1 Samuel 4:19

FURTHER JUDGMENT AGAINST ELI'S HOUSE

"Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child, about to give birth. And when she heard the tidings 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. And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, "Fear not, for you have borne a son." But she did not answer or give heed. 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. And she said, `The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.'"

It is amazing to this writer that commentators boldly contradict what the text of God's Word plainly declares as a fact. For example:

"If she (the wife of Phinehas) was already unconscious, so that she `did not answer' or `give heed,' it can hardly have been the mother who gave the name to the baby ... They (the attending women) gave the name to the baby."[12]

It is not the Sacred Text which is in disorder here; it is the mind of any scholar who fails to understand the style of ancient writers. There are countless instances in the Bible of groups of statements which appear without strict regard to chronological arrangement. For example, the apostle Peter charged men of his generation saying, "God raised up Jesus ... whom ye slew and hanged on a tree" (Acts 5:30, KJV). Ancient writers often violated many of our so-called "modern" rules of grammar and rhetoric, counting on the intelligence of the reader to aid in the art of communication.

Is there any person who should really have any trouble understanding what is said in a paragraph like this? The wife of Phinehas named the baby. Who could imagine that she did so after she became unconscious?

"About the time of her death" (1 Samuel 4:20). This is the phrase that fixes the time approximately for the events mentioned, and the word about indicates the lack of chronological precision in the order of the things mentioned.

Willis declared that, "The end of 1 Samuel 4:21 indicates that the wife of Phinehas named her newborn son Ichabod, shortly BEFORE her death."[13]

"Ichabod" (1 Samuel 4:21). There may be some uncertainty with regard to the exact meaning of this name, for there are several meanings given by different writers. Henry Wallace gave it as INGLORIOUS;[14] the Douay Version footnote defines it as WHERE IS THE GLORY?; Lockyer has THE GLORY IS NOT;[15] and the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia gives the meaning as NO GLORY.

It is this writer's opinion that the wife of Phinehas and mother of the baby gave the best explanation of what the name actually means, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED.

"The glory has departed from Israel" (1 Samuel 4:21). Laurence E. Porter, quoting Driver, wrote that, "The word `departed' is an ominous word in the Hebrew, expressing the thought gone into exile."[16] This strongly supports the view of this episode as a prophetic event signaling the ultimate captivity of the nation. In a similar manner, the overthrow of Jonah into the sea was a typical event signifying the ultimate casting off of racial Israel.

Porter also suggested that this defeat of Israel was the occasion when Shiloh itself was destroyed. This is a reasonable postulation, because the tremendous defeat of Israel recorded here took place within eighteen miles of Shiloh, and it would appear to be very probable that the Philistines took advantage of their opportunity and destroyed Shiloh.

"A Danish expedition directed by H. Kjaer and A. Schmidt excavated parts of ancient Shiloh in 1926-1932; and the results seemed to show that Shiloh was destroyed about 1100 B.C."[17]

Willis pointed out that a number of Biblical statements support the view that the Philistines destroyed Shiloh on this occasion or at a time not long afterward. Later in First Samuel, Samuel appears not at Shiloh but at his hometown of Ramah (1 Samuel 7:17). The next reference to the priestly descendants of Eli places them at Nob (1 Samuel 21:1; 22:9,11), which at that time was called the `city of the priests' (1 Samuel 22:19).[18]

Ben F. Philbeck writing in the Teacher's Bible Commentary summarizes the disaster recorded in this chapter thus:

"The heart of Israel's religious and political life was destroyed, and the Philistines were the "de facto" rulers of most of the country. The burden of the leadership of Israel now fell to Samuel. The ark of the Lord was the focal point of Israel's national existence. It represented God's presence among his people. It called to mind His protection of Israel during the wilderness wanderings. It reminded them of the glorious victories of the wars of conquest under Joshua, and therefore its loss to the Philistines in that terrible battle was especially serious. It looked as if GOD was unable to protect His people, or even His own personal throne among them. However, in the larger context, God was working in history to purge His corrupt priesthood and to bring His people again under His leadership."[19]