Eli’s Death and Ichabod’s Birth

¹² That same day, a Benjaminite man ran^(A) from the battle and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn,^(B) and there was dirt on his head. ¹³ When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair beside the road waiting,^(C) because he was anxious about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out.

¹⁴ Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” The man quickly came and reported to Eli. ¹⁵ At that time Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes didn’t move^[a] because he couldn’t see.^(D)

¹⁶ The man said to Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle.^[b] I fled from there today.”

“What happened, my son?” ^(E) Eli asked.

¹⁷ The messenger answered, “Israel has fled from the Philistines, and also there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” ¹⁸ When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off the chair by the city gate,^(F) and since he was old and heavy, his neck broke and he died. Eli had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹ Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her. ²⁰ As she was dying,^[c] the women taking care of her said, “Don’t be afraid. You’ve given birth to a son!” ^(G) But she did not respond or pay attention. ²¹ She named the boy Ichabod,^[d] saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,”^(H) referring to the capture of the ark of God^(I) and to the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. ²² “The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “because the ark of God has been captured.”