I Samuel 4:20 · Bible study
1 Samuel 4:20 Commentary: The Refusal to Be Comforted
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why did Phinehas' wife ignore her newborn?
Research Summary
- Meaning: Phinehas' wife is so overwhelmed by the capture of the ark that she ignores the news of her son's birth, showing that the loss of God's glory eclipses all earthly comfort.
- Key words: 'She did not answer' (עָנְתָה, 'anah), refused to speak; 'did not set her heart' (שָׁתָה לִבָּהּ, shat-libbah), would not consider the news.
- Main debate: Commentators agree on the interpretation; no significant disagreement exists.
- Theological theme: The glory of God is the source of all true joy; its loss devalues every other gift.
- Best use: To help believers recognize the priority of God's presence and to provide language for seasons of spiritual desolation.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
As she was dying, the women attending to her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay any heed.
WEB World English Bible 2000
About the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she didn’t answer, neither did she regard it.
KJV King James Version 1769
And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast brought forth a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And at the time of her death, when the women who are standing by her say, `Fear not, for a son thou hast borne,' she hath not answered, nor set her heart to it ;
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And as she was dying, the women that stood by her said, Fear not; for thou hast borne a son. But she did not answer, neither did she take it to heart.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And when she was upon the point of death, they that stood about her said to her: Fear not, for thou hast borne a son. She answered them not, nor gave heed to them.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y al tiempo que se moría, decíanle las que estaban junto á ella: No tengas temor, porque has parido un hijo. Mas ella no respondió, ni paró mientes.
E ao tempo em que morria, diziam-lhe as que estavam junto a ela: Não tenhas medo, porque deste à luz um filho. Mas ela não respondeu, nem deu atenção.
Comme elle allait mourir, les femmes qui étaient auprès d’ elle lui dirent: Ne crains point, car tu as enfanté un fils! Mais elle ne répondit pas et n’ y fit pas attention.
Und da sie jetzt starb, sprachen die Weiber, die neben ihr standen: Fürchte dich nicht, du hast einen jungen Sohn. Aber sie antwortete nicht und nahm' s auch nicht zu Herzen.
En omtrent den tijd van haar sterven, zo spraken de vrouwen, die bij haar stonden: Vrees niet, want gij hebt een zoon gebaard. Doch zij antwoordde niet, en nam het niet ter harte.
E nel punto che stava per morire, le donne che l’assistevano le dissero: “Non temere, poiché hai partorito un figliuolo”. Ma ella non rispose e non ne fece caso.
A gdy umierała, rzekły niewiasty, które były przy niej: Nie bój się, albowiemeś syna porodziła; ale ona nic nie odpowiedziała, ani tego przypuściła do serca swego.
И когда умирала она, стоявшие при ней женщины говорили ей: не бойся, ты родила сына. Но она не отвечала и не обращала внимания.
將要死 的時候，旁邊 站著 的婦人們對她 說：「不要 怕！ 你生了 男孩子了。」她卻不 回答，也不 放 在心上。
And when she was very near death the women who were with her said, Have no fear, for you have given birth to a son. But she made no answer and gave no attention to it.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · I Samuel 4:20
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Phinehas' wife refused the women's comfort not from ingratitude but because the capture of the ark eclipsed every earthly joy. Keil and Delitzsch note that her death itself was 'a subordinate matter' to the historian; the naming of Ichabod carries the weight. The Cambridge Bible observes that even a mother's greatest joy could not rouse her. Gill points out that she was 'on the borders of another world' and without relish for temporal things, yet also 'overcome with grief' over the ark. The Hebrew verbs underscore her complete disengagement: she did not answer (עָנְתָה) and she did not set her heart (שָׁתָה לִבָּהּ) to the news. Her silence is the narrator's indictment: when God's glory departs, even the arrival of a son means nothing.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: It is clear that Phinehas' wife was so overcome by the news of the ark's capture that she found no comfort in the birth of her son, naming him Ichabod to express that the glory had departed from Israel.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Reason for her refusal to be comforted | She was overwhelmed by grief over the ark's capture, not by physical pain or ingratitude. | None; all commentators affirm this reading. |
| The meaning of the name Ichabod | Ichabod means 'no glory' and refers to the departure of God's glory from Israel. | Some (Keil) see it as a temporary judgment; others (Cambridge) read it as the loss of the external symbol of the covenant, but not necessarily the end of God's relationship with Israel. |
| Comparison with Rachel's death in Genesis 35 | Both die in childbirth after receiving news, and both are comforted by the words 'Fear not, for you have borne a son.' | Rachel names her son Benoni ('son of my sorrow'), while Phinehas' wife names hers Ichabod ('no glory'). The difference highlights her focus on the national tragedy over personal loss. |
Historical & Cultural Context
This verse sits at the climax of Israel's catastrophic defeat by the Philistines. The ark of the covenant, the visible throne of Yahweh's presence among His people, had been captured. Eli the high priest had died upon hearing the news, and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were dead on the battlefield. Into this wreckage comes Phinehas' wife, unnamed in the text but described as near childbirth. The moment she hears the news she goes into labor, and the pains 'fell upon her' (literally 'turned against her'), indicating a mortal delivery.
Childbirth in ancient Israel was attended by midwives and women of the household, whose role included offering encouragement. Their phrase 'Fear not' echoes the words of the midwife to Rachel in Genesis 35:17. But here the comfort fails. The woman 'did not set her heart' to the news, a Hebrew idiom (שִׁית לֵב) for paying attention or taking something to heart, used elsewhere of God's works (Psalm 62:11). She does not even answer; the verb עָנְתָה implies speechless refusal. Her physical death and her spiritual numbness are fused: Wesley comments that 'death admits not the relish of any earthly joy' and that the loss of the ark had stripped everything of meaning.
