1 Samuel 4:10 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 4:10
And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
fought
וַיִּלָּחֲמ֣וּvai.yi.la.cha.Mu
H3898
to feed on · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
smitten
וַיִּנָּ֤גֶףvai.yi.Na.gef
H5062
to push · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
fled
וַיָּנֻ֙סוּ֙vai.ya.Nu.su
H5127
to flit · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
man
אִ֣ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
tent
לְאֹהָלָ֔יוle.'o.ha.Lav
H168
a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
great (in any sense) · adjective, feminine singular absolute
slaughter
הַמַּכָּ֖הha.ma.Kah
H4347
a wound · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
fell
וַיִּפֹּל֙vai.yi.Pol
H5307
to fall · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Israel
מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֔לmi.Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · preposition + proper noun, a place name
thirty
שְׁלֹשִׁ֥יםshe.lo.Shim
H7970
thirty · noun, common masculine plural absolute
thousand
אֶ֖לֶף'E.lef
H505
hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · noun, common both genders singular absolute
footmen
רַגְלִֽיrag.Li
H7273
a footman (soldier) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Samuel 4:2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they…
Leviticus 26:17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee wh…
Deuteronomy 28:25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and s…
2 Kings 14:12 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents.
2 Samuel 18:17 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled every o…
Psalms 78:60-64 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;
2 Samuel 18:7 Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.
2 Samuel 19:8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the peop…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 4:10-11
Here is a short account of the issue of this battle.
I. Israel was smitten, the army dispersed and totally routed, not retiring into the camp, as before (Sa1 4:2) when they hoped to rally again, but returning to their tents, every man shifting for his own safety and making the best of his way home, despairing to make head any more; and 30,000 were slain in the field of battle, Sa1 4:10. Israel was put to the worse, 1. Though they had the better cause, were the people of God and the Philistines were uncircumcised; they stood up in necessary defence of their just rights and liberties against invaders, and yet they failed of success, for their rock had sold them. A good cause often suffers for…
Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us--Strange that they were so blind to the real cause of the disaster and that they did not discern, in the great and general corruption of religion and morals (Sa1 2:22-25; Sa1 7:3; Psa 78:58), the reason why the presence and aid of God were not extended to them. Their first measure for restoring the national spirit and energy ought to have been a complete reformation--a universal return to purity of worship and morals. But, instead of cherishing a spirit of deep humiliation and sincere repentance, instead of resolving on the abolition of existing abuses, and the re-establishing of the pure faith, they adopted what appeared…
Be strong, etc. - This was the address to the whole army, and very forcible it was. "If ye do not fight, and acquit yourselves like men, ye will be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you; and you may expect that they will avenge themselves of you for all the cruelty you have exercised towards them."
John Gill on 1 Samuel 4:10
And the Philistines fought,.... With great ardour and spirit, quitted themselves like men of valour and courage, their case being desperate as they imagined, since God was in the camp of Israel:
and Israel was smitten: were routed and beaten:
and they fled every man into his tent; such of them as escaped the sword of the Philistines fled to their own houses in the several cities from whence they came; so the Targum,"every man to his city''so that their army was quite broken up:
and there was a very great slaughter far greater than in the first battle:
For there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen; their army chiefly, if not altogether, consisting of footmen, there being few horses in…
The Church Fathers
Therefore the Philistines fought, and Israel was slaughtered, etc. The adversaries of truth, whether men or their leaders, the unclean spirits, fought against the believers in Christ; by whom, either openly raging, or covertly persuading, or injecting examples of depravity, some were slaughtered either by denial or martyrdom, others were repelled more urgently to abandon the tents of their firm faith.
