mh_parser/vol_split/9 - 1Samuel/Chapter 4.xml

<div2 id="iSam.v" n="v" next="iSam.vi" prev="iSam.iv" progress="26.49%" title="Chapter IV">
<h2 id="iSam.v-p0.1">F I R S T   S A M U E L</h2>
<h3 id="iSam.v-p0.2">CHAP. IV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iSam.v-p1">The predictions in the foregoing chapters
concerning the ruin of Eli's house here begin to be fulfilled; how
long after does not appear, but certainly not long. Such sinners
God often makes quick work with. Here is, I. The disgrace and loss
Israel sustained in an encounter with the Philistines, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.1-1Sam.4.2" parsed="|1Sam|4|1|4|2" passage="1Sa 4:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>. II. Their foolish project
to fortify themselves by bringing the ark of God into their camp
upon the shoulders of Hophni and Phinehas (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.3-1Sam.4.4" parsed="|1Sam|4|3|4|4" passage="1Sa 4:3,4">ver. 3, 4</scripRef>), which made them secure
(<scripRef id="iSam.v-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.5" parsed="|1Sam|4|5|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:5">ver. 5</scripRef>) and struck a fear
into the Philistines, but such a fear as roused them, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.6-1Sam.4.9" parsed="|1Sam|4|6|4|9" passage="1Sa 4:6-9">ver. 6-9</scripRef>. III. The fatal
consequences of it: Israel was beaten, and the ark taken prisoner,
<scripRef id="iSam.v-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.10-1Sam.4.11" parsed="|1Sam|4|10|4|11" passage="1Sa 4:10,11">ver. 10, 11</scripRef>. IV. The
tidings of this brought to Shiloh, and the sad reception of those
tidings. 1. The city was put into confusion, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.12-1Sam.4.13" parsed="|1Sam|4|12|4|13" passage="1Sa 4:12,13">ver. 12, 13</scripRef>. 2. Eli fainted away, fell,
and broke his neck, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.14-1Sam.4.18" parsed="|1Sam|4|14|4|18" passage="1Sa 4:14-18">ver.
14-18</scripRef>. 3. Upon hearing what had occurred his
daughter-in-law fell in labour, bore a son, but died immediately,
<scripRef id="iSam.v-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.19-1Sam.4.22" parsed="|1Sam|4|19|4|22" passage="1Sa 4:19-22">ver. 19-22</scripRef>. These were
the things which would make the ears of those that heard them to
tingle.</p>
<scripCom id="iSam.v-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4" parsed="|1Sam|4|0|0|0" passage="1Sa 4" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iSam.v-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.1-1Sam.4.9" parsed="|1Sam|4|1|4|9" passage="1Sa 4:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Sam.4.1-1Sam.4.9">
<h4 id="iSam.v-p1.11">The War with the
Philistines. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.v-p1.12">b. c.</span> 1120.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iSam.v-p2">1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now
Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched
beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.   2 And
the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when
they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and
they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.  
3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel
said, Wherefore hath the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.v-p2.1">Lord</span>
smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of
the covenant of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.v-p2.2">Lord</span> out of
Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out
of the hand of our enemies.   4 So the people sent to Shiloh,
that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.v-p2.3">Lord</span> of hosts, which dwelleth
<i>between</i> the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and
Phinehas, <i>were</i> there with the ark of the covenant of God.
  5 And when the ark of the covenant of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.v-p2.4">Lord</span> came into the camp, all Israel shouted with
a great shout, so that the earth rang again.   6 And when the
Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What
<i>meaneth</i> the noise of this great shout in the camp of the
Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.v-p2.5">Lord</span> was come into the camp.   7 And the
Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp.
And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing
heretofore.   8 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the
hand of these mighty Gods? these <i>are</i> the Gods that smote the
Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.   9 Be
strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be
not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit
yourselves like men, and fight.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p3">The first words of this paragraph, which
relate to Samuel, that <i>his word came to all Israel,</i> seem not
to have any reference to the following story, as if it was by any
direction of his that the Israelites went out against the
Philistines. Had they consulted him, though but newly initiated as
a prophet, his counsel might have stood them in more stead than the
presence of the ark did; but perhaps the princes of Israel despised
his youth, and would not have recourse to him as an oracle, and he
did not as yet interpose in public affairs; nor do we find any
mention of his name henceforward till some years after (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.7.3" parsed="|1Sam|7|3|0|0" passage="1Sa 7:3"><i>ch.</i> vii. 3</scripRef>), only <i>his word
came to all Israel,</i> that is, people from all parts that were
piously disposed had recourse to him as a prophet and consulted
him. Perhaps it is meant of his prophecy against the house of Eli.
