The Israelites being overcome by the Philistines, send for the ark of God: but they are beaten again, the sons of Heli are killed, and the ark taken: upon the hearing of the news Heli falls backward and dies.

¹ And it happened that, in those days, the Philistines assembled to fight. And Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle, and he made camp beside the Stone of Assistance. But the Philistines went to Aphek,¹

1. 4:1The Stone of help: In Hebrew Eben-ezer; so called from the help which the Lord was pleased afterwards to give to his people Israel in that place, by the prayers of Samuel, chap. 7.12.(Challoner)

² and they positioned their troops against Israel. Then, when the conflict began, Israel turned his back to the Philistines. And they were cut down in that conflict, in various places in the fields, about four thousand men.

³ And the people returned to the camp. And those greater by birth of Israel said: “Why has the Lord struck us today before the Philistines? Let us bring to ourselves the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. And let it enter into our midst, so that it may save us from the hand of our enemies.”

⁴ Therefore, the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, sitting upon the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵ And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord had arrived in the camp, all of Israel shouted with a great clamor, and the land resounded.

⁶ And the Philistines heard the voice of the clamor, and they said, “What is this voice of a great clamor in the camp of the Hebrews?” And they realized that the ark of the Lord had arrived in the camp.

⁷ And the Philistines were afraid, saying, “God has entered into the camp.” And they groaned, saying:

⁸ “Woe to us! For there was no such great exultation yesterday, or the day before. Woe to us! Who will save us from the hand of these sublime gods? These are the gods who struck Egypt with all the plagues, in the desert.”¹

1. 4:8The Philistines substantially misunderstood the one God of Israel, thinking Him to be just like their idols, and so the text has the word ‘gods’ with all lowercase letters.(Conte)

⁹ “Be strengthened, and be manly, O Philistines! Otherwise, you may serve the Hebrews, as they also have served you. Be strengthened and wage war!”

¹⁰ Therefore, the Philistines fought, and Israel was cut down, and each one fled to his own tent. And an exceedingly great slaughter occurred. And thirty thousand foot soldiers from Israel fell.¹

1. 4:10The expression “each one fled to his own tent” is like the expression “every man for himself”. It indicates that they no longer acted as a body, but were scattered.(Conte)

¹¹ And the ark of God was captured. Also, the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

¹² Now a man of Benjamin, rushing from the troops, arrived at Shiloh on the same day, with his clothing torn, and with his head sprinkled with dust.

¹³ And when he had arrived, Eli was sitting on a seat opposite the way, gazing out. For his heart was fearful on behalf of the ark of God. Then, after this man entered the city, he announced it to the city. And the entire city wailed.

¹⁴ And Eli heard the sound of the outcry, and he said, “What is this sound, this tumult?” And the man hurried, and he went and announced it to Eli.

¹⁵ Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes had dimmed, so that he was not able to see.

¹⁶ And he said to Eli: “I am the one who came from the battle. And it is I who fled from the troops today.” And he said to him, “What has happened, my son?”

¹⁷ And responding, the man reported and said: “Israel has fled before the Philistines. And a great ruin has happened to the people. Moreover, your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also have died. And the ark of God has been captured.”

¹⁸ And when he had named the ark of God, he fell from the seat backwards, toward the door, and, having broken his neck, he died. For he was an old man of great age. And he judged Israel for forty years.¹

1. 4:18Named the ark, etc: There is great reason, by all these circumstances, to hope that Heli died in a state of grace; and by his temporal punishments escaped the eternal.(Challoner)

¹⁹ Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, and her delivery was near. And upon hearing the news that the ark of God had been captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she bent down and went into labor. For her pains rushed upon her suddenly.

²⁰ Then, when she was near death, those who were standing around her said to her, “You should not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond to them, and she did not notice them.

²¹ And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory of Israel has been taken away,” because the ark of God was captured, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.¹

1. 4:21Ichabod: That is, Where is the glory? or, there is no glory. We see how much the Israelites lamented the loss of the ark, which was but the symbol of God’s presence among them. How much more ought Christians to lament the loss of God himself, when by sin they have driven him out of their souls.(Challoner)

²² And she said, “The glory has been taken away from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured.