Summary: The Philistines were decimating the Israelites (v.2), and the Israelites attributed their losses to the absence of the Ark of the Covenant (v.3). This belief alarmed the Philistines, who feared God’s power, famously known for defeating the Egyptians centuries earlier (v.8). Despite this, the Philistines intensified their efforts, ultimately defeating the Israelites (v.10), seizing the Ark (v.11), and killing Eli’s two sons (v.11). Upon hearing the devastating news, Eli suffered a fatal injury, possibly a stroke, leading to his death (v.18). Phinehas’ wife, upon hearing of these tragedies, went into premature labor (v.19), resulting in her death (v.20).
(4:1) And Samuel’s word came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek.
“The Israelites went out to fight.” This was an offensive war by the Israelites. However, they were presumably fighting the Philistines because the Philistines were making the Israelites their slaves (v.9). Furthermore, the LXX states that the Philistines had actually attacked first. The longer reading states, “It happened at that time that the Philistines mustered to fight Israel and Israel went out.”[] Regardless of the ethics of this war, God didn’t support the Israelites in this war.
The Philistines are mentioned 150 times in 1 and 2 Samuel. The name “Palestine” comes from the Philistines who ruggedly fought for this land.[]
“Ebenezer” was “modern Izbet Sarteh,” which is two miles east of Aphek.[]
“Aphek” was ten miles east of Joppa[] and 20 miles north of Ekron. It was the “northernmost of the five cities of the Philistines.”[]
(4:2) The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield.
The Philistines were slaying the Israelites by the thousands.
(4:3) When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the LORD bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
“Why did the LORD bring defeat on us today before the Philistines?” The Israelite leaders viewed a military defeat from the Philistines, as the Lord defeating them. But instead of seeking God’s will, they decided to “take” (NASB) the Ark themselves—almost as if it was a magic artifact that could win battles at their whim. They may have been thinking of Joshua’s victories over the Canaanites by using the Ark (Josh. 6). Yet Youngblood writes, “If God willed defeat for his people, a thousand arks would not bring success.”[]
(4:4) So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
“Hophni and Phinehas.” Here is good foreshadowing: Hophni and Phineas were carrying the ark! This should signal the reader to the fact that this is a bad idea.
(4:5) When the ark of the LORD’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.
The people were shouting with excitement, but they were following the lead of two hypocritical priests—not God.
(4:6-7) Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”
When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid. “A god has come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before.”
The Philistines are not making theologically accurate statements here. They were holding to the superstitious views of the ancient Near East—that a local deity would win battles for a local tribe.
(4:8) “We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.”
Even four centuries after the Exodus, the Philistines were still talking about the miracles God had performed in Egypt during the Exodus.
(4:9) “Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”
The Philistines were clearly wicked people. They had enslaved the Israelites before (Judg. 13:1). However, Israel wasn’t following God’s will or God’s way, so they were under an even more severe judgment.
(4:10-11) So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
This was a complete disaster: 30,000 soldiers died, the Philistines stole the Ark, and Hophni and Phineas died. Since Eli’s two sons were carrying the Ark (v.4), it would make sense that they would be killed as it was captured. Were Hophni and Phineas hiding behind the Ark as a magic talisman? Did they panic at the last moment, realizing the gravity of their error? The text doesn’t say, but we can imagine their gruesome fate.
(4:12) That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head.
“A Benjamite ran from the battle.” This was a 34 mile run from Aphek to Shiloh.[]
“His clothes torn and dust on his head.” The tearing of clothes could be from the recent battle. However, we agree with Baldwin[] and Youngblood[] that this refers to the man mourning over the drastic defeat (cf. Josh. 7:6).
(4:13-15) When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry. 14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”
The man hurried over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see.
Originally, Eli was sitting by the entrance to the Tabernacle (1 Sam. 1:9). Now he is sitting by the side of the road. He may have realized that he was a ghost of his former self. He is 98 years old (v.15), obese (v.18), blind (v.15; cf. 1 Kings 14:4), and “trembling” (NASB) in fear (cf. Judg. 7:3).
(4:16-17) He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.”
Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”
17 The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
The Benjamite man tells Eli all of the bad news. The climax of the bad news wasn’t the death of Eli’s sons, but rather, the capture of the Ark.
(4:18) When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led Israel forty years.
“When he mentioned the ark of God.” Eli doesn’t react with shock regarding the death of his sons. God had already predicted this, and Eli knew it was coming (1 Sam. 3:18). Instead, his shock and paralysis come from hearing about the capture of the ark.
“He was heavy.” It’s quite likely that Eli was getting fat off of the meat sacrifices that his sons were immorally taking at the Tent of Meeting (1 Sam. 2:16). Consequently, the text is alluding to the fact that God was judging Israel for what Hophni and Phineas had done.
Bergen argues that this event parallels the destruction of the pagan idol, Dagon, in the subsequent chapter. He writes, “The Lord would soon bring an end to an unseeing Philistine abomination by causing an image of Dagon to fall and its neck to break, but first he would bring about the same fate to a blind Hebrew abomination. The parallel between the events of the present section and those of the next chapter are striking and deliberate.”[] In other words, God judged both the Israelites and the Philistines for the ways that they were falsely worshipping him.
(4:19-22) His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. 20 As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention. 21 She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, “The Glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
The tragedy and grief cause Phineas’ wife to have a slightly premature birth, which leads to her death (v.20). The birth of her son brought her no consolation.
“Ichabod” (ʾi kābôd) literally means “no glory”[] or “nothing of glory.”[] Youngblood writes, “The term ‘glory’ represents the Presence of God dwelling—škn—in the tabernacle (Ps 26:8; cf. also Exod 25:8; 29:44-46), giving rise to the later theological term šeḵînāh sometimes called the ‘Shek(h)inah Glory.’”[]
God used an evil Pagan nation (the Philistines) to fulfill his prediction of ruining Eli’s dynasty as a priest. God can use anyone to carry out his will.
The Jewish people interpreted their failure in battle as divine judgment. However, they came to the wrong conclusion. Rather than drawing near to God in repentance and prayer, they treated the Ark as a magic talisman to win the war. We shouldn’t treat God’s provisions (e.g. the Ark of the Covenant) like magical objects. God needs to be behind his provision; otherwise, the power source is unplugged.
We don’t even know if the Israelites started this war or not. The text simply doesn’t say. They could’ve been fighting an offensive war that was completely outside of God’s will in the first place.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 73.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 594.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 594.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 594.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 73.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 595.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 76.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 76.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 598.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 94.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 598-599.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 94.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 599.
James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.
