^4:4So the army¹¹ 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. ^4:5When the ark of the covenant of the Lord arrived at the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly¹² that the ground shook.

^4:6When 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. ^4:7The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp.¹³ They said, “Too bad for¹⁴ us! We’ve never seen anything like this! ^4:8Too 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! ^4:9Be 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!”

^4:10So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home.¹⁵ The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle. ^4:11The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.

Eli Dies

^4:12On that day¹⁶ a Benjaminite ran from the battle lines and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn and dirt was on his head. ^4:13When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair watching by the side of¹⁷ the road, for he was very worried¹⁸ about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report,¹⁹ the whole city cried out.

^4:14When Eli heard the outcry,²⁰ he said, “What is this commotion?”²¹ The man quickly came and told Eli. ^4:15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes looked straight ahead;²² he was unable to see.

^4:16The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle lines! Just today I fled from the battle lines!” Eli²³ asked, “How did things go, my son?” ^4:17The messenger replied, “Israel has fled from²⁴ the Philistines! The army has suffered a great defeat! Your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead! The ark of God has been captured!”

^4:18When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli²⁵ fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he²⁶ was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.

^4:19His 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. ^4:20As 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.²⁷

^4:21She named the boy Ichabod,²⁸ saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. ^4:22She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured.”

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Footnotes

11 Or “people.”
12 Heb “shouted [with] a great shout.”
13 The Hebrew text has a direct quote, “because they said, ‘Gods have come to the camp.’ ” Even though the verb translated “have come” is singular, the following subject should be taken as plural (“gods”), as v. 8 indicates. Some emend the verb to a plural form.
14 Traditionally “woe to.” They thought disaster was imminent.
15 Heb “and they fled, each to his tents.”
16 Or perhaps, “the same day.” On this use of the demonstrative pronoun see 2: §143.f.
17 Read with many medieval Hebrew , the Qere, and much versional evidence יַד (yad, “hand”) rather than יַךְ (yakh).
18 Heb “his heart was trembling.”
19 Heb “and the man came to report in the city.”
20 Heb “the sound of the cry.”
21 Heb “the sound of this commotion.”
22 Heb “were set” or “were fixed,” i.e., without vision.
23 Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 Heb “before.”
25 Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 Heb “the man.”
27 Heb “and she did not set her heart.”
28 The name Ichabod (אִי־כָבוֹד) may mean, “Where is the glory?”