1 Samuel 4 Clementine Vulgate
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Et factum est in diebus illis, convenerunt Philisthiim in pugnam: et egressus est Israël obviam Philisthiim in prælium, et castrametatus est juxta lapidem Adjutorii. Porro Philisthiim venerunt in Aphec,
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 et instruxerunt aciem contra Israël. Inito autem certamine, terga vertit Israël Philisthæis: et cæsa sunt in illo certamine passim per agros, quasi quatuor millia virorum.
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 Et reversus est populus ad castra: dixeruntque majores natu de Israël: Quare percussit nos Dominus hodie coram Philisthiim? afferamus ad nos de Silo arcam fœderis Domini, et veniat in medium nostri, ut salvet nos de manu inimicorum nostrorum.
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 Misit ergo populus in Silo, et tulerunt inde arcam fœderis Domini exercituum sedentis super cherubim: erantque duo filii Heli cum arca fœderis Dei, Ophni et Phinees.
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 Cumque venisset arca fœderis Domini in castra, vociferatus est omnis Israël clamore grandi, et personuit terra.
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 Et audierunt Philisthiim vocem clamoris, dixeruntque: Quænam est hæc vox clamoris magni in castris Hebræorum? Et cognoverunt quod arca Domini venisset in castra.
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 Timueruntque Philisthiim, dicentes: Venit Deus in castra. Et ingemuerunt, dicentes:
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 Væ nobis: non enim fuit tanta exultatio heri et nudiustertius: væ nobis. Quis nos salvabit de manu deorum sublimium istorum? hi sunt dii, qui percusserunt Ægyptum omni plaga in deserto.
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 Confortamini, et estote viri, Philisthiim, ne serviatis Hebræis, sicut et illi servierunt vobis: confortamini, et bellate.
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 Pugnaverunt ergo Philisthiim, et cæsus est Israël, et fugit unusquisque in tabernaculum suum: et facta est plaga magna nimis, et ceciderunt de Israël triginta millia peditum.
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 Et arca Dei capta est: duo quoque filii Heli mortui sunt, Ophni et Phinees.
11 God’s ark was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
12 Currens autem vir de Benjamin ex acie, venit in Silo in die illa, scissa veste, et conspersus pulvere caput.
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 Cumque ille venisset, Heli sedebat super sellam contra viam spectans. Erat enim cor ejus pavens pro arca Dei. Vir autem ille postquam ingressus est, nuntiavit urbi: et ululavit omnis civitas.
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 Et audivit Heli sonitum clamoris, dixitque: Quis est hic sonitus tumultus hujus? At ille festinavit, et venit, et nuntiavit Heli.
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 Heli autem erat nonaginta et octo annorum, et oculi ejus caligaverant, et videre non poterat.
15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old. His eyes were set, so that he could not see.
16 Et dixit ad Heli: Ego sum qui veni de prælio, et ego qui de acie fugi hodie. Cui ille ait: Quid actum est, fili mi?
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 Respondens autem ille qui nuntiabat: Fugit, inquit, Israël coram Philisthiim, et ruina magna facta est in populo: insuper et duo filii tui mortui sunt, Ophni et Phinees, et arca Dei capta est.
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 Cumque ille nominasset arcam Dei, cecidit de sella retrorsum juxta ostium, et fractis cervicibus mortuus est. Senex enim erat vir et grandævus: et ipse judicavit Israël quadraginta annis.
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 Nurus autem ejus, uxor Phinees, prægnans erat, vicinaque partui: et audito nuntio quod capta esset arca Dei, et mortuus esset socer suus et vir suus, incurvavit se et peperit: irruerant enim in eam dolores subiti.
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 In ipso autem momento mortis ejus, dixerunt ei quæ stabant circa eam: Ne timeas, quia filium peperisti. Quæ non respondit eis, neque animadvertit.
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 Et vocabit puerum Ichabod, dicens: Translata est gloria de Israël, quia capta est arca Dei, et pro socero suo et pro viro suo;
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 et ait: Translata est gloria ab Israël, eo quod capta esset arca Dei.
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)