KJV 12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. 13 And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. 14 And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, 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, What is there done, my son?
The New Jerusalem Bible
4:12 A Benjaminite ran from the battle-line and reached Shiloh the same day, his clothes torn and dust on his head. These are my thoughts, please share yours.
12 King Saul was from the same tribe as this man. Those of Benjamin may have been more proud of Saul being king because of him being from there tribe. Shiloh was where the priests were at this time, where the tabernacle was. Tearing clothes was a sign of desperate grief and mourning.
13 The ark symbolized God’s presence, Eli being the priest knew that it was important for the ark to go into war with them but also as important the ark return.
14 This man had to break the bad news to Eli, this was a big defeat for Israel but the Lord would use it to bring David to the throne.
15 Eli was old and because of this he could not see, this was very common for those of age to lose their sight it was seen as a sign that their life was coming to an end.
16 Eli should have known by the way this man was acting that it did not go well but the better question would have been how bad did it go. |
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Clark,
At this time in Israel's history (1 Sam. 4) they did not have a king (at least a human one). They would ask for a king later (1 Sam. 8-10), so they could be like all the other nations, and at that time Saul is selected.
Lord Bless,
LT
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