1 samuel 6 commentary

1 SAMUEL 6 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
The Ark Returned to Israel
1When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine
territory seven months,
GILL. "And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven
months. Or "in the field" (c) of the Philistines; hence Procopius Gazaeus observes, that
none of the cities daring to receive the ark, they left it without under the open air, so
thinking they should be delivered from their calamity. But the word is often used for
country, and is generally so understood here; the Targum is,"in the cities of the
Philistines;''in one or other of them, first for a while in Ashdod, and then for some time
in Gath, and last in Ekron, and in all seven months from the time of its being taken; and
it being in wheat harvest when it was returned, 1Sa_6:13, these seven months will carry
us back to the beginning of winter, or towards the end of autumn, when the battles
between Israel and the Philistines were fought, and the ark was taken. Josephus (d) says
it was with the Philistines four months only, contrary to the text.
HENRY, "The first words of the chapter tell us how long the captivity of the ark
continued - it was in the country of the Philistines seven months. In the field of the
Philistines (so it is in the original), from which some gather that, having tried it in all
their cities, and found it a plague to the inhabitants of each, at length they sent it into the
open fields, upon which mice sprang up out of the ground in great multitudes, and
destroyed the corn which was now nearly ripe and marred the land. With that judgment
they were plagued (1Sa_6:5), and yet it is not mentioned in the foregoing chapter; so
God let them know that wherever they carried the ark, so long as they carried it captive,
they should find it a curse to them. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed in the
field, Deu_28:16. But, most take it to signify, as we render it, The country of the
Philistines. Now, 1. Seven months Israel was punished with the absence of the ark, that
special token of God's presence. How bare did the tabernacle look without it! How was
the holy city now a desolation, and the holy land a wilderness! A melancholy time no
doubt it was to the good people among them, particularly to Samuel; but they had this to
comfort themselves with, as we have in the like distress when we are deprived of the
comfort of public ordinances, that, wherever the ark is, the Lord is in his holy temple,
the Lord's throne is in heaven, and by faith and prayer we may have access with
boldness to him there. We may have God nigh unto us when the ark is at a distance. 2.
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Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the ark; so long it was a
plague to them, because they would not send it home sooner. Note, Sinners lengthen out
their own miseries by obstinately refusing to part with their sins. Egypt's plagues would
have been fewer than ten if Pharaoh's heart had not been hardened not to let the people
go. But at length it is determined that the ark must be sent back; there is no remedy, they
are undone if they detain it.
JAMISON, "1Sa_6:1-9. The Philistines counsel how to send back the Ark.
the ark ... was in the country of the Philistines seven months —
Notwithstanding the calamities which its presence had brought on the country and the
people, the Philistine lords were unwilling to relinquish such a prize, and tried every
means to retain it with peace and safety, but in vain.
K&D, "The Ark of God Sent Back. - 1Sa_6:1-3. The ark of Jehovah was in the land (lit.
the fields, as in Rth_1:2) of the Philistines for seven months, and had brought
destruction to all the towns to which it had been taken. At length the Philistines resolved
to send it back to the Israelites, and therefore called their priests and diviners (see at
Num_23:23) to ask them, “What shall we do with regard to the ark of God; tell us, with
what shall we send it to its place?” “Its place” is the land of Israel, and ‫ה‬ ֶ‫מּ‬ ַ‫בּ‬ does not
mean “in what manner” (quomodo: Vulgate, Thenius), but with what, wherewith (as in
Mic_6:6). There is no force in the objection brought by Thenius, that if the question had
implied with what presents, the priests would not have answered, “Do not send it
without a present;” for the priests did not confine themselves to this answer, in which
they gave a general assent, but proceeded at once to define the present more minutely.
They replied, “If they send away the ark of the God of Israel (‫ים‬ ִ‫ח‬ ְ‫לּ‬ַ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫מ‬ is to be taken as
the third person in an indefinite address, as in 1Sa_2:24, and not to be construed with
‫ם‬ ֶ‫תּ‬ ַ‫א‬ supplied), do not send it away empty (i.e., without an expiatory offering), but
return Him (i.e., the God of Israel) a trespass-offering.” ‫ם‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫,א‬ lit. guilt, then the gift
presented as compensation for a fault, the trespass-offering (see at Lev. 5:14-6:7). The
gifts appointed by the Philistines as an asham were to serve as a compensation and
satisfaction to be rendered to the God of Israel for the robbery committed upon Him by
the removal of the ark of the covenant, and were therefore called asham, although in their
nature they were only expiatory offerings. For the same reason the verb ‫יב‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫,ה‬ to return
or repay, is used to denote the presentation of these gifts, being the technical expression
for the payment of compensation for a fault in Num_5:7, and in Lev_6:4 for
compensation for anything belonging to another, that had been unjustly appropriated.
“Are ye healed then, it will show you why His hand is not removed from you,” sc., so
long as ye keep back the ark. The words ‫אוּ‬ ְ‫פ‬ ָֽ‫ר‬ ֵ‫תּ‬ ‫ז‬ ָ‫א‬ are to be understood as conditional,
even without ‫ם‬ ִ‫,א‬ which the rules of the language allow (see Ewald, §357, b.); this is
required by the context. For, according to 1Sa_6:9, the Philistine priests still thought it a
possible thing that any misfortune which had befallen the Philistines might be only an
accidental circumstance. With this view, they could not look upon a cure as certain to
result from the sending back of the ark, but only as possible; consequently they could
only speak conditionally, and with this the words “we shall know” agree.
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PULPIT, "1Sa_6:1, 1Sa_6:2
The ark of Jehovah was in the country—literally, the field, i.e. the territory—of the
Philistines seven months, during which long time the people wherever the ark was
deposited were afflicted in their persons with a most painful malady. The princes
determined, therefore, to restore it to Israel, and convened the priests and the
diviners, that they might advise them as to the manner in which this purpose should be
best carried out, lest some error or want of due reverence might only serve to increase
their sufferings. It would be the duty of the priests to see that the proper ceremonial was
observed in moving the ark, while the diviners would decide what day and hour and
special method would be lucky. The importance of the diviner, qosem, is shown by his
being mentioned in Isa_3:2 in an enumeration of the leading orders in the state. He is
placed there between the prophet and the elder or senator; but the A.V; displeased
perhaps at finding one who practised a forbidden art nevertheless described as
practically so valued, translates the word prudent. Literally it means a divider or
partitioner, because it was his office to separate things into the two classes of lucky and
unlucky. Tell us wherewith, etc, Though this translation is tenable, the right
rendering is probably how. The princes did not assume that gifts must accompany the
ark, but inquired generally as to the best method of restoring it. So the answer of the
priests and diviners is not merely that expiatory offerings are to be made, but that the
ark is to be sent back in such a way as to give proof that Jehovah had intervened, or the
contrary (Isa_3:7, Isa_3:8, Isa_3:9).
COFFMAN, "THE ARK OF THE COVENANT SENT BACK TO ISRAEL
The Philistines had more than enough of their trophy, the captured ark of the God
of Israel. Deadly plague had fallen upon them everywhere the ark was placed; and,
in desperation, the five lords of the Philistines decided to return it to Israel.
"The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. And the
Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, "What shall we do with
the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place." They said, `If
you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means
send him a guilt offering, then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why
his hand does not turn away from you.'"
As frequently occurs in Biblical narratives, we have here a summary paragraph,
followed by the elaboration of the details. This gives a broad outline of what needed
to be done, namely, that the ark should not be sent back without a guilt offering and
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also a promise (later explained as a `perhaps') that they would know if God had
afflicted them, or if it was `by chance.'
The priests and the diviners. The priests were the ones in charge of the ceremonies
connected with their worship of Dagon, and the diviners were the practitioners of all
kinds of superstitious and magical maneuvers that were falsely alleged to reveal
future events or answer difficult questions. In ancient times, such deceivers were
widely trusted; and even today one cannot fail to be aware that palm readers,
phrenologists, fortune-tellers, etc. are still operating in every great city on earth.
The methods employed by diviners included: (1) shaking the arrows; (2) consulting
the teraphim; and (3) looking at the liver (Ezekiel 21:21). For further comment on
`shaking the arrows,' see our commentary on Ezekiel, pp. 215,216. In this third
method, the entrails of some animal were poured out, and the arrangements of
different portions were supposed to provide some kind of information to the
observers! Willis tells us that other methods included watching the movement of
clouds, the flight of birds and the disposition of the stars.[1] There was also,
evidently, some ancient version of the modern superstition of being able to read the
future by the disposition of the tea leaves in a cup of tea. Joseph's silver cup which
was used for divining (Genesis 44:4) was probably utilized for that type of reading
the future.
Then you will be healed (1 Samuel 6:3). The meaning of this verse is that, "The
hand of God would be heavy upon them so long as they refused the
acknowledgement"[2] inherent in the proposed guilt offering.
LANGE, "Verse 1
2. Restoration of the Ark with Expiatory Gifts. 1 Samuel 6:1-11
1And the ark of the Lord [Jehovah] was in the country of the Philistines seven 2
months. And the Philistines called for [together[FN1]] the priests and the diviners,
saying, What shall we do to [with] the ark of the Lord [Jehovah]? Tell us 3
wherewith[FN2] we shall send it to his [its] place. And they said, If ye[FN3] send
away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty, but in any wise [om. in any
wise[FN4]] return him[FN5] a trespass-offering; then ye shall be healed,[FN6] and it
shall be known[FN7] to 4 you why his hand is not removed from you. Then said they
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[And they said], What shall be [is] the trespass-offering which we shall return to
him? [Ins. And] they answered [said], Five golden emerods [boils] and five golden
mice,[FN8] according[FN9] to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one
plague was [is] on you[FN10] all 5 and on your lords. Wherefore [And] ye shall
make images of your emerods [boils], and images of your mice that mar [devastate]
the laud; and ye shall give glory to the God of Israel; peradventure he will lighten
his hand from off you, 6and from off your gods, and from off your land. [Ins. And]
wherefore then [om. then] do [will] ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and
Pharaoh hardened their hearts? [ins. Did they not], when he had [om. had[FN11]]
wrought wonderfully among them, did they not [om. did they not] let the people go,
and they departed? 7Now therefore [And now] make[FN12] a new cart, and take 12
two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie [yoke] the kine to the
cart, and bring their calves 8 home from them. And take the ark of the Lord
[Jehovah], and lay it upon the cart, and put the jewels of gold [golden
figures[FN13]], which ye return him5 for a trespass-offering, in a [the[FN14]] coffer
by the side thereof, and send it away, that it may 9 go. And see, if it goeth [go] up by
the way of his [its] own coast to Beth-Shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil;
but if not, then we shall know that it is not 10 his hand that smote us; it was a
chance that happened to us. And the men did Song of Solomon, and took two milch
kine, and tied [yoked] them to the cart, and shut up their 11 calves at home; And
they [om. they] laid the ark of the Lord [Jehovah] upon the cart, and the coffer with
[and] the mice of gold [golden mice] and the images of their emerods [boils].[FN15]
3. Reception and Quartering of the Ark in Israel. 1 Samuel 6:12 to 1 Samuel 7:1
12And the kine took the straight way [went straight forward[FN16]] to the way of
[on the road to] Bethshemesh, and [om. and] went along the highway [on one
highway they went], lowing[FN17] as they went, and turned not aside to the right
hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border
of Bethshemesh 13 And they[FN18]of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat-
harvest in the valley; 14and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced
to see[FN19] it. And the cart came into the field of Joshua a Bethshemite [the
Bethshemeshite], and stood there, where [and there] there was a great stone; and
they clave the wood of the 15 cart, and offered the kine a burnt-offering unto the
Lord [Jehovah]. And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord [Jehovah], and the
coffer that was with it, wherein [ins. were] the jewels of gold [golden figures] were
[om. were], and put them on the great stone; and the men of Bethshemesh offered
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burnt-offerings, and 16 sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the Lord [Jehovah].
And when [om. when] the five lords of the Philistines had seen [saw] it, they [and]
returned to Ekron 17 the same day. And these are the golden emerods [boils] which
the Philistines returned for [as] a trespass-offering unto the Lord [Jehovah]: for
Ashdod one, for 18 Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one. And the
golden mice [ins. were] according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines
belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities and of country villages,[FN20]even
unto the great stone of Abel whereon they set down the ark of the Lord, which stone
remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua the Bethshemite [And[FN21] the great
stone, on which they set down the ark of Jehovah, remaineth to this day in the field
of Joshua the Bethshemeshite].
19And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had [om. had] looked into
[at[FN22]] the ark of the Lord [Jehovah], even [and] he smote of the people fifty
thousand and three-score and ten men 70 men, 50,000 men[FN23]]; and the people
lamented, because the Lord [Jehovah] had smitten [smote] many of [om. many of]
the people 20 with a great slaughter. And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able
to stand before [ins. Jehovah], this holy Lord [om. Lord] God? and to whom shall he
go 21 up from us? And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim,
saying, The Philistines have brought again [back] the ark of the Lord [Jehovah];
come ye down, and fetch it up to you.
1 Samuel 7:1 And the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the
Lord [Jehovah], and brought it into the house of Abinadab in [on] the hill, and
sanctified [consecrated] Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord [Jehovah].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
I. 1 Samuel 6:1-11. The ark is sent back with expiatory gifts. The designation of
place: in the field is here to be taken in the wider sense of territory, country, as in
Ruth 1:2.—The seven months, during which the ark was in the country of the
Philistines, was a time of uninterrupted plagues. In addition to the disease of boils
came the plague of the devastation of the fields by mice. That the plague of mice was
something over and above the disease is plain from 1 Samuel 6:5; 1 Samuel 6:11; 1
6