This was generally known and talked of, and all that were serious
and observing compared the events here related, when they came to
pass, with the prophecy, and saw it accomplished in them. Here
is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p4">I. A war entered into with the Philistines,
<scripRef id="iSam.v-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.1" parsed="|1Sam|4|1|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. It was an
attempt to throw off the yoke of their oppression, and would have
succeeded better if they had first repented and reformed, and so
begun their work at the right end. It is computed that this was
about the middle of the forty years' dominion that the Philistines
had over Israel (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.13.1" parsed="|Judg|13|1|0|0" passage="Jdg 13:1">Judg. xiii.
1</scripRef>) and soon after the death of Samson; so bishop
Patrick, who thinks the slaughter he made at his death might
encourage this attempt; but Dr. Lightfoot reckons it forty years
after Samson's death, for so long Eli judged, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.18" parsed="|1Sam|4|18|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p5">II. The defeat of Israel in that war,
<scripRef id="iSam.v-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.2" parsed="|1Sam|4|2|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Israel, who
were the aggressors, were smitten, and had 4000 men killed upon the
spot. God had promised that one of them should chase a thousand;
but now, on the contrary, <i>Israel is smitten before the
Philistines.</i> Sin, the accursed thing, was in the camp, and gave
their enemies all the advantage against them they could wish
for.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p6">III. The measures they concerted for
another engagement. A council of war was called, and, instead of
resolving to fast and pray and amend their lives, so ill taught
were they (and no wonder when they had such teachers) that, 1. They
quarrelled with God for appearing against them (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.3" parsed="|1Sam|4|3|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>Wherefore has the Lord
smitten us?</i> If they meant this as an enquiry into the cause of
God's displeasure, they needed not go far to find that out. It was
plain enough; Israel had sinned, though they were not willing to
see it and own it. But it rather seems that they expostulate boldly
with God about it, are displeased at what God has done, and dispute
the matter with him. They own the hand of God in their trouble (so
far was right): "It is the Lord that has smitten us;" but, instead
of submitting to it, they quarrel with it, and speak as those that
are angry at him and his providence, and not aware of any just
provocation they have given him: "Wherefore shall we, that are
Israelites, be smitten before the Philistines? How absurd and
unjust is it!" Note, The foolishness of man perverts his way, and
then his heart <i>frets against the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.19.3" parsed="|Prov|19|3|0|0" passage="Pr 19:3">Prov. xix. 3</scripRef>) and finds fault with him. 2.
They imagined that they could oblige him to appear for them the
next time by bringing the ark into their camp. The elders of Israel
were so ignorant and foolish as to make the proposal (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.3" parsed="|1Sam|4|3|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), and the people soon put
it in execution, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.4" parsed="|1Sam|4|4|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. They sent to Shiloh for the ark, and Eli had not
courage enough to detain it, but sent his ungodly sons, Hophni and
Phinehas, along with it, at least permitted them to go, though he
knew that wherever they went the curse of God went along with them.
