Bible Strands
1 Samuel 4:12
That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A Benjamite messenger runs from the battlefield to Shiloh on the same day the ark of God is captured and Eli’s sons die.
The words — וַיָּרָץ (va/yā-rāṣ) = and he ran; שִׁלֹה (Shiloh) = Shiloh.
The thread — Torn clothes and dust on the head function as established mourning gestures in Joshua 7:6, 2 Samuel 1:2, and 2 Samuel 15:32.
Why it lands — The verse records a physical act of urgent flight paired with a cultural marker of grief to communicate the immediate reality of catastrophic loss.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Joshua 7:6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.
- 2 Samuel 1:2 On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage.
- 2 Samuel 15:32 When David came to the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head.
- Nehemiah 9:1 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.
- Job 2:12 When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.
- 2 Samuel 13:19 And Tamar put ashes on her head and tore her robe. And putting her hand on her head, she went away crying aloud.