The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Samuel 04
1 The word of Samuel came to all Israel.
Now Israel went out against the
Philistines to battle, and encamped beside
Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in
Aphek.
2 The Philistines put themselves in array
against Israel. When they joined battle,
Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who
killed about four thousand men of the
army in the field.
3 When the people had come into the
camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why
has Yahweh defeated us today before the
Philistines? Let’s get the ark of Yahweh’s
covenant out of Shiloh and bring it to us,
that it may come among us and save us out
of the hand of our enemies.”
4 So the people sent to Shiloh, and they
broughtfrom there the ark ofthe covenant
of Yahweh of Armies, who sits above the
cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni
and Phinehas, were there with the ark of
the covenant of God.
5 When the ark of Yahweh’s covenant
came into the camp, allIsrael shouted with
a great shout, so that the earth resounded.
6 When the Philistines heard the noise
of the shout, they said, “What does the
noise of this great shout in the camp of the
Hebrews mean?” They understood that
Yahweh’s ark had come into the camp.
7 The Philistines were afraid, for they
said, “God has come into the camp.” They
said, “Woe to us! For there has not been
such a thing before.
8 Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of
the hand of these mighty gods? These are
the gods that struck the Egyptians with all
kinds of plagues in the wilderness.
9 Be strong and behave like men, O
you Philistines, that you not be servants
to the Hebrews, as they have been to
you. Strengthen yourselves like men, and
fight!”
10 The Philistines fought, and Israel was
defeated, and each man fled to his tent.
There was a very great slaughter;for thirty
thousand footmen of Israel fell.
11 God’s ark was taken; and the two sons
of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. 12A manofBenjaminranout ofthe army
and came to Shiloh the same day, with his
clothes torn and with dirt on his head.
13 When he came, behold, Eli was sitting
on his seat by the road watching, for his
heart trembled for God’s ark. When the
man came into the city and told aboutit, all
the city cried out.
14 When Eli heard the noise ofthe crying,
he said, “What does the noise ofthis tumult
mean?”
The man hurried, and came and told Eli.
15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old.
His eyes were set, so that he could not see.
16 The man said to Eli, “I am he who came
out of the army, and I fled today out of the
army.” He said, “How did the matter go, my
son?”
17 He who brought the news answered,
“Israel has fled before the Philistines, and
there has been also a great slaughter
among the people. Your two sons also,
Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and God’s
ark has been captured.”
18 When he made mention of God’s ark,
Eli fell from off his seat backward by the
side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he
died, for he was an old man and heavy. He
had judged Israel forty years.
19 His daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife,
was with child, near to giving birth. When
she heard the news that God’s ark was
taken and that her father-in-law and her
husband were dead, she bowed herself
and gave birth; for her pains came on her.
20 About the time of her death the
women who stood by her said to her,
“Don’t be afraid, for you have given birth
to a son.” But she didn’t answer, neither
did she regard it.
21 She named the child Ichabod,† saying,
“The glory has departed from Israel!” because God’s ark was taken, and because of
her father-in-law and her husband.
22 She said, “The glory has departed from
Israel; for God’s ark has been taken.”