Study Desk

Sh'mu'el kept growing, Adonai was with him, and he let none of his words fall to the ground.

The P'lishtim fought, Isra'el was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. It was a terrible slaughter — 30,000 of Isra'el's foot soldiers fell.

One of the soldiers, a man from Binyamin, ran and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and earth on his head [as a sign of mourning].

As he arrived, ‘Eli was sitting on his seat by the road, watching; because he was trembling with anxiety over the ark of God. When the man entered the city and told the news, the whole city began crying out.

‘Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed, because he was blind.

As soon as he mentioned what had happened to the ark of God, ‘Eli fell backward off his seat next to the gate, broke his neck and died; for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Isra'el forty years.

His daughter-in-law, Pinchas's wife, was pregnant and near delivery-time. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into abnormal labor, bent over and gave birth.

But early the next morning, when the people of Ashdod got up, there was Dagon, fallen down with his face to the ground before the ark of Adonai . They took Dagon and set him in his place again;

but early the following morning, when they got up, Dagon was again fallen down with his face to the ground before the ark of Adonai ; this time, the head of Dagon and both hands lay there, severed, on the threshold; all that was left of Dagon was his torso.

This is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and those entering his temple never walk on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod.

Why be obstinate like the Egyptians and Pharaoh were? When he had done his work among them, didn't they let the people go? — and they left.

but watch to see if it goes up the road to Beit-Shemesh in its own territory. If it does, he is responsible for this great tragedy; if not, we will know that it is not his oppression which has been over us, but that what has been happening to us has been only by chance."

So the men of Kiryat-Ye‘arim came and brought back the ark of Adonai . They took it to the home of Avinadav on the hill and appointed his son El‘azar to guard the ark of Adonai .

Then he would return to Ramah, because that's where his home was, and he would judge Isra'el there too. He also built an altar there to Adonai .

When Sh'mu'el grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Isra'el.

His firstborn was named Yo'el, while his second son was named Aviyah; they were judges in Be'er-Sheva.

However, his sons did not follow his way of life; they turned off it to pursue riches, so that they would take bribes to distort justice.

He said, "Here is the kind of rulings your king will make: he will draft your sons and assign them to take care of his chariots, be his horsemen and be bodyguards running ahead of his chariots.

He will appoint them to serve him as officers in charge of a thousand or of fifty, plowing his fields, gathering his harvest, and making his weapons and the equipment for his chariots.

He will expropriate your fields, vineyards and olive groves — the very best of them! — and hand them over to his servants.