Now see here, (1.) The profound veneration the people had for the
ark. "O send for that, and it will do wonders for us." The ark was,
by institution, a visible token of God's presence. God had said
that he would dwell <i>between the cherubim,</i> which were over
the ark and were carried along with it; now they thought that, by
paying a great respect to this sacred chest, they should prove
themselves to be Israelites indeed, and effectually engage God
Almighty to appear in their favour. Note, It is common for those
that have estranged themselves from the vitals of religion to
discover a great fondness for the rituals and external observances
of it, for those that even deny the power of godliness not only to
have, but to have in admiration, the form of it. The temple of the
Lord is cried up, and the ark of the Lord stickled for with a great
deal of seeming zeal by multitudes that have no regard at all for
the Lord of the temple and the God of the ark, as if a fiery
concern for the name of Christianity would atone for a profane
contempt of the thing. And yet indeed they did but make an idol of
the ark, and looked upon it to be as much an image of the God of
Israel as those idols which the heathen worshipped were of their
gods. To worship the true God, and not to worship him as God, is in
effect not to worship him at all. (2.) Their egregious folly in
thinking that the ark, if they had it in their camp, would
certainly <i>save them out of the hand of their enemies,</i> and
bring victory back to their side. For, [1.] When the ark set
forward Moses prayed, <i>Rise up, Lord, and let thy enemies be
scattered,</i> well knowing that it was not the ark moving with
them, but God appearing for them, that must give them success; and
here were no proper means used to engage God to favour them with
his presence; what good then would the ark do them, the shell
without the kernel? [2.] They were so far from having God's leave
to remove his ark that he had plainly enough intimated to them in
his law that when they were settled in Canaan his ark should be
settled in the place that he should choose (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.12.5 Bible:Deut.12.11" parsed="|Deut|12|5|0|0;|Deut|12|11|0|0" passage="De 12:5,11">Deut. xii. 5, 11</scripRef>), and that they must come
to it, not it to them. How then could they expect any advantage by
it when they had not a just and legal possession of it, nor any
warrant to remove it from its place? Instead of honouring God by
what they did, they really affronted him. Nay, [3.] If there had
been nothing else to invalidate their expectations from the ark,
how could they expect it should bring a blessing when Hophni and
Phinehas were the men that carried it? It would have given too much
countenance to their villany if the ark had done any kindness to
Israel while it was in the hands of those graceless priests.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p7">IV. The great joy there was in the camp of
Israel when the ark was brought into it (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.5" parsed="|1Sam|4|5|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>They shouted, so that the
earth rang again.</i> Now they thought themselves sure of victory,
and therefore gave a triumphant shout before the battle, as if the
day was without fail their own, intending, by this mighty shout, to
animate themselves and their own forces, and to intimidate their
adversaries. Note, Carnal people triumph much in the external
privileges and performances of religion, and build much upon them,
as if these would infallibly save them, and as if the ark, God's
throne, in the camp, would bring them to heaven, though the world
and the flesh should be upon the throne in the heart.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p8">V. The consternation into which the
bringing of the ark into the camp of Israel put the Philistines.
The two armies lay so near encamped that the Philistines heard the
shout the Israelites gave on this great occasion. They soon
understood what it was they triumphed in (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.6" parsed="|1Sam|4|6|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), and were afraid of the
consequences. For, 1. It had never been done before in their days:
<i>God has come into their camp,</i> and therefore <i>woe unto
us</i> (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.7" parsed="|1Sam|4|7|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), and
again, <i>woe unto us,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.v-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.8" parsed="|1Sam|4|8|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>. The name of the God of Israel was formidable even to
those that worshipped other gods, and some apprehensions even the
infidels had of the danger of contending with them. Natural
conscience suggests this, that those are in a woeful condition who
have God against them. Yet see what gross notions they had of the
divine presence, as if the God of Israel were not as much in the
camp before the ark came thither, which may very well be excused in
them, since the notions the Israelites themselves had of that
presence were no better. "O," say they, "this is a new design upon
us, more frightful than all their stratagems, for <i>there has not
been such a thing heretofore;</i> this was the most effectual
course they could take to dispirit our men and weaken their hands."
