What does 1 Samuel 4:3 mean?

The Israelites have gone out to war. They oppose the Philistines, who are attempting to expand their territory into the Israelite-held hill country of Ephraim. The Philistines have apparently already had some success and forced some Israelites into servitude (1 Samuel 4:9). The first skirmish in this battle has not gone well, with the Philistines killing large numbers of Israelite soldiers in the region between Aphek and Ebenezer, on the western edge of the hill country.

Following the battle, the elders of Israel gather at the Israelite camp to talk strategy. The elders were a representative group of seventy older tribal leaders established by the Lord through Moses (Numbers 11:16–17). Though Eli was still the judge over Israel, this council of elders led the war effort against the Philistines. This may have been because Eli was ninety-eight years old at the time and blind (1 Samuel 4:15).

The elders correctly understand their defeat by the Philistines to be the work of the Lord, but they are baffled. Why would God do this to them? Why didn't He give them the victory as He had done in previous times? It does not apparently occur to them to stop and ask the Lord about this. There is no record of them praying or otherwise inquiring of God, nor of consulting Eli the priest and judge as to what should be done, nor even of wondering if they should. No call is made to abandon the worship of idols and other gods in Israel or to repent of sin, as Samuel will lead them to do twenty years later (1 Samuel 7:3–4).

Instead, the elders presume to access the Lord's power against their enemies without asking Him for help. In short, they will attempt to use God's ark as if it were merely some powerful religious artifact. They will have the ark of the covenant brought from Shiloh. Directly or directly, they seem to think they can force God to use His power to protect them and the ark from destruction. It is unclear whether they think the presence of the ark will manipulate God or whether they equate the ark itself with God's power and protection, not recognizing that God could never be confined to a physical object.