In the days when Samuel was judge over Israel, the Philistine army encamped at Aphek, preparing for war. Seeing their foes massed against them, the Israelites made their camp by Eben-ezer and committed to the coming battle. Alas, the Philistines were too strong and the Israelites were smitten. Around four thousand men lost their lives on that field.

Returning to their camp in defeat, the elders of Israel pondered their loss. They questioned, “Why has Jehovah forsaken us to the Philistines?” In their desperation, they decided to fetch the ark of covenant from Shiloh, believing its presence would save them from their enemies.

Thus, they sent for the ark and from Shiloh it was brought. Hophni and Phinehas, sons of Eli, accompanied the holy artifact. As the ark entered the Israeli camp, the whole of Israel erupted in cheers and shouts of joy, so loud that the earth echoed their voices.

When the Philistines heard the great cry, they questioned its cause, “What means the loud shouts in the Hebrew camp?” Upon realizing that the ark, the symbol of Israel’s God, had been brought into the midst, fear spread within their ranks. “God is among them,” they said, recalling the stories of how the Lord smote the Egyptians with plagues. However, they summoned their courage and resolved, “Be strong and be men. Fight so we’re not servants to the Hebrews as they’ve been to us.”

The Philistines fought valiantly and, Israel was smitten again, thirty thousand footmen fell. Furthermore, the sons of Eli were slain, and the ark of God was taken.

A Benjaminite soldier who had fled from the battle ran to Shiloh to report the defeat. He arrived with torn clothes and earth upon his head, a grief-stricken sight. Eli, the priest, awaited news about the ark with anxiety. When he heard of the defeat, the deaths of his sons, and the capture of the ark, the grief was too much. He fell from his seat, breaking his neck in the fall, and he died.

Meanwhile, Phinehas’ wife who was expectant, went into labour upon hearing the tragic news. Despite the assurances of the attending women, she did not rejoice at the birth of her son. She named him Ichabod, declaring, “The glory is departed from Israel for the ark of God is taken.” Thus, even in the joy of birth, the shadow of loss loomed, for the glory had departed from Israel with the captured ark.