2. When it had been done in the days of old, it had wrought
wonders: <i>These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all
the plagues in the wilderness,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.v-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.8" parsed="|1Sam|4|8|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Here they were as much out in
their history as in their divinity: the plagues of Egypt were
inflicted before the ark was made and before Israel came into the
wilderness; but some confused traditions they had of wonders
wrought by or for Israel when this ark was carried before them,
which they attributed, not to Jehovah, but to the ark. Now, say
they, <i>Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty
gods?</i> taking the ark for God, as well they might when the
Israelites themselves idolized it. Yet, it should seem, they
scarcely believed themselves when they spoke thus formidably of
<i>these mighty gods,</i> but only bantered; for instead of
retreating, or proposing conditions of peace, which they would have
done had they been really convinced of the power of Israel's God,
they stirred up one another to fight so much the more stoutly; this
surprising difficulty did but sharpen their resolution (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.9" parsed="|1Sam|4|9|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>Be strong, and quit
yourselves like men.</i> The commanders inspired bold and generous
thoughts into the minds of their soldiers when they bade them
remember how they had lorded it over Israel, and what an
intolerable grief and shame it would be if they flinched now, and
suffered Israel to lord it over them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iSam.v-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.10-1Sam.4.11" parsed="|1Sam|4|10|4|11" passage="1Sa 4:10-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Sam.4.10-1Sam.4.11">
<h4 id="iSam.v-p8.7">The Defeat of the
Israelites. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.v-p8.8">b. c.</span> 1120.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iSam.v-p9">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.   11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons
of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p10">Here is a short account of the issue of
this battle.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p11">I. Israel was smitten, the army dispersed
and totally routed, not retiring into the camp, as before
(<scripRef id="iSam.v-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.2" parsed="|1Sam|4|2|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>) when they
hoped to rally again, but returning to their tents, every man
shifting for his own safety and making the best of his way home,
despairing to make head any more; and 30,000 were slain in the
field of battle, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.10" parsed="|1Sam|4|10|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. Israel was put to the worse, 1. Though they had the
better cause, were the people of God and the Philistines were
uncircumcised; they stood up in necessary defence of their just
rights and liberties against invaders, and yet they failed of
success, for <i>their rock had sold them.</i> A good cause often
suffers for the sake of the bad men that undertake it. 2. Though
they had the greater confidence, and were the more courageous. They
shouted, while the Philistines trembled, and yet, when God pleased
so to order it, the Philistines' terrors were turned into triumphs,
and Israel's shouts into lamentations. 3. Though they had the ark
of God with them. External privileges will secure none that abuse
them and do not live up to them. The ark in the camp will add
nothing to its strength when there is an Achan in it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p12">II. The ark itself was taken by the
Philistines; and Hophni and Phinehas, who it is likely kept close
to it, and when it was in danger ventured far in the defense of it,
because by it they got their living, were <i>both slain,</i>
<scripRef id="iSam.v-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.11" parsed="|1Sam|4|11|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. To this sad
event the Psalmist refers, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.61 Bible:Ps.78.64" parsed="|Ps|78|61|0|0;|Ps|78|64|0|0" passage="Ps 78:61,64">Ps.
lxxviii. 61, 64</scripRef>, <i>He delivered his strength into
captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hands. Their priests fell
by the sword.</i> 1. The slaughter of the priests, considering
their bad character, was no great loss to Israel, but it was a
dreadful judgment upon the house of Eli. The word which God had
spoken was fulfilled in it (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.34" parsed="|1Sam|2|34|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:34"><i>ch.</i>
ii. 34</scripRef>): <i>This shall be a sign unto thee,</i> an
earnest of the judgments threatened, <i>thy two sons shall die both
in one day,</i> and so shall all <i>the increase of thy house die
in the flower of their age,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.v-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.33" parsed="|1Sam|2|33|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>. If Eli had done his duty, and
<i>put them, as polluted, from the priesthood</i> (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Neh.7.64" parsed="|Neh|7|64|0|0" passage="Ne 7:64">Neh. vii. 64</scripRef>), they might have lived,
though in disgrace; but now God takes the work into his own hands,
and chases them out of the world by the sword of the uncircumcised.
<i>The Lord is known by those judgments which he executeth.</i> It
is true the sword devours one as well as another, but these were
waited for of the sword, marked for vengeance. They were out of the
place; what had they to do in the camp? When men leave the way of
their duty they shut themselves out of God's protection. But this
was not all; they had betrayed the ark, by bringing it into danger,
without a warrant from God, and this filled the measure of their
iniquities. But, 2. The taking of the ark was a very great judgment
upon Israel, and a certain token of God's hot displeasure against
them. Now they are made to see their folly in trusting to their
external privileges which they had by their wickedness forfeited
them, and fancying that the ark would save them when God had
departed from them. Now they are made to reflect, with the utmost
regret, upon their own rashness and presumption in bringing the ark
into the camp and so exposing it, and wish a thousand times they
had left it where God had fixed it. Now they are convinced that God
will not be prescribed to by vain and foolish men, and that though
he has bound us to his ark he has not bound himself to it, but will
rather deliver it into the hands of his sworn enemies than suffer
it to be profaned by his false friends, and countenance their
superstition. Let none think to shelter themselves from the wrath
of God under the cloak of a visible profession, for there will be
those cast into outer darkness that have <i>eaten and drunk in
Christ's presence.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="iSam.v-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.12-1Sam.4.18" parsed="|1Sam|4|12|4|18" passage="1Sa 4:12-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Sam.4.12-1Sam.4.18">
<h4 id="iSam.v-p12.7">The Death of Eli. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.v-p12.8">b. c.</span> 1120.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iSam.v-p13">12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the
army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and
with earth upon his head.   13 And when he came, lo, Eli sat
upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the
ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told
<i>it,</i> all the city cried out.   14 And when Eli heard the
noise of the crying, he said, What <i>meaneth</i> the noise of this
tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.   15 Now
Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he
could not see.   16 And the man said unto Eli, I <i>am</i> he
that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And
he said, What is there done, my son?   17 And the messenger
answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there
hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons
also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.
