New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
1 Samuel 4
1
And Samuel gave those messages to all of the people of Israel. The people of Israel went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer. The Philistines camped at Aphek.
Reference
📍 Ebenezer
2
The Philistines brought their forces together to fight against Israel. As the fighting spread, the men of Israel lost the battle to the Philistines. The Philistines killed about 4,000 of them on the field of battle.
Reference
Parallel theme
Lamentations 3:40
3
The rest of the Israelite soldiers returned to camp. Then the elders asked them, "Why did the Lord let the Philistines win the battle over us today? Let's bring the ark of the Lord's covenant from Shiloh. Let's take it with us. It will save us from the power of our enemies."
4
So the people sent men to Shiloh. They brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He sits there on his throne between the cherubim. He is the One who rules over all. Eli's two sons Hophni and Phinehas were with the ark of the covenant of God in Shiloh.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 80:1
Numbers 7:89
References God
2 Samuel 6:2
2 Kings 19:15
References Lord
Psalm 99:1
5
The ark of the Lord's covenant was brought into the camp. Then all of the people of Israel shouted so loudly that the ground shook.
Reference
Parallel theme
Joshua 6:5
6
The Philistines heard the noise. They asked, "What's all that shouting about in the Hebrew camp?" Then the Philistines found out that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp.
7
So they were afraid. "A god has come into their camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has ever happened before.
8
How terrible it will be for us! Who will save us from the power of those mighty gods? They struck down the people of Egypt in the desert. They sent all kinds of plagues on them.
9
"Philistines, be strong! Fight like men! If you don't, you will come under the control of the Hebrews. You will become their slaves, just as they have been your slaves. Fight like men!"
Reference
10
So the Philistines fought. The people of Israel lost the battle. Every man ran back to his tent. A large number of them were killed. Israel lost 30,000 soldiers who were on foot.
Reference
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 28:25
Leviticus 26:17
References Israel
2 Kings 14:12
1 Samuel 4:2
2 Samuel 18:17
12
That same day a man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the front lines of the battle. He went to Shiloh. His clothes were torn. He had dust on his head.
Reference
13
When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair. He was by the side of the road. He was watching because his heart was really concerned about the ark of God. The man entered the town and told everyone what had happened. Then the whole town cried out.
Reference
14
Eli heard the people crying out. He asked, "What's the meaning of all of this noise?" The man hurried over to Eli.
15
Eli was 98 years old. His eyes were so bad he couldn't see.
Reference
Parallel theme
1 Samuel 3:2
16
The man told Eli, "I've just come from the front lines of the battle. I ran away from there this very day." Eli asked, "What happened, son?"
Reference
Parallel theme
2 Samuel 1:4
17
The man who brought the news replied, "Israel ran away from the Philistines. Large numbers of men in the army were wounded or killed. Your two sons Hophni and Phinehas are also dead. And the ark of God has been captured."
18
When the man spoke about the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair. He had been sitting by the side of the gate. When he fell, he broke his neck and died. He was old and fat. He had led Israel for 40 years.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 69:9
19
The wife of Phinehas was pregnant. She was Eli's daughter-in-law. It was near the time for her baby to be born. She heard the news that the ark of God had been captured. She heard that her father-in-law and her husband were dead. So she went into labor and had her baby. Her pain was so great that her life was slipping away.
20
As she was dying, the women who were helping her spoke up. They said, "Don't be afraid. You have had a son." But she didn't reply. She didn't pay any attention.
Reference
21
She named the boy Ichabod. She said, "The God of glory has left Israel." She said it because the ark of God had been captured. She also said it because her father-in-law and her husband had died.
Reference
People
Glory
Psalm 78:61
Jeremiah 2:11
Psalm 106:20
Parallel theme
Psalm 26:8
Hosea 9:12
References God
1 Samuel 4:11
Word
Psalm 78:64
22
She said, "The God of glory has left Israel." She said it because the ark of God had been captured.
Summary of 1 Samuel 4
1 Samuel, chapter 4, describes how Israel suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Philistines and how the Israelites lost the ark of God. The passage reveals a fatal flaw in the thought process of Israelite leaders. The Philistines defeated Israel, captured the ark of God, and killed Hophni and Phineas. When Eli heard the news, he fell off the seat, broke his neck, and died. The chapter also describes the death of Phineas’s wife and the birth of her son, whom she named Ichabod because the glory has fled from Israel.
