When all the people of Israel in the valley saw that ⌞their army⌟ had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities. So the Philistines came to live in these cities.
When the messenger mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell from his chair backwards toward the gate. He broke his neck, and he died. (The man was old and heavy.) He had judged Israel for 40 years.
