1 Samuel 4:11

11 The ark of God was taken; and the two sons of `Eli, Hofni and Pinechas, were slain.

1 Samuel 4:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 4:11

And the ark of God was taken
By the Philistines; which was suffered partly as a punishment to the Israelites, for fetching it from the tabernacle without the will of God, and for their vain confidence in it; and partly that the Philistines might have an experiment of the power and might of God, as Procopius Gazaeus observes, by what they would suffer through having it among them; some have thought that this was an emblem of Christ being delivered into the hands of the Gentiles, and of the Gospel being translated from the Jews to them: and the two sons of Eli,

Hophni and Phinehas,
were slain; which fulfilled the prophecy of the man of God, that they should both die in one day, ( 1 Samuel 2:34 ) . It is very probable they stood fast by the ark, and chose rather to die than to give it up freely; having received a charge from their father, that if the ark was taken, not to desire life, nor ever dare to come into his presence more, as Josephus ^F1 relates.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 11. sect. 2.

1 Samuel 4:11 In-Context

9 Be strong, and behave yourselves like men, O you Pelishtim, that you not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.

10 The Pelishtim fought, and Yisra'el was struck, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Yisra'el thirty thousand footmen.

11 The ark of God was taken; and the two sons of `Eli, Hofni and Pinechas, were slain.

12 There ran a man of Binyamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn, and with dirt on his head.

13 When he came, behold, `Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.