Discovery Box1 Samuel 4:12-17
Context4:12 On that day 1 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 2 the road, for he was very worried 3 about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, 4 the whole city cried out.
4:14 When Eli heard the outcry, 5 he said, “What is this commotion?” 6 The man quickly came and told Eli. 4:15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes looked straight ahead; 7 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 8 asked, “How did things go, my son?” 4:17 The messenger replied, “Israel has fled from 9 the Philistines! The army has suffered a great defeat! Your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead! The ark of God has been captured!”
[4:12] 1 tn Or perhaps, “the same day.” On this use of the demonstrative pronoun see Joüon 2:532 §143.f.
[4:13] 2 tc Read with many medieval Hebrew
[4:13] 3 tn Heb “his heart was trembling.”
[4:13] 4 tn Heb “and the man came to report in the city.”
[4:14] 5 tn Heb “the sound of the cry.”
[4:14] 6 tn Heb “the sound of this commotion.”
[4:15] 7 tn Heb “were set” or “were fixed,” i.e., without vision.
[4:16] 8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
