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1 Samuel 4:17

HophniPhinehas
Grief

15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see.

16 “I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked.

The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

18 As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.

19 Now Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news of the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth, for her labor pains overtook her.

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Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
KJV
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.
WEB
He who brought the news answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and God’s ark has been captured.”
ASV
And he that brought the tidings 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.
DARBY
And the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has 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.
BLB
And the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the face of the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons are dead—Hophni and Phinehas—and the ark of God has been captured.”
ÅB
Den som kom med buskapet, svarte: Israel er flyktet for filistrene, og det har vært et stort mannefall blant folket; dine to sønner, Hofni og Pinehas, har og mistet livet, og Guds ark er tatt.
OTB
Budbringeren svarte: “Israel har flyktet for filisterne, og det har vært en stor slakt blant folket. Dine to sønner, Hofni og Pinehas, er døde, og Guds ark er tatt.”
B1930
Den som kom med buskapet, svarte: Israel er flyktet for filistrene, og det har vært et stort mannefall blandt folket; dine to sønner, Hofni og Pinehas, har og mistet livet, og Guds ark er tatt.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • 1 Samuel 3:11

    Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle.

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  • 1 Samuel 4:10–11

    So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great—thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.

    Read in context