¹²A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the front line of the battle. He went to Shiloh that day with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.^c¹³When he arrived, Eli was sitting on a chair beside the road, watching. He was worried about the ark of God. The man went into the city to tell the news. The whole city cried out. ¹⁴Hearing the cry, Eli asked, “What is this commotion?” So the man went quickly to tell Eli the news. ¹⁵(Eli was 98 years old, and his eyesight had failed so that he couldn’t see.)

¹⁶The man told Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle. I fled from the front line today.”

“What happened, son?” Eli asked.

¹⁷“Israel fled from the Philistines,” the messenger answered. “Our troops suffered heavy casualties. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

¹⁸When the messenger mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell from his chair backwards toward the gate. He broke his neck, and he died. (The man was old and heavy.) He had judged^dIsrael for 40 years.

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Footnotes

c 4:12 Tearing one’s clothes and throwing dirt on one’s head was a sign of mourning.
d 4:18 Eli served as a God-appointed political/religious leader of Israel like the judges in the book of Judges.