1 Samuel 4:16
 1 Samuel 4:16 
New International Version (©2011)
He told Eli, "I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day." Eli asked, "What happened, my son?"

New Living Translation (©2007)
He said to Eli, "I have just come from the battlefield--I was there this very day." "What happened, my son?" Eli demanded.

English Standard Version (©2001)
And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did it go, my son?”

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
The man said to Eli, "I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today." And he said, "How did things go, my son?"

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
The man said to Eli, "I'm the one who came from the battle. I fled from there today." "What happened, my son?" Eli asked.

International Standard Version (©2012)
The man told Eli, "I've just come from the battle line, and I escaped from the battle today." He asked, "What happened, my son?"

NET Bible (©2006)
The man said to Eli, "I am the one who came from the battle lines! Just today I fled from the battle lines!" Eli asked, "How did things go, my son?"

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
The man told Eli, "I'm the one who came from the battle. I fled from the front line today." "What happened, son?" Eli asked.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?

American King James Version
And the man said to Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?

American Standard Version
And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the army. And he said, How went the matter, my son?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to Heli: I am he that came from the battle, and have fled out of the field this day. And he said to him: What is there done, my son?

Darby Bible Translation
And the man said to Eli, I am he that came out of the battle, and I have fled to-day out of the battle. And he said, What has taken place, my son?

English Revised Version
And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. And he said, How went the matter, my son?

Webster's Bible Translation
And the man said to Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?

World English Bible
The man said to Eli, "I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army." He said, "How did the matter go, my son?"

Young's Literal Translation
And the man saith unto Eli, 'I am he who hath come out of the ranks, and I out of the ranks have fled to-day;' and he saith, 'What hath been the matter, my son?'

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

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.


Pulpit Commentary

Verses 16, 17. - What is there done, my son? Literally, What is the thing? Or, as the phrase is translated in 2 Samuel 1:4, "How went the matter?" Eli must have gathered from the words of the messenger that Israel had been defeated; for he expressly says, I fled, and his haste, as testified by the added words today, showed that the defeat was a severe one. Eli, therefore, anxiously asks what has happened, and the answer piles misery upon misery, rapidly heaping together four crushing catastrophes. For Israel had fled before the Philistines; there had been a great slaughter; among the slain were Eli's two sons; and, worst of all, the ark of God was taken.


Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army,.... It is very probable that the people Eli inquired of told him there was a messenger come from the army, though they did not choose to relate to him the news he brought:

and I fled today out of the army; so that as he was an eyewitness of what was done in the army, the account he brought was the earliest that could be had, in bringing which he had made great dispatch, having ran perhaps all the way:

and he said, what is there done, my son? has a battle been fought? on which side is the victory? is Israel beaten, or have they conquered? how do things go? he uses the kind and tender appellation, my son, to engage him to tell him all freely and openly.


1 Samuel 4:16 Parallel Commentaries

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The Death of Eli
15Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. 16And the man said to Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? 17And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. …

1 Samuel 4:17 The man who brought the news replied, "Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured."
2 Samuel 1:4 "What happened?" David asked. "Tell me." "The men fled from the battle," he replied. "Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead."