So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.
Parallel translations
- WEB The Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter; for thirty thousand footmen of Israel fell.
- KJV And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
- BSB So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great—thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.
- NASB So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent; and the defeat was very great, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.
- NLT So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; 30,000 Israelite soldiers died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel is defeated with the loss of thirty thousand soldiers despite having the ark present. The ark could not save a people who did not truly trust and obey God.
Overview
The battle ends in catastrophic defeat, far worse than the first, exposing the folly of treating the ark as a guarantee of victory. God refused to be manipulated and let His own symbol fall to demonstrate that He honors faith, not superstition. This sobering loss underscores that genuine salvation is found only in trusting God Himself, supremely revealed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- 1 Sam 4:2The Philistines put themselves in array against Israel. When they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field.
- 2 Kgs 14:12Judah was defeated by Israel; and each man fled to his tent.
- Lev 26:17I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Deut 28:25Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Ps 78:60–64So that he abandoned the tent of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;
- 2 Sam 18:17They took Absalom and cast him into the great pit in the forest, and raised over him a very great heap of stones. Then all Israel fled, each to his own tent.
- 2 Sam 20:1There happened to be there a base fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet, and said, “We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, Israel!”
- 2 Chr 13:17Abijah and his people killed them with a great slaughter, so five hundred thousand chosen men of Israel fell down slain.
- 1 Kgs 22:36A cry went throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”
- 2 Chr 25:22Judah was defeated by Israel; and they every man fled to his tent.
- 2 Sam 18:7The people of Israel were struck there before David’s servants, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men.
- 1 Kgs 12:16When all Israel saw that the king didn’t listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, “What portion have we in David? We don’t have an inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, Israel! Now see to your own house, David.” So Israel departed to their tents.
- Ps 78:9The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
- Isa 10:3–6What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
- 2 Chr 28:5–6Therefore Yahweh his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria. They struck him, and carried away from him a great multitude of captives, and brought them to Damascus. He was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with a great slaughter.
- 2 Sam 19:8Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. They told to all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” All the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his tent.
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 4:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.