The Meaning of 1 Samuel 4:15 Explained

1 Samuel 4:15

KJV: Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.

YLT: And Eli is a son of ninety and eight years, and his eyes have stood, and he hath not been able to see.

Darby: Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, that he could not see.

ASV: Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now Eli  was ninety  and eight  years  old;  and his eyes  were dim,  that he could  not see. 

What does 1 Samuel 4:15 Mean?

Context Summary

1 Samuel 4:12-22 - The Glory Departed From Israel
Notwithstanding their high hopes, disaster again overtook the hosts of Israel. No symbols of God will help us, until we have put away our idols and laid our hearts bare before Him.
The bad news traveled quickly over the land and everywhere brought dismay. The death of Eli and that of his daughter-in-law were tragedies, but in each ease there was a beautiful touch of true devotion to God's holy cause. The old man succumbed only when the messenger told of the capture of the Ark; while the mother could not be rallied from her death-swoon, even by the cry of her child, because, with the Ark, the glory of her people had passed away. May we not all pray to be equally devoted to the cause of Jesus Christ, so that its victories or its delays may touch us to the quick? The glory of our lives, as of the Church, should ever consist in the possession, not of the symbol, but of the real presence of our Lord, recognized, revered, loved and enshrined in our tenderest emotions. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Samuel 4

1  The Israelites are overcome by the Philistines at Ebenezer
3  They fetch the ark unto the terror of the Philistines
10  They are smitten again, the ark taken, and Hophni and Phinehas are slain
12  Eli at the news, falling backward, breaks his neck
19  Phinehas's wife, discouraged in her travail with Ichabod, dies

What do the individual words in 1 Samuel 4:15 mean?

And Eli was old ninety and eight years and his gaze was fixed that not he could see
וְעֵלִ֕י בֶּן־ תִּשְׁעִ֥ים וּשְׁמֹנֶ֖ה שָׁנָ֑ה וְעֵינָ֣יו קָ֔מָה וְלֹ֥א יָכ֖וֹל לִרְאֽוֹת

וְעֵלִ֕י  And  Eli 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֵלִי  
Sense: descendant of Aaron through Ithamar and high priest and judge of Israel when Samuel entered service as a child.
בֶּן־  was  old 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
תִּשְׁעִ֥ים  ninety 
Parse: Number, common plural
Root: תִּשְׁעִים  
Sense: ninety.
וּשְׁמֹנֶ֖ה  and  eight 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, feminine singular
Root: שְׁמֹנֶה  
Sense: eight, eighth.
שָׁנָ֑ה  years 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
וְעֵינָ֣יו  and  his  gaze 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, cdc, third person masculine singular
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
קָ֔מָה  was  fixed 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.
וְלֹ֥א  that  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יָכ֖וֹל  he  could 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָכֹל  
Sense: to prevail, overcome, endure, have power, be able.
לִרְאֽוֹת  see 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.

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