Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 4:7

"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." — 1 Samuel 4:7 (ASV)

God is come into the camp. —The joy manifested by the Israelites at the arrival of the Ark from the sanctuary made the Philistines suspect that their enemies’ God was now present with the defeated army.

The city of Aphek, near which the camp of Israel was pitched, was close to the western entrance of the Pass of Beth-horon. The two defeats of Israel are termed in this Commentary the Battles of Aphek. The name of Eben-ezer, by which the scene was known in later days, was only given to the locality some twenty years later, on the occasion of the victory of Samuel near the same spot.

Philistines and Israelites, then, were equally superstitious in their belief, both supposing that Deity was in some way connected with the lifeless gold and wood of the symbol Ark and Cherubim.

But the Philistines had some excuse for their fears. Tradition was, no doubt, current among the old inhabitants of Canaan that this sacred Ark had been carried before the conquering armies of Israel in many a battle and siege in those days long past, when the strange shepherd hordes under Joshua had first invaded and taken possession of their beautiful land. The next verse explains more clearly some of the reasons for their fear.