10 So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated , and every man fled to his tent ; and the slaughter was very great , for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers .

Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 4:10

Commentary on 1 Samuel 4:10-11

(Read 1 Samuel 4:10-11)

The taking of the ark was a great judgment upon Israel, and a certain token of God's displeasure. Let none think to shelter themselves from the wrath of God, under the cloak of outward profession.