1 Samuel 6
6
The Ark Returned to Israel
1Now the ark of the Lord had been in the country of the Philistines for seven months. 2And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners (seers), saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Let us know how we can send it back to its place.” 3They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty [without a gift]; but be sure to return [it] to Him [together with] a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.” 4Then they said, “What shall the guilt offering be which we shall return to Him?” They answered, “#6:4 It was customary in some ancient cultures to make replicas of injured or diseased body parts as offerings to gods for healing. These were called votive offerings. Moreover, worshipers of pagan gods often were not adverse to acknowledging the existence of other, powerful gods outside their own cultures, and in this case the exploits of the God who was inflicting their punishment were already well known (v 6).Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords (governors) of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5So you shall make replicas of your tumors and of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand [of judgment] on you and your gods and your land. 6Why then do you harden your hearts [allowing pride to cause your downfall] just as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them and mocked them, did they not allow the people [of Israel] to go, and they departed? 7Now then, make a new cart and prepare two #6:7 Here this refers to cows still nursing their calves.milk cows on which a yoke has never been placed; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves back home, away from them. 8Then take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a guilt offering in a box beside it. Then send it away [without a driver]. 9But watch, #6:9 The nature of the milk cows would be to turn back toward their calves, not proceed forward, as they did, toward Beth-shemesh.if it goes up by the way of its own territory to #6:9 A town belonging to the tribe of the sons of Judah.Beth-shemesh, then [you will know that] He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; this disaster happened to us by chance.”
10And the men did so, and took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and corralled their calves at home. 11They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the box containing the golden mice and the replicas of their tumors. 12And the cows went straight toward Beth-shemesh along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn away to the right or the left. And the Philistine lords (governors) followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
13Now the men of Beth-shemesh were gathering their wheat harvest in the valley, and they looked up and saw the ark and rejoiced to see it. 14The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A large stone was there; and the men split up the wood of the cart [for firewood] and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15The Levites had taken down the ark of the Lord and the box beside it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices that day to the Lord. 16When the five lords of the Philistines saw what happened, they returned to Ekron that day.
17These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath and one for Ekron [the five chief cities of the Philistines]; 18also the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and [unwalled] country villages. The large stone on which the Levites set the ark of the Lord remains a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.
19The Lord struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck down 50,070 men among the people, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. 20The men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?” 21So they sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.”
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1 Samuel 6
6
The Return of the Ark
1When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory for seven months, 2the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners#Gn 41:8; Ex 7:11; Is 2:6 and pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”
3They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, do not send it without an offering.#Dt 16:16 Send back a guilt offering to him,#Lv 5:15–16 and you will be healed. Then the reason his hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.”#6:3 DSS, LXX read healed, and an atonement shall be made for you. Shouldn’t his hand be removed from you?”
4They asked, “What guilt offering should we send back to him?”
And they answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice#1Sm 5:6,9,12; 6:17 corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers,#Jos 13:3; Jdg 3:3; 1Sm 6:17–18 since there was one plague for both you#6:4 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read them and your rulers. 5Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land. Give glory to Israel’s God,#Jos 7:19; Is 42:2 and perhaps he will stop oppressing you,#6:5 Lit will lighten the heaviness of his hand from you#1Sm 5:6,11 your gods, and your land.#1Sm 5:3–4,7 6Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs?#Ex 8:15,32; 9:34 When he afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left?#Ex 4:21; 12:31
7“Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked.#Nm 19:2 Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8Take the ark of the Lord, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending him as a guilt offering in a box#1Sm 6:4–5 beside the ark.#1Sm 6:3 Send it off and let it go its way. 9Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh,#Jos 15:10 it is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not his hand that punished#1Sm 6:3 us — it was just something that happened to us by chance.”
10The men did this: They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and confined their calves in the pen. 11Then they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh.#1Sm 6:9 They stayed on that one highway,#Nm 20:19 lowing as they went; they never strayed to the right or to the left. The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh.
13The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. 14The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.#1Kg 19:21 15The Levites#Nm 4:1–33 removed the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16When the five Philistine rulers#Jos 13:3 observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.
17As a guilt offering to the Lord, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city:#1Sm 6:4 Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages.#Dt 3:5 The large rock#6:18 Some Hb mss, LXX, Tg; other Hb mss read meadow#1Sm 6:14–15 on which the ark of the Lord was placed is still in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh today.
19God struck down the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord.#6:19 LXX reads But the sons of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the men of Beth-shemesh when they saw the ark of the Lord.#Nm 4:15–20; 2Sm 6:7 He struck down seventy persons.#6:19 Some Hb mss, Josephus; other Hb mss read 70 men, 50,000 men The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter. 20The people of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord this holy God?#Nm 17:13; Ps 76:7; Ezk 44:9–16 To whom should the ark go from here?”
21They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim,#Jos 9:17; 15:9,60 saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and get it.”#6:21 Lit and bring it up to you
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