Eventually, the ark of God, which had been with the children of Israel for at least 400 years, was captured by the winning Philistines, indicating that the glory had departed from Israel (4:9-22). From that time the ark began to have a history within the history of Israel.
A short time after the children of Israel brought out the ark of God, they were defeated, and the ark was captured. Thirty thousand among Israel were killed, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were also killed. Eli probably had a kind of intuition concerning the ark of God. Instead of staying at home, he sat "on his seat by the roadside watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God" (v. 13a). When the news came that the ark of God had been captured, Eli fell backward, broke his neck, and died. Also, at that time Eli's daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, delivered her child and called him Ichabod, which means "No glory." Then she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been taken" (v. 22). Because the ark of Jehovah had been captured, the glory had departed from Israel.
These events must have made a deep impression upon the young Samuel. During the night he might have thought about them, saying, "Here I am in the tabernacle, and the center of the tabernacle is the ark. Today the elders brought out the ark, but Eli, under whose custody I am, was not at peace. His heart was trembling as he was waiting for news. When the news came about what happened to the ark and to Hophni and Phinehas, Eli fell backward and died. His daughter-in-law also died as she was giving birth to her child. Before she died, she named her boy Ichabod." I believe that Samuel, a very thoughtful boy, considered the significance of all these things.
Having been captured, the ark suffered removal to three places among the Philistines, consecutively; and Jehovah dealt with them heavily for the protection of His ark (5:1-12). For God to protect His ark meant that He was protecting His holiness.
First, Jehovah dealt with the Philistines by damaging their god Dagon, which means "the fish-god" (vv. 1-5). After the Philistines brought the ark to Ashdod, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it next to Dagon (v. 2). Early the next day, the Ashdodites found Dagon "fallen on his face to the ground, before the ark of Jehovah" (v. 3a). They put Dagon back in his place, but "when they arose early in the morning of the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face to the ground, before the ark of Jehovah. And Dagon's head and the palms of his hands were cut off, lying on the threshold; only Dagon's trunk was left to him" (v. 4).
Second, Jehovah dealt with the Philistines by striking them with tumors (vv. 6-12). Verse 6 says, "The hand of Jehovah was heavy upon the Ashdodites, and He devastated them and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders." Eventually, the people of Ashdod said that the ark of the God of Israel could not stay with them, for His hand was hard on them and on Dagon their god (v. 7). The lords of the Philistines brought the ark to Gath, but "after they brought it there, the hand of Jehovah was against the city, causing great panic. And He struck the men of the city, from small to great; and they broke out with tumors" (v. 9). Then the ark was sent to Ekron. However, when the ark of God came there, the Ekronites cried out that the ark of the God of Israel had been brought to them in order to kill them. Thus, they told the princes of the Philistines to send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its place so that it would not kill them. "For the panic of death was throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there" (v. 11).