Study Desk

And Samuel's word came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer,^(a) and the Philistines at Aphek.^(b)

The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield.

When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why^(c) did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark^(d) of the Lord 's covenant from Shiloh,^(e) so that he may go with us^(f) and save us from the hand of our enemies."

So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim.^(g) And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

When the ark of the Lord 's covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout^(h) that the ground shook.

Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew⁽ⁱ⁾ camp?" When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp,

the Philistines were afraid.^(j) "A god has^[a] come into the camp," they said. "Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before.

We're doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck^(k) the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues^(l) in the wilderness.

Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they^(m) have been to you. Be men, and fight!"

So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated⁽ⁿ⁾ and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.

The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.^(o)

That same day a Benjamite^(p) ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust^(q) on his head.

When he arrived, there was Eli^(r) sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.

Eli heard the outcry and asked, "What is the meaning of this uproar?" The man hurried over to Eli,

who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes^(s) had failed so that he could not see.

He told Eli, "I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day." Eli asked, "What happened, my son?"

The man who brought the news replied, "Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead,^(t) and the ark of God has been captured."^(u)

When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led^[b](v) Israel forty years.^(w)

His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains.

As she was dying, the women attending her said, "Don't despair; you have given birth to a son." But she did not respond or pay any attention.

She named the boy Ichabod,^[c](x) saying, "The Glory^(y) has departed from Israel"—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.

She said, "The Glory^(z) has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured."^(aa)

The Ark in Ashdod and Ekron

After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer^(a) to Ashdod.^(b)

Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon.^(c)

When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen^(d) on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord ! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.

But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord ! His head and hands had been broken^(e) off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.

That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.^(f)

The Lord 's hand^(g) was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation^(h) on them and afflicted them with tumors.^[a](i)

When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god."

So they called together all the rulers^(j) of the Philistines and asked them, "What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?" They answered, "Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.^(k)" So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.

But after they had moved it, the Lord 's hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic.^(l) He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.^[b]

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.^(m) As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, "They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people."

So they called together all the rulers⁽ⁿ⁾ of the Philistines and said, "Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it^[c] will kill us and our people." For death had filled the city with panic; God's hand was very heavy on it.

Those who did not die^(o) were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.

The Ark Returned to Israel

When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months,

the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners^(a) and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord ? Tell us how we should send it back to its place."

They answered, "If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift;^(b) by all means send a guilt offering^(c) to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand^(d) has not been lifted from you."

The Philistines asked, "What guilt offering should we send to him?" They replied, "Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number^(e) of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague^(f) has struck both you and your rulers.

Make models of the tumors^(g) and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory^(h) to Israel's god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land.

Why do you harden⁽ⁱ⁾ your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel's god dealt harshly with them,^(j) did they^(k) not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

"Now then, get a new cart^(l) ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked.^(m) Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.

Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way,

but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh,⁽ⁿ⁾ then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance."

So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves.

They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors.

Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat^(o) in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight.

The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering^(p) to the Lord .

The Levites^(q) took down the ark of the Lord , together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock.^(r) On that day the people of Beth Shemesh^(s) offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord .

The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.

These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the Lord —one each^(t) for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron.

And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

But God struck down^(u) some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy^[a] of them to death because they looked^(v) into the ark of the Lord . The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them.

And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand^(w) in the presence of the Lord , this holy^(x) God? To whom will the ark go up from here?"

Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim,^(y) saying, "The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord . Come down and take it up to your town."

¹So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark^(a) of the Lord . They brought it to Abinadab's^(b) house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord .

The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim^(c) a long time—twenty years in all. Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord .^(d)

So Samuel said to all the Israelites, "If you are returning^(e) to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid^(f) yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths^(g) and commit^(h) yourselves to the Lord and serve him only,⁽ⁱ⁾ and he will deliver^(j) you out of the hand of the Philistines."

So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.

Then Samuel^(k) said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah,^(l) and I will intercede^(m) with the Lord for you."

When they had assembled at Mizpah,⁽ⁿ⁾ they drew water and poured^(o) it out before the Lord . On that day they fasted and there they confessed, "We have sinned against the Lord ." Now Samuel was serving as leader^[a](p) of Israel at Mizpah.

When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid^(q) because of the Philistines.

They said to Samuel, "Do not stop crying^(r) out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines."

Then Samuel^(s) took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord . He cried out to the Lord on Israel's behalf, and the Lord answered him.^(t)

While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered^(u) with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic^(v) that they were routed before the Israelites.

The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.

Then Samuel took a stone^(w) and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,^[b](x) saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us."

So the Philistines were subdued^(y) and they stopped invading Israel's territory. Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines.

The towns from Ekron^(z) to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.^(aa)

Samuel^(ab) continued as Israel's leader^(ac) all^(ad) the days of his life.

From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel^(ae) to Gilgal^(af) to Mizpah, judging^(ag) Israel in all those places.

But he always went back to Ramah,^(ah) where his home was, and there he also held court^(ai) for Israel. And he built an altar^(aj) there to the Lord .

Israel Asks for a King

When Samuel grew old, he appointed^(a) his sons as Israel's leaders.^[a]

The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah,^(b) and they served at Beersheba.^(c)

But his sons^(d) did not follow his ways. They turned aside^(e) after dishonest gain and accepted bribes^(f) and perverted^(g) justice.

So all the elders^(h) of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.⁽ⁱ⁾

They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king^(j) to lead^[b](k) us, such as all the other nations^(l) have."

But when they said, "Give us a king^(m) to lead us," this displeased⁽ⁿ⁾ Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord .

And the Lord told him: "Listen^(o) to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected,^(p) but they have rejected me as their king.^(q)

As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking^(r) me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.

Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know^(s) what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights."

Samuel told^(t) all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.

He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take^(u) your sons and make them serve^(v) with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.^(w)

Some he will assign to be commanders^(x) of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.

He will take the best of your^(y) fields and vineyards^(z) and olive groves and give them to his attendants.^(aa)

He will take a tenth^(ab) of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.

Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle^[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use.

He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.

When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer^(ac) you in that day.^(ad)"

But the people refused^(ae) to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want^(af) a king^(ag) over us.

Then we will be like all the other nations,^(ah) with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated^(ai) it before the Lord .

The Lord answered, "Listen^(aj) to them and give them a king." Then Samuel said to the Israelites, "Everyone go back to your own town."