Samuel 6:18; in 1 Samuel 6:1 the Sept. adds, “and their land swarmed with mice,”
which the narrator has not expressly mentioned. Thenius’ supposition that, from
similarity of final syllables ((‫ִים‬‫־‬), a clause has fallen out of the Heb. text, is too bold a
one. Maurer remarks correctly: “it is generally agreed that the Hebrew writers
not infrequently omit things essential, and then afterwards mention them
briefly in succession.”
HAWKER, "As it was impossible not to take interest in whatever concerned
the ark of God, the contents of this Chapter becomes very pleasing, in that it
relates to us the conduct of the Philistines in sending away the ark of God.
The great joy of the men of Bethshemesh in beholding the return of the ark.
The presumption of the Bethshemites in looking into the ark, is punished by
the Lord: they send to the men of Kirjath-jearim to fetch the Ark. These are
the contents of this Chapter.
1 Samuel 6:1
(1) ¶ And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven
months.
We ought to pause over this verse, and reflect on the state of Israel, deprived
of the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, for no less a period than
seven months. No doubt many a pious Israelite felt it, and lamented it in
secret. And many of those who went up to Shiloh to worship God in public,
openly deplored the vacancy in the tabernacle. Ah! how precious are our
gospel mercies, in that we have not simply the outer tokens of God's
presence, but the spiritual manifestations of him whom the ark prefigured,
always present, wherever two or three are gathered together in his name;
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Matthew 18:20.
BI, "And the ark of God was in the country of the Philistines.
Terrible aspects of God’s character
At last the ark leaves the land of the Philistines. For seven terrible months it had
spread among them anxiety, terror, and death. Nothing but utter ruin seemed likely to
spring from a longer residence of the ark in their territories. Glad were they to get rid
of it, golden emerods, golden mice, new cart, milch kine, and all. It is a solemn truth
that there are aspects of God’s character, aspects of the Saviour’s character, in which
He is only a terror and a trouble. These are the aspects in which God is seen opposed
to what men love and prize, tearing their treasures away from them, or tearing them
away from their treasures. It is an awful thing to know God in these aspects alone.
Yet it is the aspect in which God usually appears to the sinner. It is the aspect in
which our consciences present Him LE we are conscious of having incurred His
displeasure. And while man remains a sinner and in love with his sin he may try to
disguise the solemn fact to his own mind, but it is nevertheless true that his secret
desire is to get rid of God. (W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)
CONSTABLE, "1. The plan to terminate God's judgment 6:1-9
The Philistines acknowledged Yahweh's superiority over Dagon, but they
believed they could manipulate Him (1 Samuel 6:3). Guilt offerings were
common in ancient Near Eastern religions.
"Ancient religious protocol mandated that the worshiper not approach his
god(s) empty-handed (cf. Exodus 23:15; Deuteronomy 16:16)." [Note:
Youngblood, p. 604.]
PETT, "The Ark of God Is Returned to Israel With Due Tributes and
Reparations (1 Samuel 6:1-16).
Having determined to return the Ark to Israel the Philistines had a problem.
How were they going to propitiate the God of Israel for what they had done
in bringing His Ark to Philistia? They wanted to ensure that they did not
antagonise Him further. So they consulted their own priests and diviners.
8

