1 Samuel 4:11

The ark of God was taken. Speaking of this event, the psalmist says, “He forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, ... and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand. ... Their priests fell by the sword” (Ps. 78:60-64). Though Israel’s prospects for victory were superior to those of the enemy, and though they went into battle confident of victory, they failed so completely that every survivor fled, not to the camp, as in v. 3, but “into his tent.” The word for tent is ’ohel, meaning “dwelling,” “habitation,” and carries the thought that the defeat was so great that every man had to shift for his own safety, making his way home as best he could.

Hophni and Phinehas. Josephus says that Eli had at this time resigned his high priesthood in favor of Phinehas, but as the ark left Shiloh, he instructed his sons that “if they pretended to survive the taking of the ark, they should come no more into his presence” (Antiquities v. 11.2). Had the two young men been as zealous to follow the guidance of the Lord in days past as they were now to defend the material symbol of His presence before the enemy, the subsequent history of Israel might have been vastly different. They had refused God’s guidance again and again, and were now brought to realize that even life itself is dependent on a full surrender to Him. But they learned their lesson too late.