  18 And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of
God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the
gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and
heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p14">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. <i>He rent his clothes, and
put earth upon his head,</i> by these signs to proclaim the
sorrowful news to all that saw him as he ran, and to show how much
he himself was affected with it, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.12" parsed="|1Sam|4|12|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. He went straight to Shiloh with
it; and here we are told,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p15">I. How the city received it. <i>Eli sat in
the gate</i> (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.13 Bible:1Sam.4.18" parsed="|1Sam|4|13|0|0;|1Sam|4|18|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:13,18"><i>v.</i> 13,
18</scripRef>), but the messenger was loth to tell him first, and
therefore passed him by, and told it in the city, with all the
aggravating circumstances; and now <i>both the ears of every one
that heard it tingled,</i> as was foretold, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.3.11" parsed="|1Sam|3|11|0|0" passage="1Sa 3:11"><i>ch.</i> iii. 11</scripRef>. Their hearts trembled,
and every face gathered blackness. <i>All the city cried out</i>
(<scripRef id="iSam.v-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.13" parsed="|1Sam|4|13|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), and well
they might, for, besides that this was a calamity to all Israel, it
was a particular loss to Shiloh, and the ruin of that place; for,
though the ark was soon rescued out of the hands of the
Philistines, yet it never returned to Shiloh again; their
candlestick was removed out of its place, because they had <i>left
their first love,</i> and their city dwindled, and sunk, and came
to nothing. Now God <i>forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,</i> they
having driven him from them; and the tribe of Ephraim, which had
for 340 years been blessed with the presence of the ark in it, lost
the honour (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.60 Bible:Ps.78.67" parsed="|Ps|78|60|0|0;|Ps|78|67|0|0" passage="Ps 78:60,67">Ps. lxxviii. 60,
67</scripRef>), and, some time after, it was transferred to the
tribe of Judah, the <i>Mount Sion which he loved,</i> as it follows
there (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.68" parsed="|Ps|78|68|0|0" passage="Ps 78:68"><i>v.</i> 68</scripRef>),
because the men of Shiloh knew not <i>the day of their
visitation.</i> This abandoning of Shiloh Jerusalem is long
afterwards reminded of, and told to take warning by. <scripRef id="iSam.v-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.12" parsed="|Jer|7|12|0|0" passage="Jer 7:12">Jer. vii. 12</scripRef>, "<i>Go see what I did
to Shiloh.</i> From this day, this fatal day, let the desolations
of Shiloh be dated." They had therefore reason enough to cry out
when they heard that the ark was taken.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p16">II. What a fatal blow it was to old Eli.
