And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?

And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the army. And he said, How went the matter, my son?

And he said to Heli: I am he that came from the battle, and have fled out of the field this day. And he said to him: What is there done, my son?

And the man said to Eli, I am he that came out of the battle, and I have fled to-day out of the battle. And he said, What has taken place, my son?

And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. And he said, How went the matter, my son?

And the man saith unto Eli, 'I am he who hath come out of the ranks, and I out of the ranks have fled to-day;' and he saith, 'What hath been the matter, my son?'

And the man said to Eli, I have come from the army and have come in flight today from the fight. And he said, How did it go, my son?

And he said to Eli: "I am the one who came from the battle. And it is I who fled from the troops today." And he said to him, "What has happened, my son?"

And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army,.... It is very probable that the people Eli inquired of told him there was a messenger come from the army, though they did not choose to relate to him the news he brought:
and I fled today out of the army; so that as he was an eyewitness of what was done in the army, the account he brought was the earliest that could be had, in bringing which he had made great dispatch, having ran perhaps all the way:
and he said, what is there done, my son? has a battle been fought? on which side is the victory? is Israel beaten, or have they conquered? how do things go? he uses the kind and tender appellation, my son, to engage him to tell him all freely and openly.

When the messenger informed him of the defeat of the Israelites, the death of his sons, and the capture of the ark, at the last news Eli fell back from his seat by the side of the gate, and broke his neck, and died. The loss of the ark was to him the most dreadful of all - more dreadful than the death of his two sons. Eli had judged Israel forty years. The reading twenty in the Septuagint does not deserve the slightest notice, if only because it is perfectly incredible that Eli should have been appointed judge of the nation in his seventy-eight year.