His word. These three verses form the transition from the call of Samuel to the following account of his prophetic labours in Israel. At the close of 1Sa 3:21, the lxx have appended a general remark concerning Eli and his sons, which, regarded as a deduction from the context, answers no doubt to the paraphrastic treatment of our book in that version, but in a critical aspect is utterly worthless. War with the Philistines. Loss of the Ark.
Chap. 4
Death of Eli and His Sons - 1 Samuel 4
At Samuel's word, the Israelites attacked the Philistines, and were beaten (1Sa 4:1, 1Sa 4:2). They then fetched the ark of the covenant into the camp according to the advice of the elders, that they might thereby make sure of the help of the almighty covenant God; but in the engagement which followed they suffered a still greater defeat, in which Eli's sons fell and the ark was taken by the Philistines (1Sa 4:3-11). The aged Eli, terrified at such a loss, fell from his seat and broke his neck (1Sa 4:12-18); and his daughter-in-law was taken in labour, and died after giving birth to a son (1Sa 4:19-22). With these occurrences the judgment began to burst upon the house of Eli. But the disastrous result of the war was also to be a source of deep humiliation to all the Israelites. Not only were the people to learn that the Lord had departed from them, but Samuel also was to make the discovery that the deliverance of Israel from the oppression and dominion of its foes was absolutely impossible without its inward conversion to its God.
Verses 1-2
The two clauses, “The word of Samuel came to all Israel,” and “Israel went out,” etc., are to be logically connected together in the following sense: “At the word or instigation of Samuel, Israel went out against the Philistines to battle.” The Philistines were ruling over Israel at that time. This is evident, apart from our previous remarks concerning the connection between the commencement of this book and the close of the book of Judges, from the simple fact that the land of Israel was the scene of the war, and that nothing is said about an invasion on the part of the Philistines. The Israelites encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines were encamped at Aphek. The name Ebenezer
