Bible Strands
1 Samuel 4:16
“I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A fleeing messenger interrupts the ninety-eight-year-old, blind priest Eli to state his origin and escape immediately after the Israelite rout. Eli responds by pressing for the specific details of the disaster.
The words — The term הַ/מַּעֲרָכָ֔ה (ha./ma.'a.ra.Khah) specifies the “battle line” or military array, while אָֽנֹכִי֙ ('a.no.Khi) isolates the speaker as the sole survivor who has come from it.
The thread — The immediate reporting of a military rout to a senior leader appears in 2 Samuel 1:4, and the direct address to an elder figure mirrors the encounter structure in 1 Samuel 3:6.
Why it lands — The text records an unvarnished admission of flight before demanding the full casualty report, requiring the reader to face the abrupt collapse of priestly and national authority without narrative mitigation.
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 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?
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 1:4 “What was the outcome?” David asked. “Please tell me.” “The troops fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”
- Joshua 7:19 So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”
- 1 Samuel 3:6 Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.” “My son, I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.”