1 Samuel 4:16
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, What is there done, my son?
A messenger arrived at Shiloh from the battlefield to bring Eli news of Israel's flight and losses. He reported that Israel had fled, that Eli's sons had been killed, and that the ark of God had been taken. Eli could bear the defeat and the slaying of his guilty sons, which he had expected, receiving that part with some calm and endurance. But the news that the ark had been taken overwhelmed him with anguish that he could not bear.
His greater grief over the ark than over his vile, guilty sons showed that he loved purity and righteousness. He understood the capture to mean that his own sin had dishonored God and caused God to withdraw His presence from Israel. He knew that his neglect in failing to stand for the right and restrain wrong had at last deprived Israel of her strength and glory. The loss of the ark was Israel's great calamity, yet the ark was no guarantee of safety, for God permitted its capture to humble Israel and to show that trusting the symbol of His presence while profaning the commandments it contained is vain.
The shock brought the pallor of death upon his face, and he fell backward and died. The history belongs to the account of the sins of Eli's sons and the disaster that followed, showing that Eli's indulgence and excuses made him a participant in their guilt and brought ruin through his failure to restrain them. Eli was facing the judgment that followed his failure to rule well his own house and restrain his children, which means that a father who does not restrain ungodly, corrupt sons brings the frown of God upon himself, while his children become a proverb of reproach, exert a corrupting influence where they live, disgust unbelievers, and bring reproach upon the cause of truth.