1 Samuel 5
5
Capture of the Ark Provokes God
1Then the Philistines took the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to #5:1 One of the five major Philistine cities.Ashdod. 2They took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it beside [the image of] Dagon [their chief idol]. 3When the people of Ashdod got up early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place. 4But when they got up early the next morning, behold, Dagon had [again] fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and his head and both palms of his hands were [lying] cut off on the threshold; only the trunk [portion] of [the idol of] Dagon was left on him. 5This is the reason neither the priests of Dagon nor any who enter Dagon’s house step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
6Then the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He caused them to be dumbfounded and struck them with #5:6 It is possible that this was a type of bubonic plague or infection spread by rats (or fleas hosted by rats), as intimated in 6:4f.tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 7When the men of Ashdod saw what had happened, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” 8So they sent word and gathered all the lords (governors) of the Philistines to them and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to #5:8 Gath was another major Philistine city and the home of their giant warrior, Goliath. Faced with the humiliation of surrendering the ark to Israel, the Philistine governors decided instead to treat it like a dangerous “hot potato” and simply get rid of it by sending it to another city.Gath.” So they took the ark of the God of Israel there. 9But it happened that after they had taken it to Gath, the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing an extremely great panic [because of the deaths from the plague], for He struck the people of the city, both young and old, and tumors broke out on them. 10So they sent the ark of God to #5:10 A major Philistine city north of Ashdod and near the territory of Israel.Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel [from Gath] to #5:10 Lit me.us, to kill us and #5:10 Lit my.our people.” 11So they sent word and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel; let it be returned to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly panic throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy (severe) there. 12The men who had not died were stricken with tumors and the cry of the city [for help] went up to heaven.
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1 Samuel 5
5
The Ark in Philistia
1After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2They brought it into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon. 3Early the next day the people of Ashdod saw that Dagon had fallen forward on the ground in front of the Lord’s ark. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4But the next morning they saw that Dagon had ⌞again⌟ fallen forward on the ground in front of the Lord’s ark. Dagon’s head and his two hands were cut off ⌞and were lying⌟ on the temple’s threshold. The rest of Dagon’s body was intact.#5:4 Greek; Masoretic Text “Only Dagon was left.” 5This is why the priests of Dagon and everyone else who comes into Dagon’s temple in Ashdod still don’t step on the temple’s threshold.
6The Lord dealt harshly with the people of Ashdod. He destroyed them by striking the people in the vicinity of Ashdod with tumors. 7When the people of Ashdod realized what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not stay with us, because their God is dealing harshly with us and our god Dagon.” 8The people of Ashdod called together all the Philistine rulers. “What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” they asked.
“The ark of the God of Israel must be taken to Gath,” the rulers said.#5:8 Dead Sea Scrolls, Greek read “The citizens of Gath said, ‘Let the ark of God be brought to us.’ ” So the people took the ark of the God of Israel there.
9But after they had moved it,#5:9 Dead Sea Scrolls add “to Gath.” the Lord threw the city into a great panic: He struck all the important and unimportant people in the city, and they were covered with tumors. 10So the people of Gath sent the ark of God to Ekron. But when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They brought the ark of the God of Israel here to kill us.” 11They called together all the Philistine rulers. “Send the ark of the God of Israel away,” they said. “Let it go back to its own place so that it won’t kill us or our people.” There was a fear of death throughout the city, where God dealt ⌞with them⌟ very harshly. 12The people who didn’t die were struck with tumors. So the cry of the city went up to heaven.
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