4:12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes {f} rent, and with earth upon his head.
(f) In token of sorrow and mourning.
4:12-18 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 an untimely end, yet the end be peace.
