The Philistines Defeat Israel (1-11)

During the days of Eli, Israel would suffer constant attacks from the Philistines against their farms and villages. It would seem the event of chapter four finds Israel wanting to put a stop to the Philistine assaults once and for all. The two armies were camped about two miles apart—the Israelites at Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek—and they were both postured for an epic battle.

It would seem the Israelites, feeling the stirring of renewal through Samuel’s prophetic voice, assumed that they could put down the nuisance of constant Philistine incursions (1).

The Philistines launched an attack on the Israeli forces and slaughtered 4,000 troops (2).

After the defeat, the elders of the nation gathered to ask why the Lord would allow such a defeat.

Samuel was conspicuously absent from the story, but we know from the previous chapter that he had been responsible for a certain level of spiritual renewal within the nation as he brought the prophetic voice of God back to life. With God speaking again, the elders assumed victory would be automatic.

As they discussed the dilemma, they came to the conclusion that they had been defeated in battle because they had left the Ark of the Covenant at Shiloh, so they assumed that if they were to bring the Ark into the battle, they would ensure Yahweh’s victory (3.) With haste, the elders sent word to Shiloh and had Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, bring the Ark to the battlefront (4).

What the author is seeking to do is speak in subtlety concerning the word of the Lord versus the Ark of God. The people of Israel were not seeking after the Lord; they were not hearing from Him because they were not asking Him what they should do. Rather, they used the Ark, which was both a symbol of and a residing place for the presence of God, as a sort of magical charm in order to help them win the battle, which they ultimately lost.

The Ark of the Covenant was brought into the camp, and the Israeli soldiers greeted the sacred box with celebration and rejoicing. So great was their shouting and stomping that they made the ground shake (5).

When the Philistines found out the Ark had entered the camp, they were filled with terror and panic (6). They assumed the Israelites were polytheists and that their many gods had come into their camp—the same gods who helped Israel destroy Egypt with plagues and sustained them in the wilderness (7-8).

With fear biting their entire army, the Philistine commanders determined that their only hope was to fight like they had never fought, face the Israeli gods, and hope their gods would be stronger in the face of their courageous fighting (9).

The Philistines fought with great desperation and on that day, the day the Ark was on the battlefield and the Philistines slaughtered 30,000 Israeli troops, all Israel fled for their homes, leaving the Ark unguarded and thus captured. Hophni and Phinehas seem to have died in the battle as the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant right out of their hands, watching their countrymen leave them unprotected in their hasty retreat (10-11).

The Death of the Priesthood (12-18)

A Benjaminite soldier ran to Shiloh, tore his clothes, threw dirt on his head, and told the city the news of Israel's defeat. Eli, at 98 years old, had been troubled at putting the Ark into the hands of his sons, so he was sitting on a stool beside the road waiting for news. The messenger ran right past the almost blind Eli and came into the city, giving the people the news first. When the citizens of the city began to wail, Eli demanded to know what happened and the Benjaminite messenger told Eli he was fresh from the battlefield (12-16).

The Benjaminite delivered the news in four descriptions:

• The Israelites had deserted the battlefield.

• The army had experienced heavy losses.

• Eli’s sons were killed in the battle.

• The Ark of God had been captured (17).

As soon as Eli heard about the Ark, he fainted or had a stroke and fell backward off his stool, and being so heavy, he broke his neck and died. His 30-year national leadership tour came to an end (18).

The Birth of Eli’s Grandsons (19-22)

The trauma of hearing about Israel’s defeat, the death of Phinehas, and the capture of the Ark of God caused Phinehas’ wife to go into immediate and hard labor (19).

With her last breath, we witness that she was overcome by the news of the battlefield. She did not regard with any joy or hope the birth of her son. All she could think about was the loss the nation was experiencing. Priests were dead, Israeli losses heavy, but most important to her, the Ark of God was lost.

With her dying breath, she named her child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed or gone up into captivity from Israel.” She cited the capture of the Ark and the death of her father-in-law and husband as the basis for her conclusion (20-21).

She then amended her statement with her dying breath and declared the glory had left because the Ark of God had been captured (22).

Samuel is absent from these next few chapters. It was the loss of the Ark of God that was being lamented, but the national neglect of God’s voice is obvious.