Bible Strands
1 Samuel 4:21
And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband had been killed.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The dying mother addresses the attending women while naming her newborn son. She speaks at the moment of her death, reporting that the ark of God has been captured and her father-in-law and husband have been killed.
The words — The name Ichabod fuses אִֽי־ (ʾî-) meaning "no" or "without" with כָבוֹד (kᵉḇôḏ) meaning "glory." The verb גָּלָ֥ה (gālah) literally declares that glory "has gone into exile" from Israel.
The thread — The theme of departed glory appears in Psalm 78:61, which records God delivering His splendor to the adversary, and Psalm 26:8, which praises the house where His glory resides. Jeremiah 2:11 parallels this by noting that God's people exchange their Glory for worthless idols.
Why it lands — The text states that national catastrophe coincided with the loss of the ark and the death of key leaders. It requires the reader to acknowledge that covenant security rests on faithfulness to God, not on possessing sacred objects, and that disobedience triggers the withdrawal of divine presence.
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 she named the child I–chabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.
Cross-references
- Psalms 26:8 O LORD, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.
- Psalms 78:61 He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.
- Jeremiah 2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
- Psalms 78:64 His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.
- 1 Samuel 4:11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
- Hosea 9:12 Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them!
- Psalms 106:20 They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.