1 Samuel 4:17 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:12-18

Tidings are here brought to Shiloh of the fatal issue of their battle with the Philistines. Bad news flies fast. This soon spread through all Israel; every man that fled to his tent brought it, with too plain a proof of it, to his neighbours. But no place was so nearly concerned as Shiloh. Thither therefore an express posted away immediately; it was a man of Benjamin; the Jews fancy it was Saul. He rent his clothes, and put earth upon his head, by these signs to proclaim the sorrowful news to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:17

And the messenger answered and said ,.... He delivered his account gradually, beginning with generals, and then proceeding to particulars, and with what he thought Eli could better bear the news of, and so prepared him for the worst; in which he acted a wise part: Israel is fled before the Philistines ; they have given way and retreated, and which might possibly be done without great loss, and which, though it was bad news, might not be so very bad: and there hath also been a great... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 4:17

And the messenger answered - Never was a more afflictive message, containing such a variety of woes, each rising above the preceding, delivered in so few words. 1. Israel is fled before the Philistines. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:12-18

Victory in defeat. The facts given are— 1 . Eli, aware of the absence of the ark on the battle field, awaits with anxiety the earliest tidings of the issue of the conflict. 2 . A fugitive relates to him and to the people of Shiloh the nature of the disaster that had befallen Israel. 3 . The effect of the news on the city is a wailing cry of despair, and on Eli sudden death. By record and tradition the people were familiar with the disasters and sufferings occasionally... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:16-17

What is there done, my son? Literally, What is the thing? Or, as the phrase is translated in 2 Samuel 1:4 , "How went the matter?" Eli must have gathered from the words of the messenger that Israel had been defeated; for he expressly says, I fled, and his haste, as testified by the added words today , showed that the defeat was a severe one. Eli, therefore, anxiously asks what has happened, and the answer piles misery upon misery, rapidly heaping together four crushing catastrophes.... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:1-22

The Philistines capture the ark (4:1-22)For many years the Philistines had oppressed Israel (Judges 13:1). Samson had begun to save Israel from them (Judges 13:5), but the Philistines now fought back and decided to extend their rule further into Israel’s territory. The Israelites should have realized that their defeats were God’s punishments upon them because of their sin, and turned to him in repentance. Instead they thought that they would guarantee his help by carrying the symbol of his... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 Samuel 4:17

and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton in 1 Samuel 4:17 . read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Samuel 4:1-22

A. The Capture of the Ark 4:1-22A new subject comes to the forefront in this section and continues to be a significant motif throughout the rest of Samuel. It is the ark of the covenant. The writer drew attention to the ark in this chapter by mentioning it seven times, including a notation at the end of each text section (1 Samuel 4:4; 1 Samuel 4:11; 1 Samuel 4:17-19; 1 Samuel 4:21-22). Following the reference to Samuel the prophet in 1 Samuel 4:1, the writer did not mention him again until 1... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Samuel 4:12-18

2. The response of Eli 4:12-18The deaths of Hophni and Phinehas, who accompanied the soldiers into battle, were the sign God promised Eli that He would remove the priestly privilege from Eli’s descendants eventually (1 Samuel 2:34). The writer carefully recorded that it was the news that the Philistines had captured the ark, not that his two sons had died, that shocked Eli and caused him to die (1 Samuel 4:18). Eli’s primary concern, to his credit, was the welfare of Israel.There is a word play... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 4:1-22

Capture of the Ark by the Philistines. Death of EliThe reason which led to 1 Samuel 4:1; being detached from its proper context is that without it this chapter seems to begin with inexplicable abruptness. The explanation of this lack of connexion is that the editor is now using a different document. This section is in no sense a continuation of the preceding. It does not proceed with the history of Samuel, whose name does not even occur in it, but relates the journeyings of the ark. Alike in... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:12-18

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:17

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 4:17

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:12-18

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:16-17

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 4:1-22

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 Samuel 4:17

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Samuel 4:1-22

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Samuel 4:12-18

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 4:1-22

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