11 So they sent H7971 and gathered together H622 all the lords H5633 of the Philistines, H6430 and said, H559 Send away H7971 the ark H727 of the God H430 of Israel, H3478 and let it go again H7725 to his own place, H4725 that it slay H4191 us not, and our people: H5971 for there was a deadly H4194 destruction H4103 throughout all the city; H5892 the hand H3027 of God H430 was very H3966 heavy H3513 there.
They sent H7971 therefore and gathered H622 all the lords H5633 of the Philistines H6430 unto them, and said, H559 What shall we do H6213 with the ark H727 of the God H430 of Israel? H3478 And they answered, H559 Let the ark H727 of the God H430 of Israel H3478 be carried about H5437 unto Gath. H1661 And they carried H5437 the ark H727 of the God H430 of Israel H3478 about H5437 thither. And it was so, that, after H310 they had carried it about, H5437 the hand H3027 of the LORD H3068 was against the city H5892 with a very H3966 great H1419 destruction: H4103 and he smote H5221 the men H582 of the city, H5892 both small H6996 and great, H1419 and they had emerods H2914 H6076 in their secret parts. H8368
Therefore shall all hands H3027 be faint, H7503 and every man's H582 heart H3824 shall melt: H4549 And they shall be afraid: H926 pangs H6735 and sorrows H2256 shall take hold H270 of them; they shall be in pain H2342 as a woman that travaileth: H3205 they shall be amazed H8539 one H376 at another; H7453 their faces H6440 shall be as flames. H3851 Behold, the day H3117 of the LORD H3068 cometh, H935 cruel H394 both with wrath H5678 and fierce H2740 anger, H639 to lay H7760 the land H776 desolate: H8047 and he shall destroy H8045 the sinners H2400 thereof out of it.
And Moab H4124 shall be destroyed H8045 from being a people, H5971 because he hath magnified H1431 himself against the LORD. H3068 Fear, H6343 and the pit, H6354 and the snare, H6341 shall be upon thee, O inhabitant H3427 of Moab, H4124 saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 He that fleeth H5127 H5211 from H6440 the fear H6343 shall fall H5307 into the pit; H6354 and he that getteth up H5927 out of the pit H6354 shall be taken H3920 in the snare: H6341 for I will bring H935 upon it, even upon Moab, H4124 the year H8141 of their visitation, H6486 saith H5002 the LORD. H3068
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Samuel 5
Commentary on 1 Samuel 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
1Sa 5:1, 2. The Philistines Bring the Ark into the House of Dagon.
1. Ashdod—or Azotus, one of the five Philistine satrapies, and a place of great strength. It was an inland town, thirty-four miles north of Gaza, now called Esdud.
2. the house of Dagon—Stately temples were erected in honor of this idol, which was the principal deity of the Philistines, but whose worship extended over all Syria, as well as Mesopotamia and Chaldea; its name being found among the Assyrian gods on the cuneiform inscriptions [Rawlinson]. It was represented under a monstrous combination of a human head, breast, and arms, joined to the belly and tail of a fish. The captured ark was placed in the temple of Dagon, right before this image of the idol.
1Sa 5:3-5. Dagon Falls Down.
3, 4. they of Ashdod arose early—They were filled with consternation when they found the object of their stupid veneration prostrate before the symbol of the divine presence. Though set up, it fell again, and lay in a state of complete mutilation; its head and arms, severed from the trunk, were lying in distant and separate places, as if violently cast off, and only the fishy part remained. The degradation of their idol, though concealed by the priests on the former occasion, was now more manifest and infamous. It lay in the attitude of a vanquished enemy and a suppliant, and this picture of humiliation significantly declared the superiority of the God of Israel.
5. Therefore neither the priests … nor any … tread on the threshold of Dagon—A superstitious ceremony crept in, and in the providence of God was continued, by which the Philistines contributed to publish this proof of the helplessness of their god.
unto this day—The usage continued in practice at the time when this history was written—probably in the later years of Samuel's life.
1Sa 5:6-12. The Philistines Are Smitten with Emerods.
6. the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod—The presumption of the Ashdodites was punished by a severe judgment that overtook them in the form of a pestilence.
smote them with emerods—bleeding piles, hemorrhoids (Ps 78:66), in a very aggravated form. As the heathens generally regarded diseases affecting the secret parts of the body as punishments from the gods for trespasses committed against themselves, the Ashdodites would be the more ready to look upon the prevailing epidemic as demonstrating the anger of God, already shown against their idol.
7. the ark of God shall not abide with us—It was removed successively to several of the large towns of the country, but the same pestilence broke out in every place and raged so fiercely and fatally that the authorities were forced to send the ark back into the land of Israel [1Sa 5:8-10].
11. they sent—that is, the magistrates of Ekron.
12. the cry of the city went up to heaven—The disease is attended with acute pain, and it is far from being a rare phenomenon in the Philistian plain [Van De Velde].