The passage begins by describing how Israel went out to war against the Philistines. The people of Israel had camped in Ebenezer while the Philistines had gathered in Aphek.
The two camps met, and the Israelites suffered a defeat, losing about 4,000 men on the battlefield.
The Israelites returned to their camp asking what the Lord had done for them since they decided to go to war. Instead of consulting God about their future course of action, they brought the ark of the covenant from Shiloh to the battlefield.
The ark of God signified the covenant that God had made with Israel. Hophni and Phineas, the sons of Eli, went with the ark. When the ark arrived at the Israelite camp, they shouted so loudly that the whole earth shook. The Israelites believed that bringing the ark to the battlefront would provide them with victory.
The enemy heard their shouts and interpreted them to mean that the Israelites had brought the ark of God to the battlefront. The Philistines recalled how the God of Israel had delivered Samson and brought the Israelites out of Egypt. The enemy commanders reminded their men that they should not fear a few Israelites.
If they lost the battle, they would become servants of the Israelites. The Philistines battled the Israelites again and, this time, Israel suffered a crushing defeat. The enemy killed about 30,000 Israelite soldiers and captured the ark of God and killed Hophni and Phineas. Losing the ark of God meant that Israel had lost something of tremendous value.
A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran away from the battlefield to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, and he had dirt-stained hair as he came to Shiloh as a mourner.
Eli was waiting for him beside the road because he was worried about the ark of God.
The man told the people in Shiloh what had happened, and they mourned. Eli demanded to know what the messenger had said. The man told Eli that Israel had fled before the Philistines and that many Israelites had perished. He continued by saying that Eli’s sons had also perished, and the ark of God had been captured.
Eli fell backward when he heard that the ark of God had been captured. He had fainted and died because he was old and withered. Eli had served as a judge over Israel for 40 years.
The passage turns its attention to the wife of Phineas. She was expecting and close to delivery when she heard that the ark of God had been captured and that her husband and father-in-law had died.
She went into labor, and the pains were excruciating.
The women who were attending to her told her that she should not be afraid because she was delivering a son. However, she said that the glory had gone away from Israel and called the child Ichabod.
She explained the meaning of the name Ichabod by saying that the glory of God had left Israel.
Ichabod’s mother mentions the capture of the ark of God. She says that the glory of Israel had fled because the Philistines had captured the ark of God. She also says that the glory of her husband has fled because he has died.
The chapter ends by emphasizing how the glory of Israel had fled because the ark of God had been captured. One of the clearest messages of this passage is that the ark of God was not a magic charm that always brought Israel victory. Israel had acted as if the ark was an idol that they could use to win wars.
God told the Israelites that the sons of Eli would die because they had brought shame to the priestly house. However, the Israelites made the sons of Eli to serve with the ark, and the Philistines captured it.
Even though the Philistines acknowledge the power of the God of Israel, they chose to fight the Israelites rather than offer sacrifices to Him. The death of Hophni and Phineas came to happen on the same day as the capture of the ark of God.
Eli’s death occurred because the people of Israel failed to heed God’s warnings regarding the wickedness that had characterized the sons of Eli. The death of Eli meant that Israel would soon experience a major shift in leadership. In the previous chapter, Samuel was promised to become a great man in Israel. The death of Eli and his sons marked the end of one phase and the beginning of another in Israel’s history.
Samuel would gradually gain authority and power as the prophet of the Lord. The capture of the ark of God and the deaths of Hophni, Phineas, and Eli signaled the beginning of the end for Israel’s leadership, which God had entrusted to the priesthood.
The most outstanding message in this chapter is that the glory of Israel had indeed fled because it had abandoned God. The capture of the ark of God meant that the Israelites had failed to understand the significance of the covenant that God had made with them.
The Israelites believed that God was always willing to fight for them, but they failed to learn that God was angry with them and had punished them. The following chapters will reveal that Israel’s enemies would learn that God was indeed mighty.
Although the enemy had captured the ark of God, they were about to discover that the God of Israel was not easily defeated.
