1 Samuel 4:8

_WOE UNTO US! WHO SHALL DELIVER US OUT OF THE HAND OF THESE MIGHTY GODS? THESE ARE THE GODS THAT SMOTE THE EGYPTIANS WITH ALL THE PLAGUES IN THE WILDERNESS._ Who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty Gods, х_ HAA'ªLOHIYM_ (H430) _ HAA'ADIYRIYM _ (H117) _ HAA'EELEH_ (H428)]? This word is connected, not with plural verbs only, but with participles, adjectives, and pronouns in the plural; and though frequently translated Gods in our English version, is really and in all respects the same as what in other instances is translated God. Though here rendered "Gods," it is "God" in the preceding verse (cf. Pye Smith's 'Scripture Testimony,' 1:, pp. 379, 380: see 'Introduction')....

1-9 Israel is smitten before the Philistines. Sin, the accursed thing, was in the camp, and gave their enemies all the advantage they could wish for. They own the hand of God in their trouble; but, instead of submitting, they speak angrily, as not aware of any just provocation they had given him. The foolishness of man perverts his way, and then his heart frets against the Lord, Proverbs 19:3, and finds fault with him. They supposed that they could oblige God to appear for them, by bringing the ark into their camp. Those who have gone back in the life of religion, sometimes discover great fondness for the outward observances of it, as if those would save them; and as if the ark, God's throne, in the camp, would bring them to heaven, though the world and the flesh are on the throne in the heart....

Verse 1 Samuel 4:8. _THESE MIGHTY GODS_] מיד האלהים האדרים _miyad haelohim_ _haaddirim, from the hand of these illustrious Gods_. Probably this should be translated in the _singular_, and not in the _plural: Who_ _shall deliver us from the hand of this illustrious God_?...

This is a remarkable testimony on the part of the Philistines to the truth of the events which are recorded in the Pentateuch. The Philistines would of course hear of them, just as Balak and the people of Jericho did Numbers 22:5; Joshua 2:10. WITH ALL THE PLAGUES ... - Rather, “with every kind of plague” equivalent to “with utter destruction....

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

WOE UNTO US, WHO SHALL DELIVER US OUT OF THE HAND OF THESE MIGHTY GODS?.... Of whom they spoke in an ironical and sneering manner; or if seriously and through fear, they use their own Heathenish language, as if the Israelites had many gods, as they had, though mightier than theirs; though the Syriac and Arabic versions read in the singular, out of the hand of God, or the most strong God; and so the Targum, out of the hand of the Word of the Lord: THESE ARE THE GODS THAT SMOTE THE EGYPTIANS WITH ALL THE PLAGUES IN THE WILDERNESS: the ten plagues were inflicted on the Egyptians in the land of Egypt, and not in the wilderness; wherefore the Philistines may be supposed to be mistaken in this circumstance; which is not to be wondered at, since many historians who have written of the affairs of the Jews have been mistaken in them, as Justin, Tacitus, and others; nay, even Josephus himself in...

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

1 SAMUEL 4:1 B. NOW ISRAEL. 1 SAMUEL 4:1 (E). From ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE ARK (_cf._ above, p. 273). 1 Samuel 4:1 b - 1 Samuel 4:11. The Israelites, Defeated by the Philistines, Fetch the Ark. They are again Defeated. 1 Samuel 4:1. Philistines: pp. 56f., 66f. EBEN-EZER: Stone of Help (_cf._ 1 Samuel 7:12). Sites of Eben-ezer and Aphek (1 Kings 20:26 *)

WHO... ? Figure of speech _Erotesis._ App-6. THE GODS. the Gods themselves....

Observe how vividly the successive emotions of the Philistines are painted: _astonishment_, when they heard the triumphant shout of the vanquished army: _dismay_, when they learnt its cause: manly _resolution_, when they had recovered from the first panic....