1 Samuel 4:21
in 1 Samuel 4And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband had been killed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
And she named the child I–chabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.
⋯
This verse in 1 Samuel 4
Commentary
8 notes on this verseShe named the child I-chabod - The versions are various on the original words כבוד I-chabod; the Septuagint, ουαιβαρχαβωθ ouaibrachaboth; the Syriac, yochobor; the Arabic, yochabad. But none of these give us much light on the subject. It is pretty evident they did not know well what signification to give the name; and we are left to collect its meaning from what she says afterwards, The glory is departed from Israel; the words literally mean, Where is the glory?
This site's exposition
she named the boy Ichabod
on 1 Samuel 4:21-22
She names the child Ichabod and gives the reason twice, “The glory has departed from Israel”, once for the ark and the dead of her house and once for the ark alone. Psalm 78:60 and Jeremiah 7:12 and 14 later read this day as the Lord forsaking Shiloh, a warning to a later generation. Shiloh never again holds the ark or the tabernacle in Israel's worship.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
And she named the child Ichabod, etc. Ichabod is interpreted as "woe to glory," or "glory has departed," which no one will nearly dispute as being an apt name for the Jews of that time. But the glory of faith was transferred from Israel to …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2 · Written before 604.
proposed
27. The ark indeed is captured: because now, by God's authority, the sacraments of Holy Scripture are retained by true believers with the capacity of true understanding. And the glory of Israel is transferred: because, after it fell from true religion, it ceased to be fragrant through the reputation of good fame. Moreover, the glory of Israel is rightly said not to perish, but to be transferred: because the fame of religion, which it lost, passed over to the Gentiles.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
I-chabod - Where is the glory? The glory - That is, the glorious type and assurance of God's presence, the ark, which is often called God's glory, and which wast the great safeguard and ornament of Israel, which they could glory in above all other nations.
And she named the child Ichabod,....
Perhaps it is meant of his prophecy against the house of Eli. This was generally known and talked of, and all that were serious and observing compared the events here related, when they came to pass, with the prophecy, and saw it accomplished in them.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Is departed - Properly, “Is gone into captivity.”
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתִּקְרָ֣א | vatikra' | and she called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| לַנַּ֗עַר | lanaar | <to> the lad | H5288 → | 239 times |
| אִֽי־ | ʾi- | I- | H350 → | 3 times |
| כָבוֹד֙ | khavod | -chabod | H350 → | 3 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| גָּלָ֥ה | galah | it has gone into exile | H1540 → | 186 times |
| כָב֖וֹד | khavod | glory | H3519 → | 200 times |
| מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | miyisrael | from Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | because of | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הִלָּקַח֙ | hilakach | [the] being taken of | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֲר֣וֹן | ʾaron | [the] ark of | H727 → | 202 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and because of | H413 → | 5510 times |
| חָמִ֖יהָ | chamiha | father-in-law her | H2524 → | |
| וְאִישָֽׁהּ׃ | veishah | and husband her | H376 → | 1663 times |
וַתִּקְרָ֣אand she called
vatikra'H7121 →733 times
לַנַּ֗עַר<to> the lad
lanaarH5288 →239 times
אִֽי־I-
ʾi-H350 →3 times
כָבוֹד֙-chabod
khavodH350 →3 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
גָּלָ֥הit has gone into exile
galahH1540 →186 times
כָב֖וֹדglory
khavodH3519 →200 times
מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֑לfrom Israel
miyisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֶל־because of
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הִלָּקַח֙[the] being taken of
hilakachH3947 →966 times
אֲר֣וֹן[the] ark of
ʾaronH727 →202 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
וְאֶל־and because of
veel-H413 →5510 times
חָמִ֖יהָfather-in-law her
chamihaH2524 →
וְאִישָֽׁהּ׃and husband her
veishahH376 →1663 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Jeremiah 2:11Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
it leads to
- Romans 1:23
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
- Isaiah 37:19
They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
- Jeremiah 16:20
Can man make gods for himself? Such are not gods!”
- Psalms 106:20
They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.
- Micah 4:5
Though each of the peoples may walk in the name of his god, yet we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.
- Romans 1:23
Through
Psalms 78:64His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 4:17
The 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 4:17
Through
Psalms 26:8O LORD, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.
it leads to
- Psalms 84:10
For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
- Psalms 27:4–6
One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the…
- Psalms 84:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.