The solution was that they would return the Ark with a trespass ( or ‘guilt’)
offering, admitting that they had trespassed and making compensation. If
healing then took place in the land it would indicate that it was YHWH Who
had done it.
But the question then was, what would be a suitable offering? Their solution
is interesting in indicating the common customs that were shared in the
Ancient Near East. The golden tumours and the golden rodents were an
indication that they recognised that the tumours and the rodents in their
land had been sent by YHWH, and acted as a plea that they be removed from
the land in the same way as these golden replicas were being. We can
compare how when the earlier Israelites had been judged by having
poisonous snakes sent among them, their remedy was to make a replica of
the snakes in gold and offer it to YHWH in recognition of the fact that their
judgment had come from Him. Then whoever looked to it as something that
was now the possession of YHWH lived. That replica was still in the
Tabernacle to that day. Similarly it was the custom in India for a pilgrim
who visited a pagoda seeking healing to take with him a gift offering of gold,
shaped into the fashion of the diseased part, indicating their recognition that
their disease had been inflicted by the gods.
The next thing was to take a new, unused cart and attach to it two milch
cows which had never been under the yoke, and use them to bear the Ark.
This would then make them the possession of YHWH, as the Israelites
recognised when they used them for sacrificial purposes. For the use of a
new cart compare 2 Samuel 18:18. For the use of beasts never before under
the yoke as a kind of offering compare Numbers 19:2; Deuteronomy 21:3-4.
The final test would then be whether two cows who had never borne the
yoke, and whose calves had been taken from them, would willingly pull the
cart and head straight for an Israelite town. If they did this it would be a
9

sign that YHWH wanted His Ark to return home. On the other hand if they
returned to where they expected their calves to be, or refused to draw the
cart, it would indicate that no god was involved at all.
Analysis.
a And the Ark of YHWH was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall
we do with the Ark of YHWH? Show us by what method we shall send it to
its place” (1 Samuel 6:1-2).
b And they said, “If you send away the Ark of the God of Israel, do not send
it empty; but whatever you do return Him a trespass-offering. Then you will
be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from
you” (1 Samuel 6:3).
c Then said they, “What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return
to him?” And they said, “Five golden tumours/boils, and five golden rodents,
according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was
on you all, and on your lords” (1 Samuel 6:4).
d For this reason you shall make images of your tumours, and images of your
rodents that mar the land; and you shall give glory to the God of Israel.
Perhaps He will lighten His hand from off you, and from off your gods, and
from off your land” (1 Samuel 6:5).
e “Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh
hardened their hearts? When He had wrought wonderfully among them, did
they not let the people go, and they departed?” (1 Samuel 6:6).
10

f “Now therefore take and prepare for you a new cart, and two milch cows,
on which there has come no yoke; and tie the cows to the cart, and bring
their calves home from them, and take the ark of YHWH, and lay it on the
cart; and put the jewels of gold, which you return him for a trespass-offering,
in a container by its side, and send it away, that it may go ” (1 Samuel
6:7-8).
g “And watch. If it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh,
then He has done us this great evil, but if not, then we will know that it is
not His hand that smote us. It was a chance that happened to us ” (1 Samuel
6:9).
f And the men did so, and took two milch cows, and tied them to the cart,
and shut up their calves at home, and they put the ark of YHWH on the cart,
and the container with the rodents of gold and the images of their
tumours/boils (1 Samuel 6:10-11).
e ‘And the cows took the direct way by the way to Beth-shemesh. They went
along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right
hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the
border of Beth-shemesh (1 Samuel 6:12).
d And they who were of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in
the valley, and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see
it (1 Samuel 6:13).
c And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and stood
there, where there was a great stone: and they split the wood of the cart, and
offered up the cows for a burnt-offering to YHWH (1 Samuel 6:14).
b And the Levites took down the ark of YHWH, and the container that was
11

with it, in which the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone,
and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices
the same day to YHWH (1 Samuel 6:15).
a And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to
Ekron the same day (1 Samuel 6:16).
Note that in ‘a’ the Philistines wanted to know how they could satisfactorily
return the Ark, and in the parallel they were satisfied that they had
succeeded. In ‘b’ they were informed that they must return a trespass
offering, and in the parallel the offering is put on the great stone, and burnt
offerings and sacrifices were offered to YHWH. In ‘c’ whatever they did they
must send a trespass offering, and in the parallel their cart and milch cows
are offered as a burnt offering to YHWH. In ‘d’ the Philistines were to give
glory to the God of Israel, and in the parallel the Israelites rejoiced before
God at the return of the Ark. In ‘e’ reference is made to the fact that Israel
had to let God’s people go, and in the parallel the Philistines let God’s Ark
go. In ‘f’ the Philistines were told how to send off the Ark in a new cart with
unyoked milch cows, with the golden treasure on the cart, and in the parallel
they do precisely that. Centrally in ‘h’ the successful operation will reveal
that it was truly YHWH Who had smitten them.
2 the Philistines called for the priests and the
diviners and said, “What shall we do with the
ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it
12

back to its place.”
BARNES, "The word for “priest” here is the same as that used for the priests of the
true God; that for diviners is everywhere used of idolatrous or superstitious divining.
Three modes of divination are described Eze_21:21-22, by arrows, by teraphim, and
by the entrails of beasts. (Compare Exo_7:11; Dan_2:2).
CLARKE, "The diviners - ‫קסמים‬ kosemim, from ‫קסם‬ kasam, to presage or
prognosticate. See Deu_18:10. In what their pretended art consisted, we know not.
GILL. "And the Philistines called for the priests and for the diviners,.... The
one were skilled in the rites and ceremonies of religion, not only of their own, but of
other nations, particularly of Israel; and that they were not strangers to the history and
affairs of that people is plain from 1Sa_6:6 and the other were skilled in judicial
astrology, and knowledge of future events, at least as they pretended to; and therefore
were both thought fit persons to advise with on the occasion of the ark, and the
circumstances they were in through that:
saying, what shall we do to the ark of the Lord? shall we send it back to its own
land, or not? the Ekronites had moved it might be sent back, and the five lords sent for
the priests and diviners to have their advice upon it, whether it was right or not, and
what they should do to it, or with it; for if it was advisable to send it back, then another
question follows:
tell us wherewith we shall send it to its place; whether on men's shoulders, or on
horses or asses, or on a carriage; and whether just as it was taken, or with some presents
with it.
JAMISON 2-3, "the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners — The
designed restoration of the ark was not, it seems, universally approved of, and many
doubts were expressed whether the prevailing pestilence was really a judgment of
Heaven. The priests and diviners united all parties by recommending a course which
would enable them easily to discriminate the true character of the calamities, and at the
same time to propitiate the incensed Deity for any acts of disrespect which might have
been shown to His ark.
13

BENSON, "1 Samuel 6:2. What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? — Hebrew,
Jehovah. They never termed it the ark of Jehovah till this time: but now they seem
to have been struck with some apprehension that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was
above all gods. Tell us wherewith we shall send it, &c. — They did not call the
priests and diviners together, to be resolved whether they should send it home or
not, (for upon that point they seem to have been resolved already, 1 Samuel 6:11,)
but in what manner it should be sent, and whether accompanied with any presents,
to obtain the favour of him whose ark it was.
LANGE, "1 Samuel 6:2. After it had been determined in the council of the princes
to send back the ark to the Israelites, the priests and soothsayers are now to tell how
it shall be sent back. Alongside of an honorable priestly class appear here the
soothsayers [diviners] (that Isaiah, the organs of the deity, who reveal his counsel
and will through the mantic art) as authorities, whose decision is final. The princes
had to consider the political-national and social side, these the religious side of the
question,[FN24] Inasmuch as it has already been determined to send the ark back,
the question “what shall we do in respect to the ark of God?” is only introductory to
the succeeding question, “wherewith or how shall we send it to its place?” The ‫ה‬ ֶ‫מּ‬ַ‫בּ‬
may mean either, but the rendering “how, in what way” (Vulg. quomodo) is
favored by the connection, since the priests would else not have answered
that the ark was not to be sent back without gifts.
HAWKER, "(2) And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners,
saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall
send it to his place.
That which was a blessing to Israel became a snare to the Philistines, and the
very ark which the Lord's people longed to posses again, the Lord's enemies
longed to be freed from. So is the gospel, a savor of life unto some, and of
death unto others. 2 Corinthians 2:15-16.
WHEDON, " 2. The priests and the diviners — These were the sacred orders
among the Philistines, as the sacred scribes and magicians were among the
Egyptians. Genesis 41:8; Exodus 7:11.
Wherewith we shall send — That is, with what kind of a present.
14

