to us! for there was not so great rejoicing there yesterday, or the third day ago;)
8 woe to us! who shall keep us from the hand of these high gods? these be the gods, that smited Egypt with all vengeance in desert. (woe to us! who shall save us from the power of these high gods? these be the gods, who struck down the Egyptians with all that slaughter in the wilderness.)
9 Philistines, be ye comforted, and be ye men, serve ye not to the Hebrews, as they have served to you; be ye comforted, and fight ye against Israel. (Philistines, take ye courage, and be ye men, otherwise ye shall serve as slaves to the Hebrews, like they have served you; yea, be ye of good courage, and fight ye against Israel.)
10 Then the Philistines fought, and Israel was overcome, and each man fled into his tabernacle; and a full great vengeance was made, and thirty thousand of (the) footmen of Israel felled down. (Then the Philistines fought, and Israel was overcome, and each man fled into his tent; and there was a great slaughter, and thirty thousand of the footmen of Israel fell down.)
11 And the ark of God was taken; and, the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were dead. (And the Ark of God was taken; and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed.)
12 And a man of Benjamin ran from the battle array, and came into Shiloh in that day, with his cloth rent, and with his head besprinkled with dust; (And a man of Benjamin ran from the battle array, and came into Shiloh that day, with his cloak torn, and with his head covered with dirt;)
13 and when he was come, Eli sat upon a seat, and beheld against the way; for his heart was dreading for the ark of the Lord (and when he arrived, Eli sat on a seat, looking toward the road; for his heart was fearing for the Ark of the Lord). And after that that man had entered, he told (what had happened) to the men of the city, and (then) all the city yelled.
14 And Eli heard the sound of the cry, and he said, What is the sound of this noise? (And Eli heard all the yelling, and he said, What is the meaning of this noise?) And the man hasted, and came, and told to Eli.
15 And Eli was of fourscore years and eighteen, and his eyes (had) dimmed/his eyes (had) darkened, and he might not see.

1 Samuel 4:5-15 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.