1Sa 4:13 | KingComments | STEP | A man of Benjamin manages to escape. With great speed he reaches Shiloh. There Eli is sitting on his seat by the road. The messenger runs by Eli. This is not the man he thinks first of to bring his sad message. Apparently, Eli is not involved in what is happening in the lives of the people. The man of Benjamin brings his message to the city. His torn clothes are a sign of the torn and divided and scattered people. The earth on his head points to the humiliation of the people. His appearance indicates that he is a messenger with bad tidings. After the message there is a lot of crying in the whole city. All inhabitants will have family or friends in the army about whom they are in care. Especially the message about the ark will have landed hard. In any case, this is Eli’s greatest concern, greater than the concern for his sons. What would happen to his sons has been told to him ( ). Eli is blind, but not deaf. He cannot see the torn clothes and the earth on the head of the messenger, but he does hear the effect of the message. Although he does have an idea, he wants to know the right reason for the crying. Then the messenger also comes to Eli and tells him what happened. The report Eli gets is not from second hand, but from an eyewitness. Nor is it a report of an event in the far past, but of something that has happened this same day. In a friendly way Eli invites him to report. He uses the fatherly “my son”, so that the messenger will tell him everything that has happened, freely and openly, without omitting anything (cf. ). In his report, the messenger briefly and forcefully mentions four cases, of which each is more serious than the previous one: 1. Israel has fled before the enemies. The fact that Israel has had to turn his back on the enemies is proof of the presence of a great evil. It points to a serious deviation from the LORD, Who promised the opposite if the people were faithful. 2. There has been a great massacre among the people. They could also have been defeated without much loss. Of the combative men, however, there are not many left. 3. His two sons are dead. As a father, it will have affected him even more than the death of thirty thousand other people. Especially since there is little hope that they died in the peace of God. 4. The ark of God is captured. This is the most feared and most terrible message of all. Now God has left Israel and there is no hope for Israel to restore. Only when there is mention made of the capture of the ark, Eli falls off his chair and dies. No matter how weak he may have been in maintaining the rights of the LORD, there was with him sincere care for the symbol of God’s presence.

‏ 1 Samuel 4:13

Message of the Losses Suffered

A man of Benjamin manages to escape. With great speed he reaches Shiloh. There Eli is sitting on his seat by the road. The messenger runs by Eli. This is not the man he thinks first of to bring his sad message. Apparently, Eli is not involved in what is happening in the lives of the people. The man of Benjamin brings his message to the city. His torn clothes are a sign of the torn and divided and scattered people. The earth on his head points to the humiliation of the people. His appearance indicates that he is a messenger with bad tidings.

After the message there is a lot of crying in the whole city. All inhabitants will have family or friends in the army about whom they are in care. Especially the message about the ark will have landed hard. In any case, this is Eli’s greatest concern, greater than the concern for his sons. What would happen to his sons has been told to him (1Sam 2:34).

Eli is blind, but not deaf. He cannot see the torn clothes and the earth on the head of the messenger, but he does hear the effect of the message. Although he does have an idea, he wants to know the right reason for the crying. Then the messenger also comes to Eli and tells him what happened. The report Eli gets is not from second hand, but from an eyewitness. Nor is it a report of an event in the far past, but of something that has happened this same day.

In a friendly way Eli invites him to report. He uses the fatherly “my son”, so that the messenger will tell him everything that has happened, freely and openly, without omitting anything (cf. 1Sam 3:16-18).

In his report, the messenger briefly and forcefully mentions four cases, of which each is more serious than the previous one:

1. Israel has fled before the enemies. The fact that Israel has had to turn his back on the enemies is proof of the presence of a great evil. It points to a serious deviation from the LORD, Who promised the opposite if the people were faithful.

2. There has been a great massacre among the people. They could also have been defeated without much loss. Of the combative men, however, there are not many left.

3. His two sons are dead. As a father, it will have affected him even more than the death of thirty thousand other people. Especially since there is little hope that they died in the peace of God.

4. The ark of God is captured. This is the most feared and most terrible message of all. Now God has left Israel and there is no hope for Israel to restore.

Only when there is mention made of the capture of the ark, Eli falls off his chair and dies. No matter how weak he may have been in maintaining the rights of the LORD, there was with him sincere care for the symbol of God’s presence.