1 Samuel 4:17
in 1 Samuel 4The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he that brought the tidings answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.
KJV
And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 4
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd the messenger answered - Never was a more afflictive message, containing such a variety of woes, each rising above the preceding, delivered in so few words. 1. Israel is fled before the Philistines. This was a sore evil: that Israel should turn their backs upon their enemies, was bad; and that they should turn their backs on such enemies as the Philistines, was yet worse; for now they might expect the chains of their slavery to be strengthened and riveted more closely. 2. There hath also been a great slaughter among the people.
This site's exposition
Eli was ninety-eight years old
on 1 Samuel 4:15-18
Eli is ninety-eight and blind, and the messenger tells him all at once that Israel fled, his sons are dead and the ark is taken. It is the ark that fells him, for “As soon as the ark of God was mentioned” he falls backward, breaks his neck and dies. The chapter closes his life in one line: “Eli had judged Israel forty years”.
This site's exposition
The messenger answered
The report climbs in four steps: Israel fled, the slaughter was great, both sons have fallen, and the ark is captured. Adam Clarke counted each woe heavier than the one before, all delivered in very few words. The ark comes last.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2 · Written before 604.
proposed
21. For the man who fled announced this, which he learned by experience. What then does he mean by asserting that Israel fled, except that he firmly affirms that, while the Jewish people retain the sense of the Law carnally, they cannot resist the spiritual doctors of Holy Church in disputation? And what does it mean that he proclaims a great slaughter was made among the people, except that he confirms all who from the Jewish people rejected the word of faith have perished by eternal death?
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), but the messenger was loth to tell him first, and therefore passed him by, and told it in the city, with all the aggravating circumstances; and now both the ears of every one that heard it tingled, as was foretold, ch. iii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
But she answered not, neither did she regard it. 21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. 22 And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:98%@v20-22
And the messenger answered and said,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The calamities announced to Samuel as about to fall upon the family of Eli [1Sa 2:34] were now inflicted in the death of his two sons, and after his death, by that of his daughter-in-law, whose infant son received a name that perpetuated the fallen glory of the church and nation [1Sa 4:19-22]. The public disaster was completed by the capture of the ark.
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֨עַן | vaiyaan | and he answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| הַֽמְבַשֵּׂ֜ר | hamvaser | the bearer of news | H1319 → | |
| וַיֹּ֗אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נָ֤ס | nas | it has fled | H5127 → | 159 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| פְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים | felishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| וְגַ֛ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| מַגֵּפָ֥ה | magefah | a slaughter | H4046 → | |
| גְדוֹלָ֖ה | gedolah | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| הָיְתָ֣ה | hayetah | it has been | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בָעָ֑ם | vaam | among the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| שְׁנֵ֨י | shenei | [the] two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| בָנֶ֜יךָ | vaneikha | sons your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| מֵ֗תוּ | metu | they have died | H4191 → | 839 times |
| חָפְנִי֙ | chafeni | Hophni | H2652 → | 5 times |
| וּפִ֣ינְחָ֔ס | ufinchas | and Phinehas | H6372 → | 25 times |
| וַאֲר֥וֹן | vaaron | and [the] ark of | H727 → | 202 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| נִלְקָֽחָה׃ פ | nilkachah | it has been taken | H3947 → | 966 times |
וַיַּ֨עַןand he answered
vaiyaanH6030 →331 times
הַֽמְבַשֵּׂ֜רthe bearer of news
hamvaserH1319 →
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
נָ֤סit has fled
nasH5127 →159 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
פְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים[the] Philistines
felishtimH6430 →287 times
וְגַ֛םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
מַגֵּפָ֥הa slaughter
magefahH4046 →
גְדוֹלָ֖הgreat
gedolahH1419 →526 times
הָיְתָ֣הit has been
hayetahH1961 →3559 times
בָעָ֑םamong the people
vaamH5971 →1873 times
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
שְׁנֵ֨י[the] two
sheneiH8147 →768 times
בָנֶ֜יךָsons your
vaneikhaH1121 →4930 times
מֵ֗תוּthey have died
metuH4191 →839 times
חָפְנִי֙Hophni
chafeniH2652 →5 times
וּפִ֣ינְחָ֔סand Phinehas
ufinchasH6372 →25 times
וַאֲר֥וֹןand [the] ark of
vaaronH727 →202 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
נִלְקָֽחָה׃ פit has been taken
nilkachahH3947 →966 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 3:11Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 1:5
“Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.
- Jeremiah 19:3
saying, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster…
- Acts 13:41
‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”
- 2 Kings 21:12
this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that the news will reverberate in the ears of all who hear it.
- Luke 21:26
Men will faint from fear and anxiety over what is coming upon the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
- Habakkuk 1:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.