1 Samuel 4:12-22 - Eli's Death And Ichabod's Birth

¹² A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran all the way from the battlefield to Shiloh and arrived there the same day. To show his grief he had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head. ¹³ Eli was very worried about the Ark of the Covenant. He sat besides the road staring. When the man spread the news throughout the town everyone cried out in fear.

¹⁴ Eli heard the noise and asked: What is all this noise about? The man hurried to Eli to tell him the news. ¹⁵ Eli was now ninety-eight years old and almost completely blind.

¹⁶ The man said: I have escaped from the battle and ran all the way here today. Eli asked him: What happened, my son?

¹⁷ The messenger answered: Israel ran away from the Philistines. It was a great slaughter and a terrible defeat for us! Besides that, your sons Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and God's Ark of the Covenant was captured! ¹⁸ When the man mentioned the Ark of God Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He was so old and fat that the fall broke his neck and he died. He was a leader in Israel for forty years.

¹⁹ Eli's daughter-in-law the wife of Phinehas was pregnant. It was almost time for her baby to be born. When she heard that God's Ark of the Covenant was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she suddenly went into labor and gave birth. ²⁰ She too was dying. The women helping her said: Do not be afraid. You have given birth to a son. But she did not answer or pay attention. ²¹ She called the boy Ichabod (No Glory), saying: Israel's glory is gone, because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and her husband died. ²² Israel's glory is gone because the Ark of God has been captured: she said.