To his place — The land of Israel. They had already fully resolved to send
the ark back, but they wished to be careful about the manner of their
sending it, lest further woes afflict them.
PETT, "1 Samuel 6:2
‘And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What
shall we do with the ark of YHWH? Show us by what method we shall send
it to its place.” ’
The plagues had made the Philistines recognise that they had offended
YHWH. And having decided to send the Ark back they wanted to ensure that
they did not offend Him even more. So they called together their priests and
their diviners in order to obtain their advice on precisely how to do it so as
to pacify YHWH. The fear of YHWH had taken hold of them. Philistine
soothsayers and diviners appear to have been especially well known and
highly thought of (Isaiah 2:6)
3 They answered, “If you return the ark of the
god of Israel, do not send it back to him
without a gift; by all means send a guilt
offering to him. Then you will be healed, and
you will know why his hand has not been
15

lifted from you.”
BARNES, "Send it not empty - See the marginal references. The pagan idea of
appeasing the gods with gifts, and the scriptural idea of expressing penitence,
allegiance, or love to God, by gifts and offerings to His glory and to the comfort of our
fellow worshippers, coincide in the practical result.
CLARKE, "Send it not empty - As it appears ye have trespassed against him, send
him an offering for this trespass.
Why his hand is not removed - The sense is, If you send him a trespass-offering,
and ye be cured, then ye shall know why his judgments have not been taken away
from you previously to this offering.
It is a common opinion, says Calmet, among all people, that although the Supreme
Being needs nothing of his creatures, yet he requires that they should consecrate to
him all that they have; for the same argument that proves his independence,
infinitude, and self-sufficiency, proves our dependence, and the obligation we are
under to acknowledge him by offering him due marks of our gratitude and
submission. Such sentiments were common among all people; and God himself
commands his people not to appear before him without an offering, Exo_23:15 : None
shall appear before me empty.
GILL. "And they said, if ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not
empty,.... As they perceived they had either resolved upon, or at least were inclined
to do; and which they also thought advisable and therefore would have them by no
means send it away as it was, but with some presents along with it; for the meaning
of this word "empty" is not that they should take care that all that were in it when
taken should go with it, and nothing be taken out of it, or it be stripped of its
contents; but that some gifts and offerings should be sent along with it: perhaps they
might have some notion of, or respect unto a law in Israel, Exo_23:15 or might say
this from a common principle received among Heathens, that deities were to be
appeased by gifts (e):
16

but in any wise return him a trespass offering ; here again they seem to have some
notion of the sorts and kinds of sacrifice among the Israelites; and advise to a trespass
offering, to make satisfaction and atonement for the offence they had committed in
taking away the ark; and that they should make restoration not only by returning the
ark, but by sending an expiatory offering along with it:
then ye shall be healed; of the disease with which they were smitten; for it seems it
still continued on them, at least on many:
and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you ; which was
because the ark was detained by them; but when that should be sent home, and they
be healed upon it, then it would be a plain case that the reason why the disease was
inflicted and continued was because of that.
HENRY, "II. They give their advice very fully, and seem to be very unanimous in it.
It was a wonder they did not, as friends to their country, give it, ex officio - officially,
before they were asked. 1. They urge it upon them that it was absolutely necessary to
send the ark back, from the example of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, 1Sa_6:6. Some, it
may be, were loth to yield, and were willing to try it out with the ark awhile longer,
and to them they apply themselves: Wherefore do you harden your hearts, as the
Egyptians and Pharaoh did? It seems they were well acquainted with the Mosaic
history, and could cite precedents out of it. This good use we should make of the
remaining records of God's judgments upon obstinate sinners, we should by them be
warned not to harden our hearts as they did. It is much cheaper to learn by other
people's experience than by our own. The Egyptians were forced at last to let Israel
go; therefore let the Philistines yield in time to let the ark go. 2. They advise that,
when they sent it back, they should send a trespass-offering with it, 1Sa_6:3.
Whatever the gods of other nations were, they knew the God of Israel was a jealous
God, and how strict he was in his demands of sin-offerings and trespass-offerings from
his own people; and therefore, since they found how highly he resented the affront of
holding his ark captive, those with whom he had such a quarrel must in any wise
return him a trespass-offering, and they could not expect to be healed upon any other
terms. Injured justice demands satisfaction. So far natural light instructed men. But
when they began to contrive what that satisfaction should be, they became
wretchedly vain in their imaginations. But those who by wilful sin have imprisoned
the truth in unrighteousness, as the Philistines did the ark (Rom_1:18), may conclude
that there is no making their peace with him whom they have thus injured but by a
17

sin-offering; and we know but one that can take away sin. 3. They direct that this
trespass-offering should be an acknowledgement of the punishment of their iniquity,
by which they might take shame to themselves as conquered and yielding, and guilty
before God, and might give glory to the God of Israel as their mighty conqueror and
most just avenger, 1Sa_6:5. They must make images of the emerods, that is, of the
swellings and sores with which they had been afflicted, so making the reproach of
that shameful disease perpetual by their own act and deed (Psa_78:66), also images
of the mice that had marred the land, owning thereby the almighty power of the God
of Israel, who could chastise and humble them, even in the day of their triumph, by
such small and despicable animals. These images must be made of gold, the most
precious metal, to intimate that they would gladly purchase their peace with the God
of Israel at any rate, and would not think it bought too dearly with gold, with much
fine gold. The golden emerods must be, in number, five, according to the number of
the lords, who, it is likely, were all afflicted with them, and were content thus to own
it; it was advised that the golden mice should be five too, but, because the whole
country was infested with them, it should seem, upon second thoughts, they sent more
of them, according to the number both of the fenced cities and of the country villages,
1Sa_6:18. Their priests reminded them that one plague was on them all; they could
not blame one another, for they were all guilty, which they were plainly told by being
all plagued. Their proposal to offer a trespass-offering for their offence was
conformable enough to divine revelation at that time; but to send such things as these
for trespass-offerings was very foreign, and showed them grossly ignorant of the
methods of reconciliation appointed by the law of Moses; for there it appears all
along that it is blood, and not gold, that makes atonement for the soul
PETT, "1 Samuel 6:3
‘And they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty;
but whatever you do return him a trespass-offering. Then you will be healed, and it
will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.”
Their advice was that YHWH should be given a trespass offering, in order to atone
for their trespass against Him. (We must not directly interpret this in terms of the
Israelite trespass offering which had its own significance). Thus they must not send
the Ark away just on its own, but must include a trespass offering with it. Then
their land would be healed. And as a result they would know why YHWH was
continuing to plague them at this point in time.
BENSON, "1 Samuel 6:3. Send it not empty — They answer directly to the
18

