1 Samuel 4:17

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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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
messenger	הַֽמְבַשֵּׂ֜ר ham.va.Ser	H1319	properly · definite article + verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
answered	וַיַּ֨עַן vai.Ya.'an	H6030	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
said	וַיֹּ֗אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
fled	נָ֤ס nas	H5127	to flit · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
before	לִפְנֵ֣י lif.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Philistines	פְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים fe.lish.Tim	H6430	a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
great	גְדוֹלָ֖ה ge.do.Lah	H1419	great (in any sense) · adjective, feminine singular absolute
slaughter	מַגֵּפָ֥ה ma.ge.Fah	H4046	a pestilence · noun, common feminine singular absolute
people	בָעָ֑ם va.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
two	שְׁנֵ֨י she.Nei	H8147	two · noun, common both genders dual construct
sons	בָנֶ֜יךָ va.Nei.kha	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Hophni	חָפְנִי֙ cha.fe.Ni	H2652	Chophni · proper noun, a man's name
Phinehas	וּפִ֣ינְחָ֔ס u.Fin.Chas	H6372	Pinechas · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
dead	מֵ֗תוּ Me.tu	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
ark	וַאֲר֥וֹן va.'a.Ron	H727	a box · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
God	הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים ha.'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
taken	נִלְקָֽחָה nil.Ka.chah	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular

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 3:11 And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
1 Samuel 4:10-11 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 f…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 4:12-18

Tidings are here brought to Shiloh of the fatal issue of their battle with the Philistines. Bad news flies fast. This soon spread through all Israel; every man that fled to his tent brought it, with too plain a proof of it, to his neighbours. But no place was so nearly concerned as Shiloh. Thither therefore an express posted away immediately; it was a man of Benjamin; the Jews fancy it was Saul. He rent his clothes, and put earth upon his head, by these signs to proclaim the sorrowful news to all that saw him as he ran, and to show how much he himself was affected with it, Sa1 4:12. He went straight to Shiloh with it; and here we are told, I. How the city received it. Eli sat in the gate (Sa…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 4:13

ELI HEARING THE TIDINGS. (Sa1 4:12-22) Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside--The aged priest, as a public magistrate, used, in dispensing justice, to seat himself daily in a spacious recess at the entrance gate of the city. In his intense anxiety to learn the issue of the battle, he took up his usual place as the most convenient for meeting with passers-by. His seat was an official chair, similar to those of the ancient Egyptian judges, richly carved, superbly ornamented, high, and without a back. The calamities announced to Samuel as about to fall upon the family of Eli [Sa1 2:34] were now inflicted in the death of his two sons, and after his death, by that of his daughter-in-law, whose infa…

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Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 4:17

And 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. A rout might have taken place without any great previous slaughter; but in this case the field was warmly contested, thirty thousand were laid dead on the spot. T…

The Church Fathers

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? And what does it mean that the two sons of Eli are reported dead, except that both orders of the old priesthood are asserted to have failed? And what does it mean that he says the ark of God was captured, except that he asserts the knowledge of the divine sacraments was taken away from the Jews and faithfully apprehended by the Gentiles? For by the Gentiles now, with the grace of God calling them, the faithful come to know the divine mysteries. There follows: (Verse 18.) And when he had named the ark of God, Eli fell from his seat backward beside the door, and with his neck broken, he died.
— Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Eli — Ascent, the high priest when the ark was at Shiloh (1 Sam. 1:3, 9). He was the first of the line of Ithamar, Aaron’s fourth son (1 Chr. 24:3; comp. 2 Sam. 8:17), who held that office. The office…
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…
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…
Phinehas — Mouth of brass, or from old Egypt, the negro. (1.) Son of Eleazar, the high priest (Ex. 6:25). While yet a youth he distinguished himself at Shittim by his zeal against the immorality into which 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.…
Ark · .OF GOD — .OF GOD
Eli · His — His
Hophni · General references — General references
Judgments · Eli’s house — Eli’s house
Parents · Involved in children’s wickedness — Involved in children’s wickedness
Patriotism · .Eli — .Eli

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).

1 Samuel 4:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 4:12-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 4:13

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 4:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Samuel 4:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 4:12-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 4:13

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 4:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 1 Samuel 4:17

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 4:16-18

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 4:15

Rashi on 1 Samuel 4:13