10 So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated , and every man fled to his tent ; and the slaughter was very great , for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers . 11 And the ark of God was taken ; and the two sons of Eli , Hophni and Phinehas , died .
12 Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and dust on his head .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 4:10-12
Commentary on 1 Samuel 4:10-11
(Read 1 Samuel 4:10-11)
The taking of the ark was a great judgment upon Israel, and a certain token of God's displeasure. Let none think to shelter themselves from the wrath of God, under the cloak of outward profession.
Commentary on 1 Samuel 4:12-18
(Read 1 Samuel 4:12-18)
The defeat of the army was very grievous to Eli as a judge; the tidings of the death of his two sons, to whom he had been so indulgent, and who, as he had reason to fear, died impenitent, touched him as a father; yet there was a greater concern on his spirit. And when the messenger concluded his story with, "The ark of God is taken," he is struck to the heart, and died immediately. A man may die miserably, yet not die eternally; may come to an untimely end, yet the end be peace.