Old Testament · History

1 Samuel chapter 4

And Samuel’s message reached all of . Israel went out to fight against the and camped near , while the Philistines camped at .The Philistines against Israel, and as the fighting spread, Israel was by the Philistines. About four thousand men were killed on the battlefield.When the troops returned to camp, the of Israel asked, “Why did let the Philistines defeat us today? Let’s bring the from — let it come among us and us from the grip of our enemies.”So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the chest of the agreement of , who . And Eli’s two sons, and , were there with the chest of God’s agreement.When the chest of Yahweh’s agreement arrived at the camp, all of Israel let out such a that .When the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they asked, “What’s all this loud shouting in the camp?” Then they found out that the chest of Yahweh had arrived at the camp.The Philistines were . “ has come into their camp!” they said. Then they groaned, “We’re in trouble now! Nothing like this has ever happened before.”“We’re in trouble now!” they moaned. “Who can rescue us from the power of these ? These are the same gods who struck the Egyptians with every kind of in the wilderness!”“Be strong! , Philistines! Otherwise you’ll end up the Hebrews the way they’ve served you. Man up and fight!”So the Philistines fought, and Israel was . Every man fled to his own home. The slaughter was devastating — of Israel’s foot soldiers fell.The , and Eli’s two sons — Hophni and Phinehas — were killed.A man from the tribe of ran from the battle line and reached Shiloh that same day, his .When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his chair beside the road, watching, because his heart was for the chest of God. The man came into town and told the news, and the entire town cried out in anguish.When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he asked, “What’s all this commotion?” The man hurried over and told Eli.Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and so that he could not see.The man said to Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle — I just fled from the battle line today.” Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”The messenger answered, “Israel fled from the Philistines, and there was also a among the troops. And your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas — they’re dead. And the chest of God has been captured.”The moment he mentioned the chest of God, Eli fell backward off his chair beside the gate. His neck broke and he died, because the man was old and heavy. He had for .His daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was pregnant and near her due date. When she heard the news that the chest of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she and gave birth, because her labor pains suddenly hit her.As she was dying, the women attending her said, “ — you’ve given birth to a son!” But she didn’t respond or pay any attention.She named the boy , saying, “The has left Israel” — because the chest of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.She said, “, because the chest of God has been captured.”