12 There ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn, and with earth on his head. 13 When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, “What does the noise of this tumult mean?”
The man hurried, and came and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see. 16 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?” 17 He who brought the news answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 It happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 4:12-18
Commentary on 1 Samuel 4:12-18
(Read 1 Samuel 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.