1 Samuel 4:12

12 Y corriendo de la batalla un hombre de Benjamín, vino aquel día á Silo, rotos sus vestidos y tierra sobre su cabeza:

1 Samuel 4:12 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 4:12

And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army
Out of the rank in which he was, before the whole army was quite broken up. This was a young man as Josephus ^F2 says, which is highly probable; though not at all to be depended on is what the Jews ^F3 say, that this was Saul, later king of Israel:

and came to Shiloh the same day;
which, according to Bunting ^F4, was forty two miles from Ebenezer, near to which the battle was fought; and that it was a long way is pretty plain by the remark made, that this messenger came the same day the battle was fought; though not at such a distance as some Jewish writers say, some sixty, some one hundred and twenty miles ^F5; which is not at all probable:

with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head;
which were both tokens of distress and mourning, and showed that he was a messenger of bad tidings from the army; (See Gill on Joshua 7:6).

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 11. sect. 3.
F3 Shalshalet Hakabala. fol. 8. 1. Jarchi in loc.
F4 Travels of the Patriarchs p. 123.
F5 Midrash Schemuel apud Abarbinel in loc.

1 Samuel 4:12 In-Context

10 Pelearon pues los Filisteos, é Israel fué vencido, y huyeron cada cual á sus tiendas; y fué hecha muy grande mortandad, pues cayeron de Israel treinta mil hombres de á pie.

11 Y el arca de Dios fué tomada, y muertos los dos hijos de Eli, Ophni y Phinees.

12 Y corriendo de la batalla un hombre de Benjamín, vino aquel día á Silo, rotos sus vestidos y tierra sobre su cabeza:

13 Y cuando llegó, he aquí Eli que estaba sentado en una silla atalayando junto al camino; porque su corazón estaba temblando por causa del arca de Dios. Llegado pues aquel hombre á la ciudad, y dadas las nuevas, toda la ciudad gritó.

14 Y como Eli oyó el estruendo de la gritería, dijo: ¿Qué estruendo de alboroto es éste? Y aquel hombre vino apriesa, y dió las nuevas á Eli.