1 Samuel 4:15

1 Samuel 4:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.
• New International Version (NIV)who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see.

Context of 1 Samuel 4:15

13Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town. 14“What is all the noise about?” Eli asked. The messenger rushed over to Eli, who was ninety-eight years old and blind. 16He said to Eli, “I have just come from the battlefield—I was there this very day.” “What happened, my son?” Eli demanded. 17“Israel has been defeated by the Philistines,” the messenger replied. “The people have been slaughtered, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also killed. And the Ark of God has been captured.”

1 Samuel 4:15 word by word

וְעֵלִ֕י בֶּן־תִּשְׁעִ֥ים וּשְׁמֹנֶ֖ה שָׁנָ֑ה וְעֵינָ֣יו קָ֔מָה וְלֹ֥א יָכ֖וֹל לִרְאֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Now Eliעֵלִי‛êlîy · EliH5941
• was ninetyתִּשְׁעִיםtish‛îym · ninetyH8673
• and eightשְׁמֹנֶהshemôneh shemôneh shemônâh shemônâh · eightH8083
• yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
• oldבֵּןbên · son: agedH1121
• and his eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• were dimקוּםqûm · to arise: establishH6965
• that he couldיָכֹלyâkôl yâkôl · be ableH3201
• not seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 4:15

• 1 Samuel 3:2One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed.
• Psalms 90:10Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away.
• Genesis 27:1One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, “My son.” “Yes, Father?” Esau replied.

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 4:15

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Dim - Rather, “set.” The word is quite different from that so rendered in 1 Samuel 3:2. The phrase seems to express the “fixed” state of the blind eye, which is not affected by the light. Eli‘s blindness, while it made him alive to sounds, prevented his seeing the ripped garments and dust-besprinkled head of the messenger of bad news.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-18Verses 12-18 The defeat of the army was very grievous to Eli as a judge; the tidings of the death of his two sons, to whom he had been so indulgent, and who, as he had reason to fear, died impenitent, touched him as a father; yet there was a greater concern on his spirit. And when the messenger concluded his story with, "The ark of God is taken," he is struck to the heart, and died immediately. A man may die miserably, yet not die eternally; may come to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15could not see: See 1 Samuel 3:2 and study note on 1 Samuel 3:2.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1813-18. Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside--The aged priest, as a public magistrate, used, in dispensing justice, to seat himself daily in a spacious recess at the entrance gate of the city. In his intense anxiety to learn the issue of the battle, he took up his usual place as the most convenient for meeting with passers-by. His seat was an official chair, similar to those of the ancient Egyptian judges, richly carved, superbly ornamented, high, and…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Samuel 4:15

• Ark
• Blindness
• Eli
• Judgments
• Longevity
• Parents

In the dictionaries

• Blind
• Eli
• Glory
• Mean
• Pain
• Philistines
• Tabernacle
• Tumult
• Ark of the Covenant
• Blindness

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings