1 Samuel5
English Standard Version
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1 When the the of , they it from to .
2 Then the the of and it into the of and .
3 And when the people of the , , had downward on the the of the Lord. So they and in his .
4 But when they on the , behold, had downward on the the of the Lord, and the of and his were lying on the . Only the trunk of was to him.
5 This is the of and who the of do not on the of in to this .
6 The of the Lord was against the people of , and he and them with , and its .
7 And when the of how , they , The of the of must not with us, for his is against us and against our .
8 So they and gathered the of the and , shall we with the of the of ? They , Let the of the of be to . So they the of the of .
9 But they had brought it , the of the Lord was against the , causing a , and he the of the , and , so that on them.
10 So they the of to . But as soon as the of to , the people of , They have to us the of the of to us and our .
11 They therefore and gathered the of the and , Send the of the of , and let it to its own , that it may not us and our . For there was a throughout the . The of was .
12 The who did not were with , and the of the to .
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1 Samuel 5Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 1 Samuel 5. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Dagon is broken before the ark. (1–5). The Philistine smitten. (6–12).
vv1-5
See the ark's triumph over Dagon. Thus the kingdom of Satan will certainly fall before the kingdom of Christ, error before truth, profaneness before godliness, and corruption before grace in the hearts of the faithful. When the interests of religion seem to be ready to sink, even then we may be confident that the day of their triumph will come. When Christ, the true Ark of the covenant, really enters the heart of fallen man, which is indeed Satan's temple, all idols will fall, every endeavour to set them up again will be vain, sin will be forsaken, and unrighteous gain restored; the Lord will claim and possess the throne. But pride, self-love, and worldly lusts, though dethroned and crucified, still remain within us, like the stump of Dagon. Let us watch and pray that they may not prevail. Let us seek to have them more entirely destroyed.
vv6-12
The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Philistines; he not only convinced them of their folly, but severely chastised their insolence. Yet they would not renounce Dagon; and instead of seeking God's mercy, they desired to get clear of his ark. Carnal hearts, when they smart under the judgments of God, would rather, if it were possible, put him far from them, than enter into covenant or communion with him, and seek him for their friend. But their devices to escape the Divine judgments only increase them. Those that fight against God will soon have enough of it.
Key Words
פְּלִשְׁתִּי: a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth
לָקַח: to take (in the widest variety of applications)
אָרוֹן: a box
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
אֶבֶן הָעֵזֶר: Eben-ha-Ezer, a place in Palestine
אַשְׁדּוֹד: Ashdod, a place in Palestine
בַּיִת: a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.)
דָּגוֹן: Dagon, a Philistine deity
יָצַג: to place permanently
Cross References
1 Samuel 5Explicit fulfillment of the covenant curse of botches/emerods threatened for disobedience.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Explicitly censures those who leap or tread on the threshold, a superstition originating here.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Poetic description of God smiting His enemies in the hinder parts with emerods.
Supported by JFB
Establishes Dagon as the premier god of the Philistines, previously credited with defeating Samson.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels God executing judgment against foreign gods (Dagon) just as He did in Egypt.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
The great cry going up to heaven echoes the plague of Egypt's midnight cry.
Prophetic parallel of the idols of Egypt trembling and falling before the presence of the Lord.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Prophetic parallel of Babylonia's idols (Bel and Merodach) being broken and confounded.
Mockery of helpless idols that have hands but cannot handle, mirroring Dagon's severed hands.
Geographical connection tracing the ark's journey from Eben-ezer, where Israel was defeated.
Supported by Matthew Poole