1 Samuel 4:16

_AND WHEN ELI HEARD THE NOISE OF THE CRYING, HE SAID, WHAT MEANETH THE NOISE OF THIS TUMULT? AND THE MAN CAME IN HASTILY, AND TOLD ELI._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

12-18 The defeat of the army was very grievous to Eli as a judge; the tidings of the death of his two sons, to whom he had been so indulgent, and who, as he had reason to fear, died impenitent, touched him as a father; yet there was a greater concern on his spirit. And when the messenger concluded his story with, "The ark of God is taken," he is struck to the heart, and died immediately. A man may die miserably, yet not die eternally; may come to an untimely end, yet the end be peace....

EXPOSITION 1 SAMUEL 4:1 AND THE WORD OF SAMUEL... ALL ISRAEL. This clause is rightly connected with the foregoing verse of the previous chapter in the Syriac and Vulgate. Attached to the fourth chapter, it gives a wrong sense, namely, that Samuel gave the command for the assembling of all Israel for battle with the Philistines. This is so plainly erroneous that the A.V. dissents from it by translating the _and _in the next clause by _now. _Joined to the previous chapter, it gives the true meaning. Because Samuel spake _by the word of Jehovah, _therefore _his word came to all Israel, _that is, it was a binding and authoritative command throughout the whole land; or, in other words, when Samuel was acknowledged to be Jehovah's prophet he also became the virtual judge of Israel, though probably he did not act with

AND THE MAN SAID UNTO ELI, I AM HE THAT CAME OUT OF THE ARMY,.... It is very probable that the people Eli inquired of told him there was a messenger come from the army, though they did not choose to relate to him the news he brought: AND I FLED TODAY OUT OF THE ARMY; so that as he was an eyewitness of what was done in the army, the account he brought was the earliest that could be had, in bringing which he had made great dispatch, having ran perhaps all the way: AND HE SAID, WHAT IS THERE DONE, MY SON? has a battle been fought? on which side is the victory? is Israel beaten, or have they conquered? how do things go? he uses the kind and tender appellation, my son, to engage him to tell him all freely and openly....

5. THE JUDGMENT OF ELI AND HIS SONS--ICHABOD CHAPTER 4 _ 1. The fulfilled prediction: The death of Eli's sons (1 Samuel 4:1)_ 2. The death of Eli (1 Samuel 4:12) 3. Ichabod (1 Samuel 4:19) Israel then renewed the conflict with the Philistines and suffered defeat. It seems that they acted in self-confidence, and when the battle was lost they readily acknowledged the hand of the Lord in the disaster: “Wherefore has the LORD smitten us today before the Philistines?” But there was no self-judgment, no repentance, no crying unto the Lord. The ark of the covenant of the LORD is brought out of Shiloh. They trust in the ark instead of Jehovah; they expect salvation from the ark of gold an

DEATH OF ELI, BIRTH OF ICHABOD. 1 Samuel 4:12. clothes rent, etc.: signs of mourning. 1 Samuel 4:18. forty; LXX twenty. AND HE... YEARS: formula used by Deuteronomic editor of Jg. (Judges 10:2 f; Judges 12:7; Judges 12:9; Judges 12:11; Judges 12:14; Judges 15:20) to conclude account

The Death of Eli...

_Death of Eli._ 1 Samuel 4:12-18 12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. 13 And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told _it,_ all the city cried out. 14 And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What _meaneth_ the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. 16 And the man said unto Eli, I _am_ he that came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? 17 And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter

CAPTURE OF THE ARK BY THE PHILISTINES. DEATH OF ELI The reason which led to 1 Samuel 4:1; being detached from its proper context is that without it this chapter seems to begin with inexplicable abruptness. The explanation of this lack of connexion is that the editor is now using a different document. This section is in no sense a continuation of the preceding. It does not proceed with the history of Samuel, whose name does not even occur in it, but relates the journeyings of the ark. Alike in style and in conception it is totally distinct from the section which precedes and the section which follows it. In many respects it resembles the history of Samson more closely than any other part of OT....

ISRAEL’S FIRST KING 1 SAMUEL _HELEN POCOCK_ CHAPTER 4 THE *PHILISTINES STEAL THE *ARK OF GOD V1 When Samuel spoke, all the *Israelites listened to him. Now the *Israelites went out to fight against the *Philistine nation. The *Israelites had their camp at a place called Ebenezer. The *Philistines camped at the town of Aphek. V2 The *Philistines went out to have a battle with the *Israelites. As the battle spread, the *Philistines defeated the *Israelites. The *Philistines killed about 4000 *Israelites in the battle. V3 The *Israelite soldiers went back to their camp. The leaders of *Israel asked, ‘Why did the *Lord let the *Philistines defeat us today? Let us bring the *ark of the cove