1 And the word of Samuel came to all1 Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside aEbenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.
The Ark of God Captured
2 Then the aPhilistines put themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was1 defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field.
3 And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? aLet us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.”
4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, awho dwells betweenbthe cherubim. And the ctwo sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook.
6 Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp.
7 So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, a“Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before.
8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.
9aBe strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, bas they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!”
10 So the Philistines fought, and aIsrael was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.
11 Also athe ark of God was captured; and bthe two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
Death of Eli
12 Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and acame to Shiloh with his clothes torn and bdirt on his head.
13 Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on aa seat by the wayside watching, for his heart2 trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out.
14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli.
15 Eli was ninety-eight years old, and ahis eyes were so dim that he could not see.
16 Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.” And he said, a“What happened, my son?”
17 So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.”
18 Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
Ichabod
19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her.
20 And about the time of her death athe women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she1 regard it.
THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF SAMUEL. The two were, by the ancient Jews, conjoined so as to make one book, and in that form could be called the Book of Samuel with more propriety than now, the second being wholly occupied with the relation of transactions that did not take place till after the death of that eminent judge. Accordingly, in the Septuagint and the Vulgate, it is called the First and Second Books of Kings. The early portion of the First Book, down to the end of the twenty-fourth chapter, was probably written by Samuel; while the rest of it and the whole of the Second, are commonly ascribed to Nathan and Gad, founding the opinion on I Chronicles 29:29. Commentators, however, are divided about this, some supposing that the statements in I Samuel 2:26; I Samuel 3:1, indicate the hand of the judge himself, or a contemporary; while some think, from I Samuel 6:18; I Samuel 12:5; I Samuel 27:6, that its composition must be referred to a later age. It is probable, however, that these supposed marks of an after-period were interpolations of Ezra. This uncertainty, however, as to the authorship does not affect the inspired authority of the book, which is indisputable, being quoted in the New Testament (I Samuel 13:14 in Acts 13:22, and II Samuel 7:14 in Hebrews 1:5), as well as in many of the Psalms.
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