1 Samuel 6
6
Philistines Send the Ark Back
1After the ark of Adonai had been in the country of the Philistines seven months,
2the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners saying, “What should we do with the ark of Adonai? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”
3So they said, “If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel back, do not send it empty. For you must surely return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will be revealed to you why His hand has not been removed from you.”
4“What guilt offering should we return to Him?” they asked. So they said, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice—according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on each of you and on your lords.
5So you will make images of your tumors and images of your mice that mar the land, and you must give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps He will lighten His hand off of you, your gods and your land.
6Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He afflicted them, didn’t they send them away so they left?
7Now therefore get a new cart ready, two milk cows on which there has never been a yoke, hitch the cows to the cart, and return their calves home, away from them.
8Then take the ark of Adonai and place it on the cart; also put the golden objects that you return to Him as a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it off so it may go.
9Then watch—if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then it was He who inflicted on us this great harm. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it just happened to us by chance.”
10So the people did so—they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.
11Then they placed the ark of Adonai on the cart together with the box, the golden mice, and the models of their tumors.
12So the cows took the way straight toward Beth-shemesh—they kept along the same highway, lowing as they went, and turned aside neither to the right nor to the left. The lords of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
13Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. When they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it.
14The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there, where there was a large stone. Then they chopped the wood of the cart and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to Adonai.
15The Levites took down the ark of Adonai and the box that was with it that contained the gold objects, and placed them on the large stone. Then the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrifices to Adonai that day.
16Now when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron that same day.
17So these are the golden tumors that the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to Adonai: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron.
18The golden mice also corresponded to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords—both the fortified cities and their country villages—as far as the large stone on which they had set down the ark of Adonai. It remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.
19Then He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had gazed into the ark of Adonai. He struck down the people—70 out of 50,000 men—the people mourned because Adonai had struck the people a great slaughter.
20So the men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before Adonai—this holy God? To whom should it go up from us?”
21So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of Adonai. Come down—bring it up to you.”
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1 Samuel 6: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
1 Samuel 6
6
The Return of the Ark
1When the ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines 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, you must not send it without an offering. # Dt 16:16 You must send back a restitution 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.” # DSS, LXX read healed, and an atonement shall be made for you. Shouldn’t His hand be removed from you?
4They asked, “What restitution 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 # 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, # 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 restitution 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 men 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 restitution 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 # Some Hb mss, DSS, LXX, Tg; other Hb mss read meadow # 1Sm 6:14-15 on which the ark of the Lord was placed is in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh to this day.
19God struck down the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. # 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 70 men out of 50,000 men. # Some Hb mss, Josephus read 70 men ; other Hb mss read 50,070 men The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter. 20The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of this holy Lord God? # Nm 17:13; Ps 76:7; Ezk 44:9-16 Who should the ark go to 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.” # Lit and bring it up to you
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