And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.

And the Philistines were afraid, saying: God is come into the camp. And sighing, they said:

And the Philistines are afraid, for they said, 'God hath come in unto the camp;' and they say, 'Woe to us, for there hath not been like this heretofore.

And the Philistines, full of fear, said, God has come into their tents. And they said, Trouble is ours! for never before has such a thing been seen.

The Philistines were afraid, for they said, 'Gods have come into the camp.' They said, 'Woe to us. For there has not been such a thing before.

And the Philistines were afraid, saying, "God has entered into the camp." And they groaned, saying:

God is come into the camp - They took for granted, as did the Israelites, that his presence was inseparable from his ark or shrine.

And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, (c) Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.
(c) Before we fought against men, and now God has come to fight against us.

And the Philistines were afraid,.... When the spies returned, and reported to them the reason of the shouting:
for they said, God is come into the camp; into the camp of Israel, because the ark represented him, and was the symbol of his presence; and these Heathens might take the ark itself for an idol of the Israelites; the Targum is,"the ark of God is come"
and they said, woe unto us; it is all over with us, destruction and ruin will be our case, victory will go on their side now their God is among them:
for there hath not been such a thing heretofore; if by this they meant that the ark had never been in the camp of Israel before, they were mistaken; and it is no great wonder they should, being not so well acquainted with the affairs of Israel, and their customs; or rather, it was not so yesterday, or three days ago, when they were defeated; there was no shouting then: or the state of the war is altered; before we fought with the men of Israel, but now we must fight with the God of Israel also.

Heretofore - Not in our times; for the fore - mentioned removals of the ark were before it came to Shiloh.