question, first in general; that it must not be sent back without some
offering. In any wise return him a trespass-offering — As an acknowledgment
that they had offended the God of Israel by bringing his ark from its proper
place; for which they begged his pardon by this offering. Then ye shall be
healed, &c. — Le Clerc renders this sentence, Then if ye shall be healed, it
shall be known, or manifest unto you, why his hand is not removed from
you. And it is evident this is the meaning of the words. For these diviners
were not sure whence these plagues came; but they thought in this way they
should either be healed or know that the ark was not the cause of their
sickness. It shall be known — You shall understand what is hitherto doubtful,
whether he is the author of these calamities, and why they are continued so
long upon you.
LANGE, " 1 Samuel 6:3, We must here not supply the pronoun “ye” to the
Particip. (‫ים‬ ִ‫ח‬ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫,)מ‬ but must render (as in 1 Samuel 2:24) impersonally,1Samuel25 :
“if one sends, if they send.” The ark must be restored, not empty, but with
gifts. These gifts are to be an asham (‫ם‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫,)א‬ a debt-offering or expiatory
offering; the gift is thus designated, because it is a question of the payment of a
debt.[FN26] Satisfaction must be made to the angered God of the people of Israel for
the contempt put on Him by the abduction of the ark. The word “return, make
compensation” )‫יב‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ֵ‫ה‬ ) refers to the unlawful appropriation; it is a matter of
compensation. Vulg.: quod debetis, reddite ei pro peccato. ‫לוֹ‬ [“to him,” “to it”] is
to be referred not to the ark (Sept.), but to God. Send Him a “gift, by which
His anger shall be appeased, lest He torment you more ” (Cleric). According
to Exodus 23:15 no one was allowed to appear empty-handed (‫ם‬ָ‫יק‬ ֵ‫)ר‬ before
God. Whether, as Clericus supposes, this was known to the Philistine priests, is
uncertain. The words ‫אוּ‬ ְ‫פ‬ ָֽ‫ר‬ ֵ‫תּ‬ ‫ז‬ ַ‫א‬ may be taken either as conditional or as assertory.
The latter rendering “then you shall be healed” would suit the connection and
the whole situation, but that these priests expressly declare it to be possible
( 1 Samuel 6:9) that this plague was to be ascribed not to the God of Israel, but to
a chance. The hypothetical rendering is therefore to be preferred, which is
grammatically allowable, though the conditional particle is wanting. (Comp. Ew.
19

Gr., § 357 b). We must therefore translate: “and if ye shall be healed.”,[FN27] In the
words “and it shall be known to you why His hand is not removed from you” the
present tense offers no difficulty, the sense being: “you shall then by the cure learn
why His hand now smites you; His hand is not removed from you, because the
expiation for your guilt, which will be followed by cure, is not yet made.”
Bunsen: “It was a universal custom of ancient nations to dedicate to the deity to
whom a sickness was ascribed, or from whom cure was desired, likenesses of the
diseased parts.” This was true also of the cause of the plagues. The Philistines
therefore ( 1 Samuel 6:4 sq.), when they inquired what they should send along as
trespass or expiatory offering, received the answer: “five golden boils and five
golden mice.” The number five is expressly fixed on with reference to the five
princes of the Philistines, who represent the whole people (‫ר‬ָ‫ֻפּ‬‫ס‬ ִ‫מ‬ is Acc. of exact
determination “according to, in relation to,” with adverbial signification. Ges.
Gr., § 118, 3). The change of person in the words “one plague is on them all
and on your princes” has occasioned the reading “you all,” which is for this
reason to be rejected.[FN28] People and princes are here regarded as a unit,
the latter representing the former, and therefore the number of the gifts to be
offered for the whole is determined by the number (five) of the princes. 1
Samuel 6:5 makes in a supplementary way express mention of the
devastation which the mice made in the land. “This plague is often far
greater in southern lands than with us; so that the Egyptians use the figure
of a fieldmouse to denote destruction; there are many examples, it is said, of
the whole harvest in a field having been destroyed by them in one night ” ( 1
Samuel 5 : Gerl.). Comp. Boch. Hieroz. II, 429 ed. Ros.; Plin. Hist. Nat. X.
c65. By the presentation of the likenesses in gold they were to “give honor to
the God of Israel.” These words of the Philistine priests explain the
expression “pay or return a trespass-offering.” By the removal of the ark, the
seat of the glory of the God of Israel, His honor is violated; hence the
punishment in this two-fold plague; by these gifts they are to attempt to
make compensation for the violation of honor, and the wrath of the God who
is wounded in His honor is to be turned aside. “By bringing precisely the
20

instrument of their chastisement as a gift to God, they confess that He
Himself has punished them, and do homage to His might, hoping therefore all
the more by paying their debt to be made or to remain free, ” (v. Gerlach).
The expression “perhaps He will lighten His hand from off you ” agrees with
that in 1 Samuel 6:3, “if ye be healed,” and with 1 Samuel 6:9.
[It is not clear that the Philistines were visited with a plague of mice. In spite
of Maurer’s remark (on 1 Samuel 6:1) endorsed by Erdmann, it is strange
that no mention is made of the mice in chap5. Philippson (who translates
akbar not “mouse” but “boil”) further objects that the assumption of a
mouse-plague different from the boil-disease is incompatible with the
assertion in 1 Samuel 6:4, “one plague is on you and on your lords,” which
supposes a bodily infliction (on which, however, see the discussion of the
Sept. text of 1 Samuel 6:4-5, in note to 1 Samuel 6:18). Nor does the Heb.
text expressly state that there was such a plague. In 1 Samuel 6:5 nothing
more is necessarily said (so Wellhausen) than that they were exposed to
land devastations by mice, and that the whole land had suffered, and 1
Samuel 6:18 (however interpreted) adds nothing to the statement in 1
Samuel 6:4. We may on critical grounds keep the present Masoretic text
(discarding the Sept. addition to 1 Samuel 6:1) without finding in it the
mouse-plague. On the other hand, the figure of a mouse was in Egypt a
symbol of destruction, and so might have been chosen here as a fitting
expiatory offering. Possibly, as there was a Baal-zebub, “lord of flies” )‫ֶו‬ ὺ‫ע‬
’‫ֱנ‬‫,)לץיןע‬ worshipped at Ekron, so there was a Baal-akbar, “lord of mice,”
and this animal may have been connected with religious worship. —Others
explain the figures of the boils and mice as telesms or talismans. So
Maimonides, quoted in Poole’s Synopsis, in which are cited many illustrations
of the wide use of talismans (figures made under planetary and astral
conjunctions in the likeness of the injurious object or of the part affected)
21

among the ancients (expanded by Kitto, Daily Bible Illust, Saul and David,
p86 sq.). But, supposing there was a plague of mice, these figures were
prepared, not by their own virtue to avert the plague (which the talismans
were supposed to do), but to appease the wrath of the God of Israel. —Tr.].—
Lighten from off you, etc., is a pregnant expression for “lighten and turn
away from you,” so that the burden of the punishment shall be removed from
you. In 1 Samuel 6:6 the case of the Egyptians is referred to in order to
strengthen the exhortation. We have already seen in 1 Samuel 4:8 the mark
of the deep impression made on the neighboring heathen nations by the
judgments of the God of Israel on the Egyptians. The Philistine priests see in
these plagues judgments like those inflicted on the Egyptians, and set forth
the universal and comprehensive significance of this revelation of the heavy
hand of God in the words “on [rather from] you, and your god [better,
perhaps, gods, as in Eng. A. V.], and your land. ” They thus refer this general
calamity not only to its highest cause in the God of Israel and His violated
honor, but also to its deepest ground in the Philistines ’ hardening of the
heart against Him after the manner of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and so
show exact acquaintance with the pragmatism of the history of God ’s
revelations towards Egypt and its king. Comp. Exodus 7:13 sqq. with Exodus
8:32. It is evident from the connection that the words of the priests are to be
referred only to the obligation to “give honor to the God of Israel” by
expiatory presents, not to the restoration of the ark, which was already
determined on. The hardening or obduration of the heart is the stubborn and
persistent refusal to give to the God of Israel His due honor, after His honor
had been violated. The word ‫ֵל‬‫לּ‬ַ‫ﬠ‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫ה‬ [“ wrought”] points to God’s mighty deeds
against Pharaoh and the Egyptians; it is found in the same sense “work,
exercise power” ]“work one’s will on”] in Exodus 10:2 and 1 Samuel 31:4. In
view of these exhibitions of God’s power, they are warned against such a
persistent stiff-necked opposition to it. 1 Samuel 6:6 is not inconsistent with the
doubt expressed in 1 Samuel 6:9, whether the plagues come from the God of Israel
or from a chance, since it is (in 1 Samuel 6:9) at any rate regarded as possible that
22

the God of Israel has thus exhibited His anger. “The mere possibility of this
makes it seem advisable to do every thing to appease the wrath of the God of
the Israelites, which the heathen, from their fear of the gods, dreaded under
the circumstances not less, yea, more than the anger of their own gods ”
(Keil).
HAWKER, "Verses 3-9
(3) And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not
empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be
healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
(4) Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return
to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice,
according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was
on you all, and on your lords. (5) Wherefore ye shall make images of your
emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory
unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you,
and from off your gods, and from off your land. (6) Wherefore then do ye
harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?
when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people
go, and they departed? (7) Now therefore make a new cart, and take two
milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart,
and bring their calves home from them: (8) And take the ark of the LORD,
and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for
a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it
may go. (9) And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to
Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall
know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to
us.
23

