Bible Strands
1 Samuel 4:6
On hearing the noise of the shout, the Philistines asked, “What is this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” And when they realized that the ark of the LORD had entered the camp,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Philistines hear the Israelites' massive shout upon the ark's arrival and ask what the noise signifies in the Hebrew camp. They pose this question at the precise moment they recognize the ark of the LORD has entered the encampment.
The words — קֹל הַתְּרוּעָה (kol hatru'ah) translates literally as "the sound of the shout," isolating the specific auditory event that triggers the Philistine inquiry. מֶה קֹל (meh kol) means "what [is] the sound," framing their reaction as a direct interrogation of the noise rather than an immediate conclusion.
The thread — This auditory confusion parallels Exodus 32:17, where Joshua misidentifies the camp's shouting as the sound of war. Both passages treat battlefield noise as a critical signal requiring urgent interpretation.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that physical phenomena in battle carry theological weight beyond immediate military assessment. It asks the reader to note how divine presence disrupts human expectations of combat before any outcome is known.
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 the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp.
Cross-references
- Exodus 32:17 When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “The sound of war is in the camp.”