The Israelites had lost the battle because they had failed to understand that they were fighting as if they were God’s chosen people when, in fact, they had failed to live up to the covenant that God had offered them.
The passage begins by describing how Israel went out to war against the Philistines. The people of Israel had camped in Ebenezer while the Philistines had gathered in Aphek.
The two camps met, and the Israelites suffered a defeat, losing about 4,000 men on the battlefield.
The Israelites returned to their camp asking what the Lord had done for them since they decided to go to war. Instead of consulting God about their future course of action, they brought the ark of the covenant from Shiloh to the battlefield.
The ark of God signified the covenant that God had made with Israel. Hophni and Phineas, the sons of Eli, went with the ark. When the ark arrived at the Israelite camp, they shouted so loudly that the whole earth shook. The Israelites believed that bringing the ark to the battlefront would provide them with victory.
The enemy heard their shouts and interpreted them to mean that the Israelites had brought the ark of God to the battlefront. The Philistines recalled how the God of Israel had delivered Samson and brought the Israelites out of Egypt. The enemy commanders reminded their men that they should not fear a few Israelites.
If they lost the battle, they would become servants of the Israelites. The Philistines battled the Israelites again and, this time, Israel suffered a crushing defeat. The enemy killed about 30,000 Israelite soldiers and captured the ark of God and killed Hophni and Phineas. Losing the ark of God meant that Israel had lost something of tremendous value.
A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran away from the battlefield to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, and he had dirt-stained hair as he came to Shiloh as a mourner.
Eli was waiting for him beside the road because he was worried about the ark of God.
The man told the people in Shiloh what had happened, and they mourned. Eli demanded to know what the messenger had said. The man told Eli that Israel had fled before the Philistines and that many Israelites had perished. He continued by saying that Eli’s sons had also perished, and the ark of God had been captured.
Eli fell backward when he heard that the ark of God had been captured. He had fainted and died because he was old and withered. Eli had served as a judge over Israel for 40 years.
The passage turns its attention to the wife of Phineas. She was expecting and close to delivery when she heard that the ark of God had been captured and that her husband and father-in-law had died.
She went into labor, and the pains were excruciating.
The women who were attending to her told her that she should not be afraid because she was delivering a son. However, she said that the glory had gone away from Israel and called the child Ichabod.
She explained the meaning of the name Ichabod by saying that the glory of God had left Israel.
Ichabod’s mother mentions the capture of the ark of God. She says that the glory of Israel had fled because the Philistines had captured the ark of God. She also says that the glory of her husband has fled because he has died.
The chapter ends by emphasizing how the glory of Israel had fled because the ark of God had been captured. One of the clearest messages of this passage is that the ark of God was not a magic charm that always brought Israel victory. Israel had acted as if the ark was an idol that they could use to win wars.
God told the Israelites that the sons of Eli would die because they had brought shame to the priestly house. However, the Israelites made the sons of Eli to serve with the ark, and the Philistines captured it.
Even though the Philistines acknowledge the power of the God of Israel, they chose to fight the Israelites rather than offer sacrifices to Him. The death of Hophni and Phineas came to happen on the same day as the capture of the ark of God.
Eli’s death occurred because the people of Israel failed to heed God’s warnings regarding the wickedness that had characterized the sons of Eli. The death of Eli meant that Israel would soon experience a major shift in leadership. In the previous chapter, Samuel was promised to become a great man in Israel. The death of Eli and his sons marked the end of one phase and the beginning of another in Israel’s history.
Samuel would gradually gain authority and power as the prophet of the Lord. The capture of the ark of God and the deaths of Hophni, Phineas, and Eli signaled the beginning of the end for Israel’s leadership, which God had entrusted to the priesthood.
The most outstanding message in this chapter is that the glory of Israel had indeed fled because it had abandoned God. The capture of the ark of God meant that the Israelites had failed to understand the significance of the covenant that God had made with them.
The Israelites believed that God was always willing to fight for them, but they failed to learn that God was angry with them and had punished them. The following chapters will reveal that Israel’s enemies would learn that God was indeed mighty.
Although the enemy had captured the ark of God, they were about to discover that the God of Israel was not easily defeated.
The Israelites had lost the battle because they had failed to understand that they were fighting as if they were God’s chosen people when, in fact, they had failed to live up to the covenant that God had offered them.