Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Samuel 4
Albert Barnes Commentary
1 Samuel 4
Albert Barnes Commentary
1 Samuel 4
"And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek." — 1 Samuel 4:1 (ASV)
Some attach the opening words of the chapter to the end of 1 Samuel 3:21, as the complement to what is said there: The Lord revealed himself to Samuel ... in Shiloh, and the word of Samuel went forth to all Israel. If placed at the beginning of 1 Samuel 4 and connected with what follows, these words are to be understood as meaning that Samuel called all Israel to battle against the Philistines (compare to 1 Samuel 7:5). But this is not the natural interpretation of the words, which seem to belong to what came before.
The mention of the Philistines connects this narrative with Judges 13–16. The Philistine servitude lasted for forty years (Judges 13:1) and seems to have ended during Samuel's time (1 Samuel 7:13–14), around the twentieth year of his judgeship (1 Samuel 7:2). This servitude had already begun before the birth of Samson (Judges 13:5), and Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines (Judges 15:20). Therefore, it seems to follow that the latter part of Eli’s judgeship and the early part of Samuel’s must have coincided with the lifetime of Samson.
Eben-ezer (or, the stone of help) is a name the place was later given by Samuel; see the cross-references. "Aphek," or the "fortress," was probably the same as the "Aphek" of Joshua 12:18. It would be toward the western frontier of Judah, not very far from Mizpeh of Benjamin, and near Shiloh (1 Samuel 4:4).
"And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of Shiloh unto us, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies." — 1 Samuel 4:3 (ASV)
In the evening of the defeat of the Israelites, the elders held a council and resolved to send for the ark. The biblical text describes the ark in full, implying that in virtue of the covenant, God would have to give them the victory (Joshua 3:10).
"So the people sent to Shiloh; and they brought from thence the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of hosts, who sitteth [above] the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God." — 1 Samuel 4:4 (ASV)
The people sent - This expression is very indicative of the political state so frequently noted by the writer of the Book of Judges, In those days there was no king in Israel.
"And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of Jehovah was come into the camp." — 1 Samuel 4:6 (ASV)
Of the Hebrews - This was the name by which the Israelites were known to foreign nations (Exodus 2:6).
"Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? these are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all manner of plagues in the wilderness." — 1 Samuel 4:8 (ASV)
This is a remarkable testimony from the Philistines to the truth of the events recorded in the Pentateuch. They would naturally have heard of them, just as Balak and the people of Jericho did (Numbers 22:5; Joshua 2:10).
The phrase With all the plagues should be understood as “with every kind of plague,” which is equivalent to “with utter destruction.”
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