When the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has Yahweh struck us today before the Philistines? Let us get the ark of the covenant of Yahweh out of Shiloh to us, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies.
Eli must have realized that the death of his two sons in battle fulfilled God’s previously announced judgment, but he seems to have been more shocked at the capture of the ark. He died that day (12-18). So too did Eli’s daughter-in-law, who was also shocked at the capture of the ark. God had surely departed from Israel (19-22).