Passage

1 Samuel 4.17

Book: 1 Samuel · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"15. Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see. 16. And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the army. And he said, How went the matter, my son?"

"17. 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."

"18. And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. 19. And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and brought forth; for her pains came upon her." (1 Samuel 4:15-19, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"15. Now Eli was ninety-eight years old. His eyes were set, so that he could not see. 16. The man said to Eli, “I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army.” He said, “How did the matter go, my son?”"

"17. 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.”"

"18. When he made mention of God’s ark, Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. 19. His daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to be delivered. When she heard the news that God’s ark was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth; for her pains came on her." (1 Samuel 4:15-19, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"15. Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. ^{were dim: Heb. stood} 16. And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? ^{is: Heb. is the thing}"

"17. 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."

"18. And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. 19. And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. ^{be delivered: or, cry out} ^{came: Heb. were turned}" (1 Samuel 4:15-19, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"15. And Eli is a son of ninety and eight years, and his eyes have stood, and he hath not been able to see. 16. And the man saith unto Eli, 'I [am] he who hath come out of the ranks, and I out of the ranks have fled to-day;' and he saith, 'What hath been the matter, my son?'"

"17. And he who is bearing tidings answereth and saith, 'Israel hath fled before the Philistines, and also a great slaughter hath been among the people, and also thy two sons have died, Hophni and Phinehas, and the ark of God hath been captured.'"

"18. And it cometh to pass, at his mentioning the ark of God, that he falleth from off the throne backward, by the side of the gate, and his neck is broken, and he dieth, for the man [is] old and heavy, and he hath judged Israel forty years. 19. And his daughter-in-law, wife of Phinehas, [is] pregnant, about to bear, and she heareth the report of the taking of the ark of God, that her father-in-law and her husband have died, and she boweth, and beareth, for her pains have turned upon her." (1 Samuel 4:15-19, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: the anonymous messenger to Eli; the narrator of 1 Samuel
Audience: the high priest Eli at Shiloh
Location: Shiloh, the central sanctuary
Time period: late period of the Judges, c. 1080-1050 BC

Theological reading

1 Samuel 4:17 is one of the rare OT deployments of basar in a bad-news register. The Hebrew uses the verb basar of the messenger who reports Israel's catastrophic defeat at the battle of Aphek-Ebenezer: Hophni and Phinehas dead, the ark of God captured, the army scattered. The verse confirms the lexical breadth of basar, the root names the act of bringing news, not the valence of the news. The bad-news basar-use is theologically poignant: the messenger announces the apparent rupture of the covenant (the ark-as-Presence has been taken by enemies), and Eli's collapse and death follow. The verse is part of the broader Ichabod-narrative (1 Sam 4:21, "the glory is departed from Israel"). For lexical study, 1 Sam 4:17 stands alongside 2 Samuel 4.10 and 2 Samuel 18.19-31 as the principal military-news deployments of basar, the background register against which the Isaianic good-news register develops.

Key words

H1319 - basar, basar, the rare bad-news use; the messenger brings catastrophic tidings

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.