1 Samuel 4:10, 1 Samuel 4:3 WEB

Sermon Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:1-22

1 Samuel 1-4 (with Judges 21:16-25 ) I. With all his virtues and natural advantages Eli had one great fault. He was a good man of the easy type; the kind of man who makes an admirable servant, who does his duty to perfection so long as his duty merely troubles himself, but who has not force of character to interfere with others; to command, to regulate the conduct of others, to incur the ill-will of others. An amiable indolence overspread his whole nature. He was one of the men who have... read more

William Nicoll

Sermon Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:10-11

1 Samuel 4:10-11 I. Look first at the connection between declension and defeat, at the root of the calamity which befell the nation and the dishonour to the cause of God. There was a deep moral apostasy. (1) The character of the priesthood had become thoroughly corrupt, and this is one of the most ominous signs that can appear in any society. (2) Another feature of declension in the people of Israel was that they had changed their religion into a formal superstition. After their first defeat by... read more

Chuck Smith

Chuck Smith Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:1-22

Chapter 4Now in chapter four we find the Philistines had come against the Israelites and they met them in battle and defeated them. Four thousand of the men of Israel were slain. So the Philistines were getting ready to attack again, and the people said, "Let us bring the Ark of the Covenant into the camp in order that the Philistines cannot defeat us."Now they were beginning to look at the Ark of the Covenant as sort of an amulet, a good luck piece in a kind of a thing. "Well if the Ark of the... read more

Joseph Sutcliffe

Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments - 1 Samuel 4:1-22

1 Samuel 4:5 . Israel shouted. But why had they not put away their sins? And why had they not enquired of God? Alas, these priests, like Saul in his last moments, were not fit persons to enquire of God. Their guilty consciences augured that God was about to inflict the punishment their father had failed to do. They lost the ark; they lost their country; they lost themselves! 1 Samuel 4:17 . The ark of God is taken, by hands less profane than those of the two Hebrew priests. With Joshua... read more

Joseph Exell

The Biblical Illustrator - 1 Samuel 4:10-22

1 Samuel 4:10-22And the Philistines fought and Israel was smitten.The Harvest of SinThis story tells of a harvest that had long been predicted, and that at length was reaped. “They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.” See, now, the various harvests that were reaped that day.1. Israel reaped a great harvest. How did this come about? Not surely because Israel had not enough men with whom to fight! For Gideon, with a much smaller body of men, had once defeated a much larger army... read more

John Trapp

John Trapp Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:10

1Sa 4:10 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 fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. Ver. 10. Every man into his tent, ] i.e., Into his house, pedibus pro armis usi, et depositis hastis domum ad beatos rastros, benedictum aratrum, sanctamque stivam recurrerunt, as one a saith of the Dutch boors. And there was a very great slaughter. ] Notwithstanding the presence of the ark, and far... read more

Samuel Bagster

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge - 1 Samuel 4:10

Israel: 1 Samuel 4:2, Leviticus 26:17, Deuteronomy 28:25, Psalms 78:9, Psalms 78:60-3 John : every man: 2 Samuel 20:1, 1 Kings 12:16, 1 Kings 22:36, 2 Kings 14:12 a very great: 2 Samuel 18:7, 2 Chronicles 13:17, 2 Chronicles 28:5, 2 Chronicles 28:6, Isaiah 10:3-Joshua : Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 1:42 - for I am not Judges 18:30 - until 1 Samuel 4:17 - Israel 1 Samuel 31:6 - General 1 Chronicles 10:6 - Saul 2 Chronicles 25:22 - fled Psalms 60:1 - scattered Psalms 60:10 - didst Psalms 78:62 -... read more

John Wesley

Wesley's Explanatory Notes - 1 Samuel 4:10

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 fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.Tent — To his habitation, called by the ancient name of his tent.There fell — Before, they lost but four thousand, now in the presence of the ark, thirty thousand, to teach them that the ark and ordinances of God, were never designed as a refuge to impenitent sinners, but only for the comfort of those that repent. read more

Daniel Whedon

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 4:1-11

CAPTURE OF THE ARK, AND DEATH OF ELI’S SONS, 1 Samuel 4:1-11. This section records the beginning of the downfall of Eli’s house, and that bitter affliction of the tabernacle the loss of the sacred ark. See note on 1 Samuel 2:32. Led by Jehovah’s word, as communicated through Samuel, Israel goes out to battle with the Philistines; but it is that it may be made to feel its utter weakness without Jehovah’s constant aid. The impiety of the nation demanded a signal chastisement, especially in the... read more