The narrator is less interested in her death than in her last act: naming the child Ichabod ('no glory'). That name is her final testimony. The ark's capture was not merely a military loss; it signified the apparent withdrawal of the covenant God from Israel. The women's well-meaning words, 'you have borne a son', could not reach a heart that felt the glory of God had gone.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Masoretic Text is consistent across manuscripts. The Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate agree with the Hebrew in substance.
Reception History
Early Christian and Jewish interpreters focused on the narrative as evidence of divine judgment on Eli's house and the seriousness with which God treats the profaning of holy things. The Reformation commentators (Geneva Bible, Matthew Henry) drew pastoral lessons: the fleeting nature of earthly joys when spiritual blessings are withdrawn. In Puritan and pietist traditions, the name Ichabod became a shorthand for seasons of spiritual decline or sensed absence of God. Hymns from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries occasionally used 'Ichabod' to lament the loss of vital religion, though no specific hymn is cited in the sources. The verse is most often preached in contexts of national or ecclesial crisis, reminding hearers that the glory of God is more precious than any earthly gift.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The comfort that cannot reach the grieving heart. The women speak truth (a son is born) yet it falls flat. Grief over a deeper loss renders earthly good news powerless.
- The birth that brought no joy. Normally a son is a mother's joy (John 16:21). But here the joy is absent because the anchor of all joy, the presence of God, is missing.
- The name that spoke louder than the son. Her dying breath names the child Ichabod, shifting the focus from the baby to the glory that departed. The son becomes a living monument to loss.
Five-point outline
- The catastrophe, Israel routed, Eli dead, the ark captured, her husband dead.
- The well-meant consolation, the women's words recall Rachel's midwife, but this is no Rachel.
- The silent refusal, she does not answer or set her heart; Hebrew verbs show active disregard.
- The dying name, Ichabod: no glory. The child inherits a name that declares the nation's spiritual state.
- The theological verdict, when the glory departs, all other gifts lose their savor. True comfort comes only from the restored presence of God.
Illustration hooks
- A parent who has lost a child to illness finds hollow the congratulations of friends on a new baby. The old grief overshadows the new joy.
- A church that has gone through a painful split discovers that even a successful outreach event feels empty, the loss of unity has drained the life.
- A Christian who falls into serious sin and then prays, reads Scripture, goes to worship, but feels nothing, the sense of God's absence makes every religious act feel mechanical.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why do good things sometimes feel meaningless when I am hurting deeply?
- Is it wrong to refuse comfort? Is that a lack of faith?
- How can I know whether God's glory has departed from my life or whether I am just in a season of darkness?
Leading a Discussion
This verse confronts us with a grief so profound that even the news of a son could not penetrate. The woman's silence and her naming of Ichabod invite us to examine what we truly value. An honest look at what devastates us reveals what we worship.
Discussion questions
- What details does the narrator give about the situation before this verse? Why are they important?
- What do the attending women say to Phinehas' wife, and what is its intended effect?
- How does the Hebrew idiom 'did not set her heart' deepen our understanding of her response?
- Why does the capture of the ark overshadow the birth of a son? What does this say about the woman's priorities?
- In what situations have you felt that earthly joys could not reach you because of spiritual loss?
- How do we offer comfort to people who are grieving the absence of God's felt presence?
- Where does the rest of the biblical story, especially the coming of Christ, speak to the 'Ichabod' experience?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 35:17 | When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for now you will have another son.” |
| Genesis 35:18 | As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin. |
| Psalms 77:2 | In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t get tired. My soul refused to be comforted. |
| John 16:21 | A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke draws attention to the woman's deliberate silence when told she had given birth to a son. He observes that she paid no attention at all to that information, treating it as something she simply disregarded rather than acknowledged or responded to.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator highlights that the woman's grief over the capture of the Ark completely consumed her, so much so that even the birth of her son, usually a mother's greatest joy, could not break through her sorrow. The loss of the Ark mattered to her more than any personal happiness.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
And about the time of her death, the women that stoode about her, sayd vnto her, Feare not: for thou hast borne a sonne: but she answered not, nor regarded it.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that the woman's silence and indifference to the news of her son were not simply the result of her dying condition. Her deeper grief over
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch note that the historian treats the death of Phinehas's wife as secondary, focusing instead on her final words of grief over the lost ark. In naming her son Ichabod, meaning no glory, she declared that Israel's glory had departed because the ark was taken. To her, the capture of the ark appeared as if God had abandoned His covenant of grace.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange emphasizes that both Eli and Phinehas's wife die not from grief over their own family losses, but from consuming sorrow that the ark of God is taken. Their deepest mourning is for the loss of God's glory and presence from Israel, showing a piety centered entirely on God's honor rather than personal tragedy.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry draws attention to the tragic timing of Phinehas' wife's labor: the dreadful news of the ark's capture and her family's deaths itself brought on her pains. He notes that her sorrow was so profound that even the birth of a son, normally a joy, brought her no comfort, only the lament that glory had departed from Israel.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley contrasts the natural joy of a newborn with the emptiness of earthly pleasures at death. Only spiritual joy from God's presence and word can support a soul in that hour; everything else becomes flat and tasteless, even the loss of the ark itself.