Let us see, 1. With what fear he expected the tidings. Though old,
and blind, and heavy, yet he could not keep his chamber when he was
sensible the glory of Israel lay at stake, but placed himself by
the way-side, to receive the first intelligence; for <i>his heart
trembled for the ark of God,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.v-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.13" parsed="|1Sam|4|13|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. His careful thoughts
represented to him what a dishonour it would be to God, and what an
irreparable loss to Israel, if the ark should fall into the
Philistines' hands, with what profane triumphs the tidings would be
told in Gath and published in the streets of Ashkelon. He also
apprehended what imminent danger there was of it. Israel had
forfeited the ark (his own sons especially) and the Philistines
would aim at it; and now the threatening comes to his mind, that he
should <i>see an enemy in God's habitation</i> (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.32" parsed="|1Sam|2|32|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:32"><i>ch.</i> ii. 32</scripRef>); and perhaps his own heart
reproached him for not using his authority to prevent the carrying
of the ark into the camp. All these things made him tremble. Note,
All good men lay the interests of God's church nearer their hearts
than any secular interest or concern of their own, and cannot but
be in pain and fear for them if at any time they are in peril. How
can we be easy if the ark be not safe? 2. With what grief he
received the tidings. Though he could not see, he could hear the
<i>tumult</i> and <i>crying of the city,</i> and perceived it to be
the voice of lamentation, and mourning, and woe; like a careful
magistrate, he asks, <i>What means the noise of this tumult?</i>
<scripRef id="iSam.v-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.14" parsed="|1Sam|4|14|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. He is told
there is an express come from the army, who relates the story to
him very distinctly, and with great confidence, having himself been
an eye-witness of it, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.16-1Sam.4.17" parsed="|1Sam|4|16|4|17" passage="1Sa 4:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16,
17</scripRef>. The account of the defeat of the army, and the
slaughter of a great number of the soldiers, was very grievous to
him as a judge; the tidings of the death of his two sons, of whom
he had been so indulgent, and who, he had reason to fear, died
impenitent, touched him in a tender part as a father; yet it was
not for these that his heart trembled: there is a greater concern
upon his spirit, which swallows up the less; he does not interrupt
the narrative with any passionate lamentations for his sons, like
David for Absalom, but waits for the end of the story, not doubting
but that the messenger, being an Israelite, would, without being
asked, say something of the ark; and if he could but have said,
"Yet the ark of God is safe, and we are bringing that home," his
joy for that would have overcome his grief for all the other
disasters, and have made him easy; but, when the messenger
concludes his story with, <i>The ark of God is taken,</i> he is
struck to the heart, his spirits fail, and, it should seem, he
swooned away, fell off his seat, and partly with the fainting, and
partly with the fall, he died immediately, and never spoke a word
more. His heart was broken first, and then his neck. So fell the
high priest and judge of Israel, so fell his heavy head when he had
lived within two of 100 years, so fell the crown from his head when
he had judged Israel about forty years: thus did his sun set under
a cloud, thus were the folly and wickedness of those sons of his,
whom he had indulged, his ruin at last. Thus does God sometimes set
marks of his displeasure in this life upon good men who have
misconducted themselves, that others may hear, and fear, and take
warning. A man may die miserably and yet not die eternally, may
come to an untimely end and yet the end be peace. Dr. Lightfoot
observes that Eli died the death of an unredeemed ass, whose neck
was to be broken, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.13.13" parsed="|Exod|13|13|0|0" passage="Ex 13:13">Exod. xiii.
13</scripRef>. Yet we must observe, to Eli's praise, that it was
the loss of the ark that was his death, not the slaughter of his
sons. He does, in effect, say, "Let me fall with the ark, for what
pious Israelite can live with any comfort when God's ordinances are
removed?" Farewell all in this world, even life itself, if the ark
be gone.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iSam.v-p0.5" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.19-1Sam.4.22" parsed="|1Sam|4|19|4|22" passage="1Sa 4:19-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Sam.4.19-1Sam.4.22">
<h4 id="iSam.v-p16.7">The Death of Phinehas' Wife. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.v-p16.8">b. c.</span> 1120.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iSam.v-p17">19 And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was
with child, <i>near</i> to be delivered: and when she heard the
tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law
and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her
pains came upon her.   20 And about the time of her death the
women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born
a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard <i>it.</i>
  21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is
departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because
of her father in law and her husband.   22 And she said, The
glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p18">We have here another melancholy story, that
carries on the desolations of Eli's house, and the sorrowful
feeling which the tidings of the ark's captivity excited. It is
concerning the wife of Phinehas, one of those ungracious sons of
Eli that had brought all this mischief on Israel. It cost her her
life, though young, as well as that of her father-in-law, that was
old; for many a green head, as well as many a hoary head, has been
brought by sorrow to the grave: it worketh death. By what is here
related of her it appears,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p19">I. That she was a woman of a very tender
spirit. Providence so ordered it that, just at this time, she was
near her time; and our Saviour hath said, <i>Woe to those that are
with child,</i> or <i>give suck,</i> in such days as these,
<scripRef id="iSam.v-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.19" parsed="|Matt|24|19|0|0" passage="Mt 24:19">Matt. xxiv. 19</scripRef>. So little
joy will there then be in the birth, even of a man-child, that it
will be said, <i>Blessed are the wombs that bear not,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.v-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.23.29" parsed="|Luke|23|29|0|0" passage="Lu 23:29">Luke xxiii. 29</scripRef>. The amazing news
coming at this unhappy juncture, it put her into labour, as great
frights or other strong passions sometimes do. When she heard of
the death of her father-in-law whom she reverenced, and her husband
whom, bad as he was, she loved, but especially of the loss of the
ark, <i>she travailed, for her pains came</i> thickly <i>upon
her</i> (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.19" parsed="|1Sam|4|19|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), and
the tidings so seized her spirits, at a time when they needed all
possible supports, that, though she had strength to bear the child,
she, soon after, fainted and died away, being very willing to let
life go when she had lost the greatest comforts of her life. Those
who are drawing near to that trying hour have need to treasure up
for themselves comforts from the covenant of grace, to balance, not
only the usual sorrows, but any thing extraordinary that may add to
the grief which they do not foresee. Faith, at such a time, will
keep from fainting, <scripRef id="iSam.v-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.27.13" parsed="|Ps|27|13|0|0" passage="Ps 27:13">Ps. xxvii.
