12 Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with (A)his clothes torn, and [a]dust on his head. 13 When he came, behold, (B)Eli was sitting on his seat [b]by the road keeping watch, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. And the man came to give a report in the city, and all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the noise of this commotion mean?” Then the man came hurriedly and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and (C)his eyes were [c]fixed and he could not see. 16 The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today.” And he said, “(D)How are things, my son?” 17 Then the one who brought the news replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great defeat among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas are also dead; and the ark of God has been taken.” 18 When he mentioned the ark of God, [d](E)Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for [e]he was old and heavy. And so he judged Israel for forty years.

19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, because her pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women who were standing by her said to her, “(F)Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21 And she named the boy [f]Ichabod, saying, “(G)The glory has departed from Israel,” because (H)the ark of God had been taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 So she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been taken.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 4:12 Lit soil
  2. 1 Samuel 4:13 LXX beside the gate watching the road
  3. 1 Samuel 4:15 I.e., possibly unable to focus
  4. 1 Samuel 4:18 Lit he
  5. 1 Samuel 4:18 Lit the man
  6. 1 Samuel 4:21 I.e., no glory, or where is the glory?

12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battle and arrived at Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.[a] 13 Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. As the messenger from the battlefront arrived and told what had happened, a great cry arose throughout the city.

14 “What is all the noise about?” Eli asked. And the messenger rushed over to Eli and told him what had happened. 15 (Eli was ninety-eight years old and was blind.)

16 “I have just come from the battle—I was there today,” he told Eli, 17 “and Israel has been defeated and thousands of the Israeli troops are dead on the battlefield. Hophni and Phinehas were killed too, and the Ark has been captured.”

18 When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate and his neck was broken by the fall, and he died (for he was old and fat). He had judged Israel for forty years.

19 When Eli’s daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, who was pregnant, heard that the Ark had been captured and that her husband and father-in-law were dead, her labor pains suddenly began. 20 Just before she died, the women who were attending her told her that everything was all right and that the baby was a boy. But she did not reply or respond in any way. 21-22 Then she murmured, “Name the child ‘Ichabod,’ for Israel’s glory is gone.” (Ichabod means “there is no glory.” She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her husband and her father-in-law were dead.)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 4:12 clothes torn and dirt on his head. This was a common expression of grief in that day.