12. The Philistines, that is, "those falling by the cup," fight when the doctors of the holy Church with the banner of the catholic faith confront the attacking Jews. But Israel is turned back, because in every disputation the cunning of the Jews is overcome. For to be turned back, for him, is to be unable to oppose with equal strength. But he who is turned back while fighting is indeed in battle, but fleeing — although lacking in strength, nevertheless not losing the desire to harm. For so it is with all of Israel when repulsed. He flees, indeed, because he is unable to answer the doctors of the holy Church; but while fleeing he would wish to resist, because, conquered and confounded, he would desire to have at hand the means by which he could oppose the truth by which he is overcome. Well, therefore, when Israel is said to be turned back, it is cautiously added: "Each one to his own tent." For the tent of each Israelite is a heart enclosed by the confines of unbelief. Because therefore, conquered by the preachers of the holy Church, they return to the hiding places of their error, each one fleeing from battle returns to his own tent. And because all this is said concerning the fulfillment of the word of Samuel, namely concerning the denunciation of the early Church, the slaughter is reported to have been exceedingly great — which slaughter indeed, at the reader's discretion, can fittingly be understood both according to a spiritual striking and according to a material one. 13. For concerning their spiritual plague, the Lord says to the disciples sent out for preaching: Whoever does not receive you, as you go out from the house or city, shake the dust from your feet. Amen I say to you: it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city (Matt. 10:14). Hence He says again: He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned (Mark 16:16). He also indicates a great plague according to material striking, when He speaks to Jerusalem, saying: Days shall come upon you, and your enemies shall surround you with a rampart, and hem you in on every side, and dash you and your children to the ground, and they shall not leave in you one stone upon another (Luke 19:43, 44). Hence, as He was setting out toward the condescension of His passion, He speaks to the women who were…
Dictionary and topics
Ark — Noah’s ark, a building of gopher-wood, and covered with pitch, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high (Gen. 6:14-16); an oblong floating house of three stories, with a door in the side…
Army — The Israelites marched out of Egypt in military order (Ex. 13:18, “harnessed;” marg., “five in a rank”). Each tribe formed a battalion, with its own banner and leader (Num. 2:2; 10:14). In war the…
Eben-ezer — Stone of help, the memorial stone set up by Samuel to commemorate the divine assistance to Israel in their great battle against the Philistines, whom they totally routed (1 Sam. 7:7-12) at Aphek, in…
Fast — The sole fast required by the law of Moses was that of the great Day of Atonement (q.v.), Lev. 23:26-32. It is called “the fast” (Acts 27:9). The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old…
Hophni — Pugilist or client, one of the two sons of Eli, the high priest (1 Sam. 1:3; 2:34), who, because he was “very old,” resigned to them the active duties of his office. By their scandalous conduct they…
Philistines — (Gen. 10:14, R.V.; but in A.V., “Philistim”), a tribe allied to the Phoenicians. They were a branch of the primitive race which spread over the whole district of the Lebanon and the valley of the…
Tabernacle — (1.) A house or dwelling-place (Job 5:24; 18:6, etc.). (2.) A portable shrine (comp. Acts 19:24) containing the image of Moloch (Amos 5:26; marg. and R.V., “Siccuth”). (3.) The human body (2 Cor.…
Aphek · .Philistines — .Philistines
Judgments · Eli’s house — Eli’s house
Parents · Involved in children’s wickedness — Involved in children’s wickedness
Stimulated in this way, they fought and smote Israel, so that every one fled home ("to his tent," see at Jos 22:8), and 30,000 men of Israel fell. The ark also was taken, and the two sons of Eli died, i.e., were slain when the ark was taken, - a practical proof to the degenerate nation, that Jehovah, who was enthroned above the cherubim, had departed from them, i.e., had withdrawn His gracious presence.
(Note: "It is just the same now, when we take merely a historical Christ outside us for our Redeemer. He must prove His help chiefly internally by His Holy Spirit, to redeem us out of the hand of the Philistines; though externally He must not be thrown into the shade, as accomplishing our jus…
30,000 was more than seven times as many as haddied previously without the Ark (4:2). The Israelites learned the hard way that the Ark was not a talisman to ward off misfortune.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 4:8
With every sort of plague in the wilderness. By the Sea of Reeds. Targum Yonoson however, renders, 'and for His people He performed wonders in the wilderness.' In Sifrei we learn that this passage is a combination of statements, whoever made one statement did not make the other. The worthy among them said, "Who will save us from the hand of this mighty God?" while the wicked retorted, "This is the God Who smote the Egyptians with every plague. All the plagues which He had, He brought upon the Egyptians. He has no more plagues [to inflict]."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
— Defeated Israel and took the ark
Superstition · was due to their not having brought with them the ark of the covenant — was due to their not having brought with them the ark of the covenant
Tents · Were used by: The people of Israel in all their wars — Were used by: The people of Israel in all their wars
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