13</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p20">II. That she was a woman of a very gracious
spirit though matched to a wicked husband. Her concern for the
death of her husband and father-in-law was an evidence of her
natural affection; but her much greater concern for the loss of the
ark was an evidence of her pious and devout affection to God and
sacred things. The former helped to hasten her travail, but it
appears by her dying words that the latter lay nearer her heart
(<scripRef id="iSam.v-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.22" parsed="|1Sam|4|22|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): <i>She
said, The glory has departed from Israel,</i> not lamenting so much
the sinking of that particular family to which she was related as
the general calamity of Israel in the captivity of the ark. This,
this was it that was her grief, that was her death.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p21">1. This made her regardless of her child.
The women that attended her, who it is likely were some of the
first rank in the city, encouraged her, and, thinking that the
concern was mostly about the issue of her pains, when the child was
born, <i>said unto her, Fear not,</i> now the worst is past, <i>for
thou has borne a son</i> (and perhaps it was her first-born),
<i>but she answered not, neither did she regard it.</i> The sorrows
of her travail, if she had no other, would have been <i>forgotten,
for joy that a man-child was born into the world.</i> <scripRef id="iSam.v-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:John.16.21" parsed="|John|16|21|0|0" passage="Joh 16:21">John xvi. 21</scripRef>. But what is that joy,
(1.) To one that feels herself dying? No joy but that which is
spiritual and divine will stand us in any stead then. Death is too
serious a thing to admit the relish of any earthly joy; it is all
flat and sapless then. (2.) What is it to one that is lamenting the
loss of the ark? Small comfort could she have of a child born in
Israel, in Shiloh, when the ark is lost, and is a prisoner in the
land of the Philistines. What pleasure can we take in our
creature-comforts and enjoyments if we want God's word and
ordinances, especially if we want the comfort of his gracious
presence and the light of his countenance? <i>As vinegar upon
nitre, so is he that sings songs</i> so such <i>heavy
hearts.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.v-p22">2. This made her give her child a name
which should perpetuate the remembrance of the calamity and her
sense of it. She has nothing to say to the child, only it being her
province, now that her husband was dead, to name the child, she
orders them to call it <i>I-chabod,</i> that is, <i>Where is the
glory?</i> Or, <i>Alas for the glory!</i> or, <i>There is no
glory</i> (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.21" parsed="|1Sam|4|21|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>),
which she thus explains with her dying lips (<scripRef id="iSam.v-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.4.22" parsed="|1Sam|4|22|0|0" passage="1Sa 4:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): "<i>The glory has departed
from Israel; for the ark of God is taken.</i> Call the child
inglorious, for so he is; the beauty of Israel is lost, and there
appears no hope of ever retrieving it; never let the name of an
Israelite, must less a priest, carry glory in it any more, now that
the ark is taken." Note, (1.) The purity and plenty of God's
ordinances, and the tokens of his presence in them, are the glory
of any people, much more so than their wealth, and trade, and
interest, among the nations. 2. Nothing is more cutting, more
killing, to a faithful Israelite, than the want and loss of these.
If God go, the glory goes, and all good goes. Woe unto us if he
depart!</p>
</div></div2>