Bible Strands
1 Samuel 4:14
Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” So the man hurried over and reported to Eli.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Eli, seated on his chair by the road while his heart trembles for the ark, hears a city-wide outcry and asks a fleeing messenger, “Why this commotion?” The messenger then hurries to Eli to deliver the report of Israel’s defeat.
The words — קֹל הַצְּעָקָה (kol ha-tse'aqah) literally renders “the sound of the outcry,” capturing the collective panic that fills the city as the messenger enters.
The thread — The phrase “sound of the outcry” (קֹל הַצְּעָקָה) appears in Joshua 6:5 and 7:10, consistently marking moments when Israel’s military or spiritual failure triggers national panic.
Why it lands — The text records a blind, elderly leader’s delayed response to a national catastrophe, requiring readers to confront how spiritual neglect and physical decline compound crisis.
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 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.