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Text -- 1 Samuel 4:1-20 (NET)

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Context
The Ark of the Covenant is Lost to the Philistines
4:1 Samuel revealed the word of the Lord to all Israel. Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. They camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek. 4:2 The Philistines arranged their forces to fight Israel. As the battle spread out, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men in the battle line in the field. 4:3 When the army came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us from the hand of our enemies. 4:4 So the army sent to Shiloh, and they took from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts who sits between the cherubim. Now the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 4:5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord arrived at the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the ground shook. 4:6 When the Philistines heard the sound of the shout, they said, “What is this loud shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they realized that the ark of the Lord had arrived at the camp. 4:7 The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp. They said, “Too bad for us! We’ve never seen anything like this! 4:8 Too bad for us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the desert! 4:9 Be strong and act like men, you Philistines, or else you will wind up serving the Hebrews the way they have served you! Act like men and fight!” 4:10 So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home. The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle. 4:11 The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.
Eli Dies
4:12 On that day a Benjaminite ran from the battle lines and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn and dirt was on his head. 4:13 When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair watching by the side of the road, for he was very worried about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, the whole city cried out. 4:14 When Eli heard the outcry, he said, “What is this commotion?” The man quickly came and told Eli. 4:15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes looked straight ahead; he was unable to see. 4:16 The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle lines! Just today I fled from the battle lines!” Eli asked, “How did things go, my son?” 4:17 The messenger replied, “Israel has fled from the Philistines! The army has suffered a great defeat! Your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead! The ark of God has been captured!” 4:18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years. 4:19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she doubled over and gave birth. But her labor pains were too much for her. 4:20 As she was dying, the women who were there with her said, “Don’t be afraid! You have given birth to a son!” But she did not reply or pay any attention.
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Names, People and Places:
 · Aphek a town of Asher 10 km SSE of Acco near the coast
 · Benjamin the tribe of Benjamin of Israel
 · Ebenezer a place just west of Aphek in Manasseh,a place near Bethel in Benjamin
 · Egyptians descendants of Mizraim
 · Eli
 · Hebrew a person descended from Heber; an ancient Jew; a Hebrew speaking Jew,any Jew, but particularly one who spoke the Hebrew language
 · Hophni son of Eli the priest
 · Israel a citizen of Israel.,a member of the nation of Israel
 · Philistines a sea people coming from Crete in 1200BC to the coast of Canaan
 · Phinehas son of Eleazar; a chief priest, Phinehas I,a priest; son of Eli; Phinehas II,father of Eleazar, a priest on duty in the days of Ezra
 · Samuel son of Ammihud; Moses' land distribution deputy for Simeon,son of Tola son of Issachar
 · Shiloh a town having the Tent of Meeting in the time of Judges (IBD)


Dictionary Themes and Topics: Philistines | Ark | Tabernacle | Ebenezer | Israel | HOPHNI AND PHINEHAS | Eli | Phinehas | Aphek | Judgments | Parents | Death | Armies | Hophni | EBEN-EZER | Shiloh | Patriotism | Priest | WAR; WARFARE | ARK OF THE COVENANT | more
Table of Contents

Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:1 Heb “the stone, the help.” The second noun is in apposition to the first one and apparently is the name by which the stone was known. Cont...

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:2 Heb “the Philistines, and they killed.” The pronoun “they” has been translated as a relative pronoun (“who”) to ma...

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:3 Heb “and it will come in our midst and it will save.” After the cohortative (see “let’s take”), the prefixed verbal form...

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:4 Or “people.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:5 Heb “shouted [with] a great shout.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:7 Traditionally “woe to.” They thought disaster was imminent.

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:10 Heb “and they fled, each to his tents.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:12 Or perhaps, “the same day.” On this use of the demonstrative pronoun see Joüon 2:532 §143.f.

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:13 Heb “and the man came to report in the city.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:14 Heb “the sound of this commotion.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:15 Heb “were set” or “were fixed,” i.e., without vision.

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:16 Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:17 Heb “before.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:18 Heb “the man.”

NET Notes: 1Sa 4:20 Heb “and she did not set her heart.”

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