1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 4:1 The ark of the covenant was the visible sign of God’s presence with Israel. After a disastrous defeat by the Philistines, the elders of Israel realize that the defeat was the work of the Lord, but apparently they do not seek to know how they have sinned. Instead, they d... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 4:3 FROM SHILOH. The ARK OF THE COVENANT had been “in the temple of the LORD” in Shiloh (1 Samuel 3:3). (On the details of the ark, see Exodus 25:10; Exodus 37:1; and illustration.) Moses was commanded by the Lord to put the tablets of the covenant, the “testimony,” into th... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 4:5 A MIGHTY SHOUT. The Israelites are confident in the ark’s power, but the rest of the story will show that they have failed to approach God’s presence in faith and obedience. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img;... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 4:6 The Philistines usually refer to the Israelites as HEBREWS 1:1 (e.g., 1 Samuel 14:11; 1 Samuel 29:3). The term apparently comes from the name Eber (Genesis 10:21). “Hebrew” is an ethnic term for the people (see Genesis 14:13), while “Israel” is a religious and political... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 4:7 A GOD. The Philistines thought the ark was an image of Israel’s God. Because they believed in the existence of many GODS, the Philistines assumed Israel did as well. STRUCK THE EGYPTIANS... IN THE WILDERNESS probably shows the Philistines’ ignorance about the exact cour... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 4:10 ISRAEL WAS DEFEATED. In view of v. 1 Samuel 4:3, one cannot give the Philistines all the credit for defeating Israel. The phrase EVERY MAN TO HIS HOME was a common way of describing the disbanding of an army, either intentionally (Judges 20:8; 1 Samuel 13:2; 2 Samuel 2... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 4:17 YOUR TWO SONS... ARE DEAD is the sign that Eli had been told to expect as a forewarning of the destruction of his priestly descendants (1 Samuel 2:34), but it seems that he is even more concerned about the ARK. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img");... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 4:18 Besides being a priest at Shiloh, Eli had also JUDGED ISRAEL for FORTY YEARS. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 4:21 Like Eli (see note on v. 17), Phinehas’s wife seems more concerned with the fate of the ARK than with the death of her husband. ICHABOD means “where is the glory?” She mourns for Israel because it is without the presence of God. She doesn’t know that the Lord is going... [ Continue Reading ]