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Passage Research

1 Samuel 4 — Sermon Preparation

Below is a research summary for 1 Samuel 4, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.

22
verses
370 / 153
Hebrew words / lemmas
11
classic sermon excerpts
4
preachers & commentators

1 Samuel 4 in the Hebrew

Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.

Hebrew Transliteration Strong's Count Glosses
אָרוֹן ʼârôwn H727 12 box
פְּלִשְׁתִּי Pᵉlishtîy H6430 10 Pelishtite
עֵלִי ʻÊlîy H5941 7 Eli
מַעֲרָכָה maʻărâkâh H4634 4 arrangement, pile
פִּינְחָס Pîynᵉchâç H6372 4 Pinechas
מַחֲנֶה machăneh H4264 5 encampment, army
לָקַח lâqach H3947 6 take

How preachers through history handled this text

11 public-domain excerpts on 1 Samuel 4, from the church fathers to the Puritans.

Matthew Henry 5 Alexander MacLaren 3 Spurgeon 2 John Wesley 1

“The wife of Phinehas seems to have been a person of piety. Her dying regret was for the loss of the ark, and the departure of the glory from Israel. What is any earthly joy to her that feels herself dying? No joy but that which is spiritual and divine, will stand in any stead then; death is too serious a thing to admit the relish of any earthly joy. What is it to one that is lamenting the loss of the ark? What pleasure can we take in our creature comforts and enjoyments, if we want God's word and ordinances; …”

— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on 1 Samuel 4:19–30 (Public Domain)

Places in the text

Based on ancient-geography data

  • Aphek 2 — 1 Sam 4:1
  • Ebenezer 1 — 1 Sam 4:1
  • Shiloh — 1 Sam 4:12

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