1 Samuel · Literal Standard Version
1 Samuel 4 Literal Standard Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 And the word of Samuel is to all Israel, and Israel goes out to meet the Philistines for battle, and they encamp by Eben-Ezer, and the Philistines have encamped in Aphek,
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 and the Philistines set themselves in array to meet Israel, and the battle spreads itself, and Israel is struck before the Philistines, and they strike among the ranks in the field about four thousand men.
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 And the people come into the camp, and [the] elderly of Israel say, “Why has YHWH struck us today before the Philistines? We take the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH from Shiloh to ourselves, and it comes into our midst, and He saves us out of the hand of our enemies.”
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 And the people send to Shiloh, and they take from there the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH of Hosts, inhabiting the cherubim, and there [are] two sons of Eli with the Ark of the Covenant of God, Hophni and Phinehas.
4 So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the 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 And it comes to pass, at the coming in of the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH to the camp, that all Israel shouts [with] a great shout, and the earth is moved.
5 When the ark of Yahweh’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded.
6 And the Philistines hear the noise of the shouting, and say, “What [is] the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” And they perceive that the Ark of YHWH has come into the camp.
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 And the Philistines are afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp”; and they say, “Woe to us, for there has been nothing like this before.
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 delivers us out of the hand of these majestic gods? These [are] the gods who are striking the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness.
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 Strengthen yourselves, and become men, O Philistines, lest you do service to Hebrews, as they have done to you—then you have become men, and have fought.”
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 And the Philistines fight, and Israel is struck, and they each flee to his tents, and the slaughter is very great, and thirty thousand footmen of Israel fall;
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 and the Ark of God has been taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, have died.
11 God’s ark was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
12 And a man of Benjamin runs out of the ranks, and comes into Shiloh, on that day, and his long robes [are] torn, and earth [is] on his head;
12 A man of Benjamin ran out of the army and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head.
13 and he comes in, and behold, Eli is sitting on the throne by the side of the way, watching, for his heart has been trembling for the Ark of God, and the man has come into the city and declares [it], and all the city cries out.
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 about it, all the city cried out.
14 And Eli hears the noise of the cry and says, “What [is] the noise of this tumult?” And the man hurried, and comes in, and tells Eli.
14 When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, “What does the noise of this tumult mean?” The man hurried, and came and told Eli.
15 And Eli is a son of ninety-eight years, and his eyes have stood, and he has not been able to see.
15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old. His eyes were set, so that he could not see.
16 And the man says to Eli, “I [am] he who has come out of the ranks, and I have fled out of the ranks today”; and he says, “What has been the matter, my son?”
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 And he who is bearing tidings answers and says, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and also a great slaughter has been among the people, and also your two sons have died—Hophni and Phinehas—and the Ark of God has been captured.”
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 And it comes to pass, at his mentioning the Ark of God, that he falls backward from off the throne, by the side of the gate, and his neck is broken, and he dies, for the man [is] old and heavy, and he has judged Israel [for] forty years.
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 And his daughter-in-law, wife of Phinehas, [is] pregnant, about to bear, and she hears the report of the taking of the Ark of God, that her father-in-law and her husband have died, and she bows, and bears, for her pains have turned on her.
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 And at the time of her death, the women who are standing by her say, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son,” she has not answered, nor set her heart [to it];
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 and she calls the youth Ichabod, saying, “Glory has removed from Israel,” because of the taking of the Ark of God, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.
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 And she says, “Glory has removed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been taken.”
22 She said, “The glory has departed from Israel; for God’s ark has been taken.”
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Hophni
A priest at Shiloh and son of Eli, who treated the LORD's offering with contempt and died the same day as his brother Phinehas when the ark of God was captured.
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 2:34; 1 Samuel 4:4
Ichabod
Born as his mother died after hearing the ark was captured, he was named Ichabod, meaning the glory has departed from Israel.
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 4:21; 1 Samuel 14:3
Phinehas
A priest at Shiloh and son of Eli, who died on the day the ark of God was captured; his wife died in childbirth after naming their son Ichabod.
Cited in the guide: 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Samuel 2:34; 1 Samuel 4:4
Cross references (20)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Samuel 29:1; 1 Samuel 7:12; 1 Samuel 5:1; Joshua 12:18; 1 Kings 20:30
- 2 Lamentations 3:40; Psalm 44:9–10; Joshua 7:12; 1 Samuel 17:8; Joshua 7:5–8
- 3 2 Timothy 3:5; Numbers 10:35; Numbers 31:6; 1 Corinthians 10:1–5; 2 Samuel 15:25
- 4 2 Samuel 6:2; Psalm 80:1; Numbers 7:89; Psalm 99:1; 2 Kings 19:15
- 5 Joshua 6:5; Job 20:5; Jeremiah 7:4; Joshua 6:20; Judges 15:14
- 6 Exodus 32:17–18
- 7 Exodus 15:14–16; Exodus 14:25; Deuteronomy 32:30
- 8 Psalm 78:43–51; Exodus 7:5; Exodus 9:14
- 9 1 Corinthians 16:13; Judges 13:1; Ephesians 6:10–11; 2 Samuel 10:12; Isaiah 33:1
- 10 1 Samuel 4:2; 2 Kings 14:12; Deuteronomy 28:25; Leviticus 26:17; Psalm 78:60–64
- 11 1 Samuel 2:34; Psalm 78:64; Isaiah 3:11; 1 Samuel 2:32; Psalm 78:60–61
- 12 Joshua 7:6; 2 Samuel 15:32; 2 Samuel 1:2; Nehemiah 9:1; Job 2:12
- 13 1 Samuel 1:9; 1 Samuel 4:18; Psalm 79:1–8; Psalm 26:8; Nehemiah 1:3–4
- 15 1 Samuel 3:2; Psalm 90:10; Genesis 27:1; 1 Kings 14:4
- 16 2 Samuel 1:4; Joshua 7:19; 1 Samuel 3:6
- 17 1 Samuel 3:11; 1 Samuel 4:10–11
- 18 1 Samuel 4:21–22; 1 Peter 4:17–18; Psalm 69:9; 1 Samuel 4:13; Lamentations 2:15–19
- 20 Psalm 77:2; John 16:21; Genesis 35:17–18
- 21 Psalm 26:8; Psalm 78:61; Jeremiah 2:11; Psalm 78:64; Hosea 9:12
- 22 John 2:17; Psalm 137:5–6
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
But doubtless he is commemorating the doing of that thing, when they were conquered by the Philistines in the time of Heli the priest, and the Ark of the Lord was taken, and with great slaughter they were laid low. This it is that he speaketh of.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)