1 Samuel 4:19 Commentary and Bible Study

The wife of Phinehas, one of Eli's sons, now dead, is expecting a child, and she goes into labour with the shock of the news, and she names the child, Ichabod – the glory is departed from Israel. But these are her reasons: because ‘the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead.’ Some people say she was a gracious lady. She was very concerned that the glory of God was withdrawn from Israel. But it's equally possible she was a very earthly lady, superstitious. For the ark to be gone: that meant all was surely lost, and, of course, her hope was in her husband wicked as he was, and in Eli who proved a failure for years. Those were the things she placed her hopes in. Tragic event! The poor lady could have no joy in the birth of a son. So sad because she was putting her trust in things that had failed, and in the ark of the covenant only in terms of it being a charm or a god, not the true God who dwelt with it. When you take all those things together, you can see the poor lady doesn't seem to have any spiritual values, just like the masses in Israel at that time. It was the loss that really meant so much to her, the loss of near royalty in her case, the loss of her family, and life was just now not worth living. She can have no joy. She is crushed. But she was wrong. The glory was not departed from Israel. The nation was coming into a period of discipline for its idolatry, but if they turned back to God he would bless them again, as he did under David.