1 Samuel6
New International Version
1When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months,
2the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”
3They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.”
4The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?” They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers.
5Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land.
6Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?
7“Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.
8Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way,
9but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”
10So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves.
11They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors.
12Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
13Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight.
14The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.
15The Levites took down the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord.
16The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.
17These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the Lord—one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron.
18And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
19But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they looked into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them.
20And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”
21Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to your town.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 1 Samuel 6.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The Philistines consult how to send back the ark. (1–9). They bring it to Bethshemesh. (10–18). The people smitten for looking into the ark. (19–21).
vv1-9
Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the ark; so long it was a plague to them, because they would not send it home sooner. Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by refusing to part with their sins. The Israelites made no effort to recover the ark. Alas! where shall we find concern for religion prevail above all other matters? In times of public calamity we fear for ourselves, for our families, and for our country; but who cares for the ark of God? We are favoured with the gospel, but it is treated with neglect or contempt. We need not wonder if it should be taken from us; to many persons this, though the heavies of calamities, would occasion no grief. There are multitudes whom any profession would please as well as that of Christianity. But there are those who value the house, the word, and the ministry of God above their richest possessions, who dread the loss of these blessings more than death. How willing bad men are to shift off their convictions, and when they are in trouble, to believe it is a chance that happens; and that the rod has no voice which they should hear or heed!
vv10-18
These two kine knew their owner, their great Owner, whom Hophin and Phinehas knew not. God's providence takes notice even of brute creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. When the reapers saw the ark, they rejoiced; their joy for that was greater than the joy of harvest. The return of the ark, and the revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint and trouble, are matters of great joy.
vv19-21
It is a great affront to God, for vain men to pry into, and meddle with the secret things which belong not to them, De 29:29; Col 2:18. Man was ruined by desiring forbidden knowledge. God will not suffer his ark to be profaned. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Those that will not fear his goodness, and reverently use the tokens of his grace, shall be made to feel his justice. The number smitten is expressed in an unusual manner in the original, and it is probable that it means 1170. They desire to be rid of the ark. Foolish men run from one extreme to the other. They should rather have asked, How may we have peace with God, and recover his favor? Mic 6:6, 7. Thus, when the word of God works with terror on sinners' consciences, they, instead of taking the blame and shame to themselves, quarrel with the word, and put that from them. Many stifle their convictions, and put salvation away from them.
Key Words
אָרוֹן: a box
שָׂדֶה: a field (as flat)
פְּלִשְׁתִּי: a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth
שֶׁבַע: seven (as the sacred full one); also (adverbially) seven times; by implication, a week; by extension, an indefinite number
חֹדֶשׁ: the new moon; by implication, a month
קָרָא: to call out to (i.e. properly, address by name, but used in a wide variety of applications)
כֹּהֵן: literally one officiating, a priest; also (by courtesy) an acting priest (although a layman)
קָסַם: properly, to distribute, i.e. determine by lot or magical scroll; by implication, to divine
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
Cross References
1 Samuel 6The historical parallel of a pagan power forced to let Israel go after severe judgments.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
David later imitates the Philistines' error of using a new cart instead of Levites' shoulders.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Explicit Mosaic prohibition against looking at or touching the holy things on pain of death.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Identifies Beth-shemesh as a designated city of the priests in the territory of Judah.
Supported by JFB
Warns against prying into secret, unrevealed things of God, relevant to Beth-shemesh's curiosity.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The continuation of the narrative where the ark is successfully retrieved and brought to Kirjath-jearim.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Illuminates pagan and Jewish anxiety on how to properly approach and appease an offended God.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The Mosaic law's requirement of a trespass offering to make atonement for unintentional sacrilege.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Condemns intruding into things not seen, matching the Beth-shemites' profane curiosity into the ark.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The biblical principle that one must not appear before the Lord empty-handed.
Supported by Matthew Poole
God executing judgment against pagan deities, paralleling the fall of Dagon and Philistine gods.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Giving glory to God by confessing sin and acknowledging His righteous judgments.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Requirement of sacrificial beasts on which no yoke has ever come, showing sacred devotion.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The parallel judgment on Uzzah for touching the ark irreverently, showing God's severe holiness.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel where wood of agricultural implements is chopped up for an emergency sacrificial fire.
Supported by Matthew Poole