There is somewhat very remarkable in this account. It is plain from what is
here said, that the Philistines were well acquainted with Israel's history, in
the Egyptian bondage and overthrow of Pharaoh. And it is as plain also that
they had ideas, (and which they must have gathered from the law of Moses)
of the doctrine of trespass-offerings. Alas! how many are there in the present
hour, that possess an head knowledge of the glorious truths of the gospel, but
who, like both the Egyptians and Philistines, remain forever strangers to the
heartfelt influence of them. The experiment they made, by way of
ascertaining the certainty that their affliction was from God, for taking and
detaining the ark, was suited to the genius of the day, and hears an apt
correspondence to carnal minds in all ages. But we must not confine such
things to the mere carnal world of unbelievers only; God's people have been
found to seek signs, by way of gaining conviction. Such for instance, as
Abraham's servant, and Gideon the son of Joash. Genesis 24:12, etc. Judges
6:36, etc.
PULPIT, "1Sa_6:3, 1Sa_6:4
A trespass offering. The offering that was to be made when the offence had been
unintentional (Le 5:15). Why his hand is not removed from you. A euphemism for
"why your punishment continues to be so severe, without sign of abatement." If healing
follows the gift, you will know that the malady was Jehovah’s doing. The trespass
offering was to consist of five golden emerods, and five golden mice, it being an
old heathen custom, still constantly practised abroad, of presenting to the deity tokens
representing the deliverance wrought for such as had implored his aid. Thus Horace
(’Carm.,’ 1Sa_1:5) speaks of the custom of hanging up in the temple of Neptune the
clothes in which a man had escaped from shipwreck. Slaves when manumitted offered
their chains to the Lares; and the idea is so natural that we cannot wonder at its
prevalence. One plague was on you all. Rather, "is on you all." It did not cease until
the ark had been restored. The Hebrew has on them all; but as all the versions and
several MSS. read you all, the substitution of them is probably the mistake of some
transcriber.
WHEDON, " 3. Send it not empty — That is, send it not without an offering. Compare
Exodus 23:15.
Return him a trespass offering — The Hebrew is emphatic — by all means return him a
trespass offering. On the trespass offering see Leviticus 5:6. They doubtless meant to
render the God of Israel this offering as a satisfaction for their offence in carrying his ark
out of its own land.
24

Then ye shall be healed — It is better to render this as a conditional sentence, then may
ye be healed, etc., for from 1 Samuel 6:9 we infer that these diviners still suspected that it
was only by chance that they were smitten.
4 The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering
should we send to him?”
They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold
rats, according to the number of the Philistine
rulers, because the same plague has struck
both you and your rulers.
BARNES, "It was a prevalent custom in pagan antiquity to make offerings to the gods
expressive of the particular mercy received. Thus, those saved from shipwreck offered
pictures of the shipwreck, etc., and the custom still exists among Christians in certain
countries.
The plague of the mice is analogous to that of the frogs in Egypt. The destructive
power of field-mice was very great.
CLARKE, "Five golden emerods, and five golden mice - One for each satrapy.
The emerods had afflicted their bodies; the mice had marred their land. Both, they
considered, as sent by God; and, making an image of each, and sending them as a
trespass-offering, they acknowledged this. See at the end.
25

GILL. "Then said they, what shall be the trespass offering which we shall
return to him?.... They paid a great deference to their priests and diviners, and were
willing to be directed in all things by them; being ignorant of what was most proper in
this case, and might be acceptable to the God of Israel:
they answered, five golden emerods, and five golden mice; images of these
made of gold, as appears from the next verse; the reason of the former is easy, from the
above account of the disease they were afflicted with; but of the latter no hint is given
before: indeed in the Vulgate Latin and Septuagint versions of 1Sa_5:6 is inserted a
clause, that"mice sprung up in the midst of their country;''which is not in the Hebrew
text, nor in the Chaldee paraphrase; yet appears to be a fact from the following verse,
that at the same time their bodies were smitten with emerods, their fields were overrun
with mice, which destroyed the increase of them; wherefore five golden mice were also
ordered as a part of the trespass offering, and five of each were pitched upon:
according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; who were five, and so
the principalities under them; see Jos_13:3.
for one plague was on you all, and on your lords; the lords and common people
were equally smitten with the emerods, and the several principalities were alike
distressed and destroyed with the mice; and therefore the trespass offering, which was a
vicarious one for them, was to be according to the number of their princes and their
principalities; five emerods for the five princes and their people smitten with emerods,
and five mice on account of the five cities and fields adjacent being marred by mice.
HENRY, "Then said they, what shall be the trespass offering which we shall
return to him?.... They paid a great deference to their priests and diviners, and were
willing to be directed in all things by them; being ignorant of what was most proper in
this case, and might be acceptable to the God of Israel:
they answered, five golden emerods, and five golden mice; images of these
made of gold, as appears from the next verse; the reason of the former is easy, from the
above account of the disease they were afflicted with; but of the latter no hint is given
before: indeed in the Vulgate Latin and Septuagint versions of 1Sa_5:6 is inserted a
clause, that"mice sprung up in the midst of their country;''which is not in the Hebrew
text, nor in the Chaldee paraphrase; yet appears to be a fact from the following verse,
that at the same time their bodies were smitten with emerods, their fields were overrun
with mice, which destroyed the increase of them; wherefore five golden mice were also
ordered as a part of the trespass offering, and five of each were pitched upon:
according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; who were five, and so
the principalities under them; see Jos_13:3.
for one plague was on you all, and on your lords; the lords and common people
were equally smitten with the emerods, and the several principalities were alike
26

distressed and destroyed with the mice; and therefore the trespass offering, which was a
vicarious one for them, was to be according to the number of their princes and their
principalities; five emerods for the five princes and their people smitten with emerods,
and five mice on account of the five cities and fields adjacent being marred by mice.
JAMISON, "Five golden emerods — Votive or thank offerings were commonly
made by the heathen in prayer for, or gratitude after, deliverance from lingering or
dangerous disorders, in the form of metallic (generally silver) models or images of the
diseased parts of the body. This is common still in Roman Catholic countries, as well as
in the temples of the Hindus and other modern heathen.
five golden mice — This animal is supposed by some to be the jerboa or jumping
mouse of Syria and Egypt [Bochart]; by others, to be the short-tailed field mouse, which
often swarms in prodigious numbers and commits great ravages in the cultivated fields
of Palestine.
CONSTABLE, "Evidently the reason the Philistines fashioned images of mice (1
Samuel 6:4) was that there was some connection between rodents and the swellings
the Philistines suffered. [Note: John B. Geyer, "Mice and Rites in 1 Samuel V-VI,"
Vetus Testamentum 31:3 (July 1981):293-304.] This connection has led many
interpreters to conclude that perhaps the Philistines had experienced something
such as bubonic plague, which fleas living on rodents transmit. Bubonic plague
causes swollen buboes or tumors. [Note: See Nicole Duplaix, "Fleas: The Lethal
Leapers," National Geographic 173:5 (May 1988):672-94, for more information on
bubonic plague.] Josephus diagnosed the problem as dysentery, which may have
been an accompanying symptom. [Note: Josephus, 6:1:1.] Probably the Philistines
intended that the models would trigger sympathetic magic, that is, that they would
accomplish what they wanted when they did a similar thing. By sending the models
out of their country they hoped the tumors and mice would depart too.
PETT, "1 Samuel 6:4
‘Then said they, “What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him?” And
they said, “Five golden tumours/boils, and five golden rodents, according to the number
of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.” ’
The next question was as to what would be a suitable offering. The reply was that they
must atone for the behaviour of all five Philistine Tyrants, together with their cities, by
sending to YHWH five golden tumours or plague boils, and five golden rodents. Nothing
has previously been said about rodents. It was the plague that had really upset the
people. But clearly they had also noticed an increase in rodents which they had also
attributed to YHWH. (They had, of course, not connected the two, but these may well
have been flea-covered rats who were spreading the plague. Alternatively it might have
been a separate plague of mice which were eating up their crops. Such mice can multiply
rapidly and destroy huge areas of land).
27

