Chapter Four
The Philistines Capture the Ark of the Covenant
4:1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle.
The first part of verse one may seem like it may have been better placed at the end of the last chapter, but since the narrative begins with a brand new ordeal for the Israelites, we see that God was preparing them by bringing up Samuel as their connection to Him, an offering of hope. But first they need to learn to listen. No sooner than God begins to reveal His Word to the Israelites than the enemy begins their attack.
By the early twelfth century, 1175 to 1150 B.C., the Philistines had staked their claim in Canaan by occupying Gaza, Ashdod, and Askelon—key cities along the International Coastal Highway. They rapidly pressed inland, establishing themselves at Ekron (Tell Miqneh) and Gath (Tell es-Safi?) on the edge of the Shephelah. These five cities comprised the Philistine Pentapolis (“five city-states”) that represented the core of Philistine power. Each city-state was ruled by a “Lord” (1 Sam. 5:8).
Other smaller towns and villages of the southern coastal plain came under Philistine rule. The Philistines built a few new cities such as Tell Qasile, a port located on the Yarkon River founded in the early twelfth century, whose Philistine name remains unknown. From their base in the southern coastal plain, the Philistines threatened the tribal allotments of Judah and Dan.[1]
Israel went into battle with their long-time enemy, the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, a location that will receive its name later (see 1 Samuel 7:12, click here to read about the use of names of locations in the Bible before the name is given), the name means “stone of help,” the exact location is not known. The Philistines camped at Aphek, approximately 22 miles due west of Shiloh, Ebenezer was undoubtedly near Aphek. The Philistines lined up in battle formation against Israel and as the battle progressed, Israel was defeated by the Philistines. Approximately 4,000 Israelite men were killed in that battle.
4:3 And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
When the soldiers returned to camp the elders of Israel began to ask, “Why did YHWH allow them to be defeated?” They immediately blame God, or at least recognized that He allowed the defeat. But not thinking that they might have some responsibility for that horrific defeat, they become victims of their own ignorance. They either forgot or never learned the conditions of the covenant, that by being disobedient to God, His protection would go away (see Leviticus 26:39; Deuteronomy 28:25). In addition, Moses had given them instructions on how God wanted them to go into battle (see Deuteronomy 20:1-20). But instead of following instructions, or seek God first as Moses and Joshua did, they remembered when the Ark was deployed by them before, and decided to take the Ark of the Covenant into battle (see Numbers 10:33-36; 31:6; Joshua 3:1-4:24; 6:1-27). While the Ark was holy and being the item that was the most closely associated with the presence of God, it was certainly not a weapon, a supernatural containment device, or something that will ‘automatically’ do something. God cannot “be used,” He is the author of all things.
The people sent word to Shiloh to bring the Ark of the Covenant to the Israelite camp. It was brought to the camp by none other than the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas.
4:5 As soon as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded.
When the Ark of the Covenant arrived, all of the Israelites shouted for joy, so much so that the earth resounded (Hebrew tē·hōm’, a verb meaning to roar, to make a great noise). Their cheers were so loud that they heard the roar in the apparently not to far away Philistine camp.
4:6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the LORD had come to the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.
The Philistines heard the roar from the Israelite camp (calling them the Hebrews, used 34 time in the Old Testament, can be used to refer to a larger group of peoples beyond the Israelites, however, it is used here synonymously in this book for the Israelite people, primarily by their enemies), but did not understand what was happening there, when they learned that the Ark of YHWH had come into Israelite camp, they became afraid. Verse seven in the Septuagint reads differently, “Woe to us! Rescue us, Lord, today because such a thing has not happened yesterday or the third day!”[2] They knew about how God dealt with the Egyptians nearly four hundred years earlier with the plagues (see Exodus 7:14-12:36) and plus they did have a few previous encounters with YHWH themselves (see Judges 3:31; 13:1-16:31). They asked who can deliver them from “these mighty gods,” to them the Israelites were like them, people who worshiped multiple gods, and that the Ark of YHWH was just another idol.
4:9 Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”
There is no record as to who rallied the Philistines, while not included in every manuscript of the Septuagint, this verse called for the Philistines to take courage, and to be men and fight. Whoever it was, used the incentive that they would otherwise be slaves to the Hebrews. Regardless of who stated these words of encouragement, it worked, they got the Philistines to return to battle.
4:10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11 And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
The Israelites suffered a major defeat, thirty thousand men died in this battle. In addition, the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, and the two sons of Eli were killed as prophesied (see 1 Samuel 2:34).
Considerations
Sacred Superstitions
Whenever the reason why a procedure, a protocol, or a ritual that is performed is no longer understood, it can easily become in the minds of those keeping the tradition more important than the reason why it was performed. Which is why traditions, especially those involving rituals, should be regularly evaluated. Also encompassed in making traditions is the potential of misidentifying the application of objects used in those rituals. Here the Israelites vaguely understood what the Ark of the Covenant was, and what its role was, and as a result, they held the superstition that the Ark could be used as a weapon. That all they needed to do was to bring their “God in a box” out to the battleground and everything will go their way and lead them to victory over the Philistines.
The Death of Eli
4:12 A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. 13 When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see. 16 And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did it go, my son?” 17 He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.
Eli was sitting by the road watching (Hebrew meṣǎp·pě(h)’, conveys the idea of being aware of something, not necessarily watching through their eyes) as he was concerned for the Ark of God being away from the Tabernacle (perhaps recognizing that releasing the Ark without inquiring of God was not wise, which could potentially result in disaster), when a man from the tribe of Benjamin came in from the battleground. He heard the people of the city cry out and inquired what was going on. The man came over to Eli and told him that he just got back from the battle and that Israel had to flee as they suffered a great defeat, and that his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed. When the man told Eli about the Ark of God being captured, Eli fell backwards, broke his neck and died.
The event that God told Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle” (1 Samuel 3:11, ESV) was the unthinkable event of the Ark being captured. With both sons of Eli dying on the same day as prophesied by the unnamed prophet gave proof that the judgment on the house of Eli had begun and would occur as prophesied (see 1 Samuel 2:34).
4:19 Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her.
At this time the wife of Phinehas was pregnant and was near the time of her giving birth, but when she heard that the Ark had been captured, and that Eli and her husband were dead, her labor began and she gave birth to a son.
4:20 And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
Prior to her dying in childbirth, she was told not to worry because she had given birth to a boy (from her perspective the family lineage would continue). She did not respond with an answer but was able to name the child Ichabod, as the glory has departed from Israel. Her last words were, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” The glory of God did indeed depart, but not because the Ark had been captured by the Philistines, but because Israel had stopped repenting and trusting in God. They were superstitiously trusting in the Ark instead.
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[1] Brisco, T. V. (1998). Holman Bible atlas (pp. 94–95). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Brannan, R., Penner, K. M., Loken, I., Aubrey, M., & Hoogendyk, I., eds. (2012). The Lexham English Septuagint (1 Kgdms 4:7). Lexham Press.