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1 Samuel 4

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Israel Defeated at Ebenezer 1–2

1
And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. ​
2
And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. ​

The Ark Brought to Battle 3–11

3
And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. ​
4
So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. ​
5
And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. ​
6
And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp.
7
And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. ​
8
Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. ​
9
Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. ​
10
And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. ​
11
And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. ​

News of the Defeat Reaches Eli 12–18

12
And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. ​
13
And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. ​
14
And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.
15
Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. ​
16
And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?
17
And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. ​
18
And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. ​

The Birth of Ichabod and the Loss of Glory 19–22

19
And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. ​
20
And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.
21
And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. ​
22
And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Samuel 4

Verse 1

pitched beside Ebenezer — The chapter opens on the word of a prophet whom 'all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba' knew (3:20). The name Ebenezer is the one Samuel later gives to a stone set between Mizpeh and Shen, 'Hitherto hath the LORD helped us' (7:12); here Israel pitches beside it, the Philistines at Aphek, and Israel is beaten.

Verse 2

Israel was smitten — 'Smitten' is nagaph, the verb of Deut 28:25, 'The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies', one of the curses that follow disobedience (Deut 28:15). It recurs in vv.3 and 10. The first battle costs 'about four thousand men'; the second costs thirty thousand (v.10).

Verse 3

Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us — The elders ask why, and the remedy they propose is to 'fetch the ark… out of Shiloh', that 'it may save us' (yasha). The account records no inquiry of the LORD before the ark is sent for. The saving is attached to the ark, and the LORD who sits above it (v.4) is not asked.

Verse 4

dwelleth between the cherubims — The LORD had said of the mercy seat, 'I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims' (Ex 25:22). The title 'LORD of hosts' goes with the ark here, and Hophni and Phinehas, whose death in one day was foretold as a sign (2:34), come with it.

Verse 5

a great shout — Israel shouts as the people did at Jericho, 'the people shouted with a great shout' (Josh 6:20), when the wall fell. Here the ark's arrival is the whole ground of the cry, and the day ends in defeat (v.10).

Verse 7

God is come into the camp — The Philistines use one Hebrew word, elohim, in vv.7–8, which the KJV renders 'God' and then 'Gods'. Their fear is the one set out after the Red Sea, 'The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina' (Ex 15:14).

Verse 8

the plagues — Makkah, a blow or stroke, the word the KJV renders 'slaughter' in v.10, where the blow now falls on Israel. The Philistines know the Exodus by report and speak of the LORD's judgment on 'the Egyptians'; the memory lasts, for their own priests recall it in 6:6, 'as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts'.

Verse 9

quit yourselves like men — Paul gives the same charge: 'quit you like men, be strong' (1 Cor 16:13). The Philistines fear becoming 'servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you', which recalls the long Philistine rule of Judg 13:1, when 'the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years'.

Verse 10

thirty thousand footmen — Israel is 'smitten' a second time (vv.2, 3). Deut 28:25 pairs being smitten with fleeing, 'flee seven ways before them', and the army here flees 'every man into his tent'. The loss rises from the 'four thousand' of v.2 to 'thirty thousand footmen'.

Verse 11

the ark of God was taken — The ark is captured and Hophni and Phinehas are slain together, the sign given in 2:34 that they would die 'in one day'. Ps 78 looks back on it: 'his glory into the enemy's hand… Their priests fell by the sword' (vv.61, 64).

Verse 12

his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head — The signs of grief. A messenger from Saul's camp arrives in the same condition, 'with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head' (2 Sam 1:2). This runner is a man of Benjamin and reaches Shiloh 'the same day'.

Verse 13

his heart trembled for the ark of God — 'Watching' is tsaphah, to peer into the distance, the watchman's verb. Eli sits 'by the wayside', where earlier he sat 'upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD' (1:9). The text names the ark as the cause of his trembling.

Verse 15

ninety and eight years old — His eyes 'began to wax dim' in 3:2, and now he cannot see at all, as Isaac could not (Gen 27:1, 'his eyes were dim, so that he could not see'). His age is set beside his office: he 'judged Israel forty years' (v.18).

Verse 17

the messenger — The Hebrew verb is basar, to bring news, the verb of 'him that bringeth good tidings' (Isa 52:7). Here it carries the opposite news, in rising order: Israel fled, the slaughter, the two sons, and last the ark, which is the item that brings Eli down (v.18).

Verse 18

he was an old man, and heavy — 'Heavy' is kabad, the root of kabod, 'glory' (v.21). Eli falls 'when he made mention of the ark of God', and the account closes his life with his term: 'he had judged Israel forty years.' His sons Hophni and Phinehas have died the same day (v.11).

Verse 19

she bowed herself and travailed — The wife of Phinehas hears three things in one report: the ark taken, her father in law and her husband dead. 'Bowed herself' is the verb used of animals giving birth (Job 39:3, 'They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones'). The ark is named first here, where the messenger named it last (v.17).

Verse 21

Ichabod — I-kabod, 'no glory'. The name occurs elsewhere only in 14:3, where the priestly line is traced through 'Ichabod's brother'. 'Departed' is galah, the verb for going into exile, so the glory is spoken of as exiled with the ark, 'because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband'.

Verse 22

The glory is departed — She says it again, and ties the glory to the ark. Ps 78:61 states the same loss from the LORD's side, 'delivered… his glory into the enemy's hand', and Paul lists 'the glory' among what belongs to Israel: 'the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants' (Rom 9:4).