Moses sent those 12,000 men to war. He sent Phineas, the son of Eleazar the priest, with them. Phineas took the holy things and the horns and trumpets with him.
Uriah said to David, “The Holy Box [64] and the soldiers of Israel and Judah are staying in tents. My lord Joab, and my lord’s (King David’s) officers are camping out in the field. So it is not right for me to go home to drink, and sleep with my wife.”
But the people did not believe Moses. They went toward the high hill country. But Moses and the Box of the Lord’s Agreement [187] did not go with the people.
So the people of Israel sent some men to talk to the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. The leader of these men was Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest.
The Benjamite man answered, “Israel ran away from the Philistines. The Israelite army has lost many soldiers. Your two sons are both dead. And the Philistines took God’s Holy Box. [48] ”