UTN uW Translation Notes:

1 Samuel 4 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter continues the first section of the book, chapters 1–7, which describe Samuel as a religious leader of Israel. It begins a story that provides background for how Samuel helped the Israelites genuinely worship Yahweh again. This chapter describes two battles that the Israelites fought against the Philistines. In both battles, Israel was badly defeated, and in the second battle, the Philistines captured the Box of the Covenant.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Why did the Israelites think they would defeat the Philistines if they brought the Box of the Covenant with them into battle?

In 4:3, the elders of Israel conclude that the Philistines were able to defeat them because they did not bring the Box of the Covenant with them into battle. So they decide to bring the Box into the next battle. They may have been remembering that whenever the Israelites moved to a new place while traveling through the wilderness, when the priests would pick up the Box and begin to carry it, Moses would say, “Rise up, Yahweh, and may your enemies be scattered, and may those who hate you flee from your face” (Numbers 10:35). The elders may also have been remembering how Yahweh had told them to carry the Box around the city of Jericho and how the walls of that city had collapsed, allowing the Israelites to conquer it (Joshua 5:6). The elders seem to believe mistakenly that the Box itself had power to help them. They say in 4:3 that “it will save us from the palm of our enemies.” However, in the next battle, the Philistines defeat them again and capture the Box. Samuel tells the people in 7:3 the real reason why Yahweh was allowing the Philistines to defeat them. He says, “If you are going to return to Yahweh with all your heart, remove the gods of the foreigner and the Ashtoreths from your midst. And make firm your heart to Yahweh, and serve him alone, then he will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.” It was superstition for the Israelites to believe that a physical symbol of Yahweh had the power to help them. What they really needed to do was become wholeheartedly devoted to Yahweh, as Samuel ultimately led them to do.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Why do the Philistines say that the Egyptians were struck with plagues “in the wilderness” (4:8)?

In 4:8 the Philistines say, in response to the Box of the Covenant arriving in the Israelite military camp, “These are they, the gods who struck the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness.” This is historically inaccurate, since the ten plagues all happened in the land of Egypt, before the Israelites left and traveled across the wilderness. But the author may wish to show that the Philistines did not have accurate knowledge of the Israelites. By quoting them as saying “gods,” he is showing that they did not know that the Israelites worshiped only the one true God, Yahweh. By quoting them further as saying that the plagues happened “in the wilderness,” he may be showing that the Philistines also did not know the precise details of what Yahweh had done for the Israelites. (They just knew enough to be very afraid of what the Box of the Covenant represented.) So these inaccurate details are part of the author’s characterization of the Philistines, and it would be appropriate to retain them in your translation.