1 Samuel 4:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 4:6
And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp.
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
heard
וַיִּשְׁמְע֤וּvai.yish.me.'U
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
noise
ק֣וֹלKol
H6963
a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular construct
shout
הַתְּרוּעָ֔הha.te.ru.'Ah
H8643
clamor · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
said
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּvai.Yo.me.Ru
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
noise
ק֣וֹלKol
H6963
a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular construct
great
הַגְּדוֹלָ֛הha.ge.do.Lah
H1419
great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, feminine singular absolute
shout
הַתְּרוּעָ֧הha.te.ru.'Ah
H8643
clamor · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
camp
בְּמַחֲנֵ֣הbe.ma.cha.Neh
H4264
an encampment (of travellers or troops) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Hebrews
הָעִבְרִ֑יםha.'iv.Rim
H5680
an Eberite (i.e. Hebrew) or descendant of Eber · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
understood
וַיֵּ֣דְע֔וּvai.Ye.de.'U
H3045
to know (properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
ark
אֲר֣וֹן'a.Ron
H727
a box · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
come
בָּ֖אba'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
camp
הַֽמַּחֲנֶֽהHa.ma.cha.Neh
H4264
an encampment (of travellers or troops) · definite article + noun, common feminine 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
Exodus 32:17-18 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 4:1-9
The first words of this paragraph, which relate to Samuel, that his word came to all Israel, seem not to have any reference to the following story, as if it was by any direction of his that the Israelites went out against the Philistines. Had they consulted him, though but newly initiated as a prophet, his counsel might have stood them in more stead than the presence of the ark did; but perhaps the princes of Israel despised his youth, and would not have recourse to him as an oracle, and he did not as yet interpose in public affairs; nor do we find any mention of his name henceforward till some years after (Sa1 7:3), only his word came to all Israel, that is, people from all parts that were…
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…
All Israel shouted - Had they humbled themselves, and prayed devoutly and fervently for success, they would have been heard and saved. Their shouting proved both their vanity and irreligion.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 4:6
And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout,.... For it being so loud as to make the earth ring, it was heard in the camp of the Philistines, which might not be at any great distance from the camp of Israel; how far from each other were Aphek and Ebenezer is not certain:
they said, what meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? they could not conceive what should be the reason of it, seeing they had no occasion to shout for joy, having been lately defeated; and a shout is made generally just before a battle is begun, and the onset made, or when victory is obtained; neither of which was the case now:
and they understood that the ark of the Lord was come int…
The Church Fathers
And the Philistines heard the sound of the cry. The fame of the Lord's preaching spoke even to the knowledge of the gentiles.
8. Indeed the Philistines hear the sound of the land and the shouting of the camps, because those who in the holy Church have been refreshed by the cup of the Holy Spirit recognize both the talkativeness and the vain devotion of Jewish perfidy. And because they hold their estimation in the contempt of derision, it is added: (Vers. 6, 7.) And they recognized that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, and the Philistines were afraid, saying: God has come into the camp, and they groaned. It is said ironically that the ark had come into the camp of the Hebrews, and that those falling by the cup were afraid and groaned, because for the conflict of the holy Church the sacraments of the old law are expounded carnally by the carnal defenders of the Synagogue. For they dispute about that which, if they understood according to the Spirit of God, they could have been truly terrible to their enemies, if they had any. Therefore when those falling by the cup are said to have been terrified and to have groaned, Scripture does not show the passions of minds in the holy preachers, but the mockery of Jewish disputation; which is known to be all the more contemptible and worthy of laughter, inasmuch as the Jewish people received a spiritual law from the Lord for spiritual conduct, and did not attend in the spirit to what they had received by the gift of the spirit. Wherefore, adding also the words of the same Jewish derision, they say: (Vers. 8.) Woe to us, there was not so great an exultation yesterday and the day before. And because they are to be more abundantly derided, they add saying: (Vers. 8.) Who will deliver us from the hand of these sublime gods?
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
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…
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…
Jew — The name derived from the patriarch Judah, at first given to one belonging to the tribe of Judah or to the separate kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 16:6; 25:25; Jer. 32:12; 38:19; 40:11; 41:3), in…
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
Ark · .OF THE LORD — .OF THE LORD
Israel · .Etc — .Etc
Philistines · and return the ark — and return the ark
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).
When the Philistines heard the noise, and learned on inquiry that the ark of Jehovah had come into the camp, they were thrown into alarm, for "they thought (lit. said), God (Elohim) is come into the camp, and said, 'Woe unto us! For such a thing has not happened yesterday and the day before (i.e., never till now). Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the very gods that smote Egypt with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.' " The Philistines spoke of the God of Israel in the plural., האדּירים האלהים, as heathen who only knew of gods, and not of one Almighty God. Just as all the heathen feared the might of the gods of other nations in a certain degree…
Like the Israelites, the Philistines regarded the Ark as a powerful talisman (see 4:2-3) and believed that its presence in battle would mean sure disaster for them.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 4:2
And the war spread. And the war spread. Similar to, "and behold they were spread out [נְטוּשִׁים] across the face of the entire land"3 Below 30:16. and to "and they were spread out [וַיִנָּטְשׁוּ] at Lehi."4Shoftim 15:9.
