1 Samuel 4:7-12
New English Translation
7 The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp.[a] They said, “Woe to us! We’ve never seen anything like this! 8 Woe to 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! 9 Be 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!”
10 So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home.[b] The slaughter was very great; 30,000 foot soldiers from Israel fell in battle. 11 The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed.
Eli Dies
12 On that day[c] a Benjaminite ran from the battle lines and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, and dirt was on his head.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 4:7 tn 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.
- 1 Samuel 4:10 tn Heb “and they fled, each to his tents.”
- 1 Samuel 4:12 tn Or perhaps, “the same day.” On this use of the demonstrative pronoun see Joüon 2:532 §143.f.
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