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1 Samuel 4 Bible study: The glory has departed
Eli fell not when he heard his two sons were dead, but "When he made mention of God’s ark" (4:18). And Ichabod's mother, told the ark was taken and her husband dead, gave only one reason in her own words: "The glory has departed from Israel; for God’s ark has been taken" (4:22).
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“She said, “The glory has departed from Israel; for God’s ark has been taken.””
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Eli fell from his seat when the messenger mentioned God's ark, which came after the news that his sons were dead.”
Is that in 1 Samuel 4, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
"Let's get the ark"
"The word of Samuel came to all Israel" (4:1), and then the book doesn't name Samuel again until 7:3. "Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek" (4:1). The chapter doesn't say where the battle itself was fought, only that "Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field" (4:2) (tap defeated). Back in the camp the elders asked, "Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?" (4:3). The chapter records no answer. Their next words are a plan: "Let’s get the ark of the LORD’s covenant out of Shiloh and bring it to us, that it may come among us and save us out of the hand of our enemies" (4:3) (tap ark). They brought "the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Armies, who sits above the cherubim" (4:4) (tap cherubim), and with it came "the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas" (4:4).
Where it leads to Jesus
Not one stone on another
1 Samuel 4:3leads toLuke 21:6
The elders sent for the ark "that it may come among us and save us out of the hand of our enemies" (4:3), and "God’s ark was taken" (4:11). As some were talking about the temple "and how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts" (Luke 21:5), Jesus said, "As for these things which you see, the days will come in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down" (Luke 21:6). No New Testament passage cites 1 Samuel 4, so setting the two side by side is a reading. Some read Jesus' words beside the lesson the LORD drew from Shiloh through Jeremiah: "I will do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust… as I did to Shiloh" (Jeremiah 7:14). Others keep to Luke's own setting, Jesus' word about the temple his hearers were admiring, which they then asked about: "Teacher, so when will these things be?" (Luke 21:7), and see no reference to the ark in it.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 1 Samuel 4
That was a taste
The rest of 1 Samuel 4 is waiting in Favor
- The shout, and "Woe to us!"
- Eli by the road
- Ichabod
- The word against Eli's house, kept
- Shiloh, remembered
- Ebenezer, twice
- 9 questions as you read
- 11 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach 1 Samuel 4 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
כָּבוֹדkavodsay ka-VOD
Strong's: "properly, weight, but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness", and "from 3513", the verb kaved. Brown-Driver-Briggs: "abundance, honour, glory". "The glory has departed from Israel!" (4:21), and again, "The glory has departed from Israel; for God’s ark has been taken" (4:22). The word comes four times in 1 Samuel: Hannah prayed that the needy would "inherit the throne of glory" (2:8); here twice; and in 6:5 the priests and diviners the Philistines called (6:2) tell them to "give glory to the God of Israel". Exodus used it for the LORD's glory: "the LORD’s glory filled the tabernacle" (Exodus 40:34).
For your group
1 Samuel 4 Bible study questions
- 1The elders asked, "Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?" (4:3), and then sent for the ark. When something goes wrong for you, what do you reach for first?
- 2Eli sat by the road, "for his heart trembled for God’s ark" (4:13). What do you care about most for God's sake, and what would it do to you to lose it?
- 3"The glory has departed from Israel" (4:22). Have you ever felt that God was far off? What helped, or what would help, you keep going?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 1 Samuel 4 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home