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
God’s chest is returned
1The LORD’s chest was in Philistine territory for seven months. 2The Philistines called for the priests and the diviners. “What should we do with the LORD’s chest?” they asked. “Tell us how we should send it back to its own home.”
3They replied, “If you are returning the chest of Israel’s God, don’t send it back empty, but be sure to return a guilt offering to him.#6.3 Or be sure to return it with a compensation offering. Then you will be healed, and it will become clear to you why God’s hand hasn’t left you alone.”
4“What compensation offering should we return to him?” they asked.
The priests and diviners replied: “Five gold tumors#6.4 Kethib; Qere hemorrhoids (cf Deut 28:27); also in 6:5; see note at 6:11. and five gold mice,#6.4 LXX lacks and five gold mice. matching the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague came on all of you and your rulers. 5You must make images of your tumors and the mice that have devastated the land. Honor Israel’s God. Perhaps he will lighten the weight of his hand on you, your gods, and your land. 6Why be stubborn like the Egyptians and Pharaoh? After God had dealt harshly with them, didn’t they send the Israelites on their way? 7So get a new cart ready along with two nursing cows that have never been yoked before. Harness the cows to the cart, but take any of their calves that are following back home. 8Next, take the LORD’s chest and put it in the cart. Set the gold items that you are giving God as a compensation offering in a box next to the chest. Then send it on its way. 9Then watch what happens: If the cart goes up the road to its own territory toward Beth-shemesh, then Israel’s God has brought this great disaster on us. If the cart goes another way, then we’ll know that it wasn’t God’s hand that struck us. It happened to us randomly.”
10The rulers#6.10 See 6:12; MT men. did just that. They took two nursing cows and harnessed them to the cart, penning their calves up at home. 11They put the LORD’s chest on the cart along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors.#6.11 Or hemorrhoids; also in 6:17, the Qere form for the Hebrew written form of tumors used in 6:4-5 12The cows went straight ahead, following the road to Beth-shemesh. They kept to one route, mooing as they went, without turning right or left. The Philistine rulers followed them as far as the territory of Beth-shemesh.
13Now the people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the chest, they were overjoyed at the sight. 14The cart entered the field belonging to Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped right by a large stone. They chopped up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as an entirely burned offering to the LORD. 15The Levites unloaded the LORD’s chest and the box that was with it that contained all the gold items, and they set them on the large stone. That very day the people of Beth-shemesh offered entirely burned offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. 16When the five Philistine rulers witnessed this, they went straight back to Ekron.
17These are the gold tumors that the Philistines returned as a compensation offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron. 18The gold mice matched the number of Philistine cities belonging to the five rulers, from fortified cities to country villages. And the large stone#6.18 LXX they set the LORD’s chest on is a witness even now in the field that belongs to Joshua of Beth-shemesh.
19But God struck down some of the people from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the LORD’s chest. God struck seventy people,#6.19 LXX; MT adds fifty thousand people. and the community grieved because the LORD had struck them so severely. 20The people of Beth-shemesh said, “Who can stand before the LORD, this holy God? Where can he go that is away from us here?” 21They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim. “The Philistines returned the LORD’s chest!” they said. “Come down and take it back with you.”
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