The golden tumours and the golden rodents were an indication that they recognised that
the tumours and the rodents in their land had been sent by YHWH, and acted as a plea
that they be removed from the land in the same way as these golden replicas were being.
We can compare how when the earlier Israelites had been judged by having poisonous
snakes sent among them, their remedy was to make a replica of the snakes in gold and
offer it to YHWH in recognition of the fact that their judgment had come from Him.
Then whoever looked to it as something that was now the possession of YHWH lived.
That replica was still in the Tabernacle to that day. Similarly it was the custom in India
for a pilgrim who visited a pagoda seeking healing to take with him a gift offering of
gold, shaped into the fashion of the diseased part, indicating their recognition that their
disease had been inflicted by the gods.
K&D, "The trespass-offering was to correspond to the number of the princes of the
Philistines. ‫ר‬ַ‫פּ‬ ְ‫ס‬ ִ‫מ‬ is an accusative employed to determine either measure or number (see
Ewald, §204, a.), lit., “the number of their princes:” the compensations were to be the
same in number as the princes. “Five golden boils, and five golden mice,” i.e., according
to 1Sa_6:5, images resembling their boils, and the field-mice which overran the land; the
same gifts, therefore, for them all, “for one plague is to all and to your princes,” i.e., the
same plague has fallen upon all the people and their princes. The change of person in the
two words, ‫ם‬ ָ‫לּ‬ֻ‫כ‬ ְ‫,ל‬ “all of them,” i.e., the whole nation of the Philistines, and ‫ם‬ ֶ‫ֵיכ‬‫נ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫ס‬ ְ‫,ל‬
“your princes,” appears very strange to us with our modes of thought and speech, but it
is by no means unusual in Hebrew. The selection of this peculiar kind of expiatory
present was quite in accordance with a custom, which was not only widely spread among
the heathen but was even adopted in the Christian church, viz., that after recovery from
an illness, or rescue from any danger or calamity, a representation of the member healed
or the danger passed through was placed as an offering in the temple of the deity, to
whom the person had prayed for deliverance;
(Note: Thus, after a shipwreck, any who escaped presented a tablet to Isis, or
Neptune, with the representation of a shipwreck upon it; gladiators offered their
weapons, and emancipated slaves their fetters. In some of the nations of antiquity
even representations of the private parts, in which a cure had been obtained from the
deity, were hung up in the temples in honour of the gods (see Schol. ad Aristoph.
Acharn. 243, and other proofs in Winer's Real-w‫צ‬rterbuch, ii. p. 255). Theodoret
says, concerning the Christians of the fourth century (Therapeutik. Disp. viii.): Ὅτι
δὲ τυγχάνουσιν ὧνπερ αἰτοῦσιν οἱ πιστῶς ἐπαγγέλλοντες ἀναφανδὸν μαρτυρεὶ τὰ
τούτων ἀναθήματα, τὴν ἰατρείαν δηλοῦντα, οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὀφθαλμῶν, οἱ δὲ ποδῶν
ἄλλοι δὲ χειρῶν προσφέρουσιν ἐκτυπώματα καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐκ χρυσοῦ, οἱ δὲ ἐξ ὕλης
ἀργύρου πεποιημένα. Δέχεται γὰρ ὁ τούτων Δεσπότης καὶ τὰ σμικρά τε καὶ εὔωνα,
τῇ τοῦ προσφέροντος δυνάμει τὸ δῶρον μετρῶν. Δηλοῖ δὲ ταῦτα προκείμενα τῶν
παθημάτων τὴν λύσιν, ἧς ἀνετέθη μνημεῖα παρὰ τῶν ἀρτίων γεγενημένων. And at
Rome they still hang up a picture of the danger, from which deliverance had been
obtained after a vow, in the church of the saint invoked in the danger.)
and it also perfectly agrees with a custom which has prevailed in India, according to
Tavernier (Ros. A. u. N. Morgenland iii. p. 77), from time immemorial down to the
present day, viz., that when a pilgrim takes a journey to a pagoda to be cured of a
disease, he offers to the idol a present either in gold, silver, or copper, according to his
28

ability, of the shape of the diseased or injured member, and then sings a hymn. Such a
present passed as a practical acknowledgement that the god had inflicted the suffering or
evil. If offered after recovery or deliverance, it was a public expression of thanksgiving.
In the case before us, however, in which it was offered before deliverance, the
presentation of the images of the things with which they had been chastised was
probably a kind of fine or compensation for the fault that had been committed against
the Deity, to mitigate His wrath and obtain a deliverance from the evils with which they
had been smitten. This is contained in the words, “Give glory unto the God of Israel!
peradventure He will lighten His (punishing) hand from off you, and from off your gods,
and from off your land.” The expression is a pregnant one for “make His heavy hand
light and withdraw it,” i.e., take away the punishment. In the allusion to the
representations of the field-mice, the words “that devastate the land” are added, because
in the description given of the plagues in 1Sa_5:1-12 the devastation of the land by mice
is not expressly mentioned. The introduction of this clause after ‫ם‬ ֶ‫יכ‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ְ‫בּ‬ ְ‫כ‬ַ‫,ע‬ when
contrasted with the omission of any such explanation after ‫ם‬ ֶ‫יכ‬ֵ‫ל‬ ְ‫פ‬ָ‫,ע‬ is a proof that the
plague of mice had not been described before, and therefore that the references made to
these in the Septuagint at 1Sa_5:3, 1Sa_5:6, and 1Sa_6:1, are nothing more than
explanatory glosses. It is a well-known fact that field-mice, with their enormous rate of
increase and their great voracity, do extraordinary damage to the fields. In southern
lands they sometimes destroy entire harvests in a very short space of time (Aristot.
Animal. vi. 37; Plin. h. n. x. c. 65; Strabo, iii. p. 165; Aelian, etc., in Bochart, Hieroz. ii. p.
429, ed. Ros.).
BENSON, "1 Samuel 6:4. Five golden emerods — Figures in gold representing
the disease. Five golden mice — Images of the mice which had marred their
land by destroying its fruits. According to the number of the lords of the
Philistines — Who were five, and were to be at the charge of offering one for
each of them. These things they offered, not in contempt of God, for they
sought to gain his favour hereby; but in testimony of their humiliation, that,
by leaving this monument of their shame and misery, they might obtain pity
from God. It may be observed here, that it appears to have been a custom
among the ancient heathen, to consecrate unto their gods such monuments of
their deliverances as represented the evils from which they were freed. So
the Philistines did on this occasion. And, according to Tavernier, this is still
practised among the Indians. When any pilgrim goes to a pagod for the cure
of a disease, he brings the figure of the member affected; made either of
gold, silver, or copper, according to his quality; which he offers to his god,
and then falls a singing, as all others do after they have offered. See Travels,
29

COFFMAN, "ADVISERS GIVE DETAILS ON THE RETURN OF THE ARK
"And they said, "What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him"? They
answered, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the
number of the lords of the Philistines; for the same plague was upon all of
you and upon your lords. So you must make images of your tumors and
images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel;
perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land.
Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened
their hearts? After he had made sport of them, did not they let the people go,
and they departed? Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milch
cows upon which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the
cart, but take their calves home, away from them. And take the ark of the
Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a box at its side the figures of gold,
which you are returning to him as a guilt offering. Then send it off, and let it
go its way. And watch; if it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-
shemesh, then it is he who has done all this great harm; but if not, then we
shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by
chance."
"Five golden mice" (1 Samuel 6:4). "The abrupt mention of mice here
constitutes a difficulty."[3] To us there appears no difficulty whatever.
Allegations that there must have been two plagues, one of the tumors, and
the other of the mice (or rats) that have been confused and mixed up by
some editor or redactor are in fact ridiculous. There was one plague only, the
bubonic disaster spread among the Philistines by the rats and the Cheops
flea. The foolish notion that the ancients "probably did not associate the rats
with the plague" should be rejected. Modern man has grossly underestimated
30

the intelligence of ancient peoples. They even measured the circumference of
the earth with a clothes pole (See the encyclopaedias under Eratosthenes)!
The fact of these mice (or rats) not being mentioned earlier is due solely to
the abbreviated nature of the narrative.
Whether or not the Philistines associated the rats with the tumors or not, the
rats (mice) were a devastating plague in themselves, as indicated by the
remark of the priests and diviners (1 Samuel 6:5) that they "ravage the
land." "Aristotle relates that in harvest entire crops were sometimes destroyed
by the ravages of field-mice in a single night."[4]
According to the number of the lords of the Philistines (1 Samuel 6:4).
"The guilt offering here was not on the Levitical pattern; the Philistines
were practicing some form of magic. The number five here and the mention
of all five cities in 1 Samuel 6:17 indicate that the plague had affected all
Philistia."[5]
It will be noted that we have considered the mice mentioned in this chapter
as being, in all probability, rats. R. Payne Smith wrote that, "As the ancients
used the name of animals in a very general way, any rodent may be
meant,"[6] by the word rendered `mice' here. Our thought that the animal
was really the rat is derived from that creature's known association with the
bubonic plague, which, according to all the evidence, was the particular
plague that struck Philistia.
31

"Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh?" (1
Samuel 6:6). This indicates that the knowledge of God's deliverance of Israel
from bondage in Egypt was well known all over the world. Who could have
missed it? Egypt was the most powerful nation on earth at that time. As
Smith stated it, "The question for the Philistines was simply this: would they
restore the ark on the warning of one plague or would they hold out for ten
plagues,"[7] and then send it back!
"After he had made sport of them" (1 Samuel 6:6). The diviners clearly
recommended sending the ark back after the first plague instead of waiting
for ten plagues. The subject of this clause is God, the meaning being that
God, in truth, had made sport (or mockery) of the Egyptians throughout ten
plagues; and, of course, the Egyptians finally let the people go. Like many
other figures in the Bible, this is an anthropomorphism, portraying God as a
strong man laughing and making fun of some weak and bungling enemy.
There are some impressions in this chapter of what is universally held to be
pleasing to God, both by pagan and by true worshippers: (1) that true
religious devotion requires the giving of gifts. (2) that things new and
previously unused are more properly used for sacred purposes than old or
damaged things. Even from the N.T., it will be remembered that Jesus rode
upon an ass whereupon no man had ever sat, and he was buried in the new
tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
"Prepare a new cart" (1 Samuel 6:7). "From the evidence of archaeology, this
was undoubtedly a two-wheeled cart similar to those seen in Europe
32

today."[8]
"And watch ... if it goes up ... but if not" (1 Samuel 6:9). The device of the
Philistines in sending back the ark was clearly experimental; and they had no
certain knowledge as to the way it would turn out. Therefore, we should
understand the statement in 1 Samuel 6:3 that they. "would be healed" as a
conditional, promise. "This indicates that they were still uncertain as to
whether or not God was responsible for their plagues."[9] The test proposed
here was genuine. Normally, cows would not have left their calves.
Furthermore, cows that had never been yoked would not have taken a cart
anywhere, much less on a 17-mile trip down a highway.
"Beth-shemesh" (1 Samuel 6:9). "This was an ancient Canaanite city; the
name means house of the sun (god) and reflects the fact that the pre-
Israelite Canaanites had erected shrines to many deities in the land of
Canaan. Many of these names, like this one, continued into Israelite times.
There were four places which carried this name; but the one here was
located on the north border of Judah, near the Philistines, and was the
closest town in Israel to which the Philistines returned the ark of the God of
Israel."[10]
BI, "What shall be the trespass offering?
Offerings to the gods
The idea of presenting offerings to the gods corresponding with the object in connection
with which they were presented was often given effect to by heathen nations. “Those
saved from shipwreck offered pictures of the shipwreck, or of the clothes which they had
on at the time, in the Temple of Isis; slaves and captives, in gratitude for the recovery of
their liberty, offered chains to the Lares, retired gladiators, their arms to Hercules; and
in the fifth century a custom prevailed among Christians of offering in their churches
gold or silver hands, feet, eyes, etc., in return for cures effected in those members
respectively in answer to prayer. This was probably a heathen custom transferred into
the Christian Church, for a similar usage is still found among the heathen in India.”
33

(Speaker’s Commentary.)
WHEDON, " 4. Five golden emerods, and five golden mice — Perhaps these Philistine
soothsayers had heard the history of the brazen serpent, (Numbers 21:4-9,) and
therefore supposed that the wrath of Israel’s God might be appeased by talismans. At all
events, it was a common custom among the heathen nations of antiquity to make use of
such talismanic offerings as a preservative against evil. Apollonius of Tyana is said to
have made a brazen scorpion and set it on a pillar in the city of Antioch. whereupon the
scorpions of that country all vanished. See many examples given in Kitto’s “Daily Bible
Illustrations.” Had the ark remained in their own country, these talismans would, of
course, have been set up in their midst; but when the ark was sent away, they deemed it
most proper to send them along with it into its own land. The annexed cut is a picture of
a Greek votive tablet in the British Museum. It is thought to present the lower part of the
face of a woman who, healed of an affection of the nose or mouth, had caused this tablet
to be placed in the temple of some god in token of her gratitude for her healing.
According to the number of the lords — One golden mouse and one golden boil for each
of the five confederate cities, and golden mice for other cities besides these. See 1 Samuel
6:17-18.
NISBET, "THE TALISMANS
‘Five golden emerods, and five golden mice.’
1 Samuel 6:4
Instead of reading, ‘Ye shall make images of your emerods and images of your mice,’ we
ought to read, ‘Ye shall make talismans of your emerods and talismans of your mice.’ We
get the word ‘talisman’ from the Arabic. The original meaning of the word is doubtful;
but the Greeks understood it to denote certain magical characters which were supposed
to carry a supernatural force, in short, what we call a charm.
I. What did the diviners of Philistia mean by the golden mice and emerods?—In what
way were these images to relieve their bodies from disease and their fields from the
swarming mice? It is the answer to this question which yields us a clue to many dark and
involved Scriptures.
At first we might think that these golden images were meant simply to express their
recognition of the power of that God whose seat was the ark. No doubt they had this
meaning. They were a confession that the emerods and mice came from Him, that they
were signs of His power and anger; they were a confession that the Philistines had done
wrong to offer violence to ‘the ark of His strength.’ But this is only a partial answer to
34

our question. It would have been more natural to any but diviners simply to offer the
usual beasts as a sacrifice or trespass offering to the offended god. Why did they rather
make tiny golden images? What divination was there in these? What did the diviners, or
magicians, mean by them?
The real and full answer to this question comes from the astrological systems of
antiquity. Up to about three hundred years ago all men, or almost all, European no less
than Asiatic, believed that the stars had a strange mystic influence on the health,
fortunes, and destiny of men, cities, kingdoms. They set themselves to read and interpret
the heavens; to reduce their interpretations to a science, a system, that they might not
only tell, but affect the fortunes of men.
II. I am not prepared to admit that the ‘wise men’ of antiquity were such fools as they are
often held to have been, nor such rogues.—I cannot bring myself to believe that they
wittingly palmed obvious and monstrous delusions upon their fellows, that they
pretented to powers which they knew they did not possess. I should be no whit surprised
if science were yet to discover new secrets in the sky, new harmonies between heaven
and earth. It may be that as the old Greek historians, whom our fathers set down as
credulous setters forth of fables, are now proved to have been accurate and learned
chroniclers; so also the diviners and astrologers, whose science we reject as mere
imposture, will yet justify themselves and help our sons to a wider scientific knowledge
than we have reached.
But whatever influences and predictions are, or are not, in the stars, whatever occult and
mysterious harmonies of earth with heaven have yet to be discovered, our principal
concern is to know that God worketh all things; that it is He who brings forth the
constellations in their season—He who has set ordinances in heaven, and determined
their influences upon the earth—He, the Doer of great things past finding out, and
wonders that cannot be numbered. He may shape our destinies and predict them by the
celestial signs, just as He may administer His providence by the angels who excel in
strength, and wait to do His will. These are questions which we may discuss, and on
which we may differ.
III. The one question we need to have settled beyond all doubt is, that, whether by
subordinate ministers or without them, it is He who shapes our lot and guides our feet;
that however many servants He may or may not employ, we are still and always in His
hands. If He is our Father, and our reconciled Father, if He loves us and cares for us, it is
enough; for if not a sparrow can fall to the ground without our Father, how, without
Him, should a star have any influence over us, whether adverse or benign? If He is our
Father, and in His minute, tender care of us numbers the very hairs of our heads, how
should any angel, be its intents wicked or charitable, be other to us than a spirit of
health, a minister of grace? The universe may be more complex and concordant than we
suppose, heaven and earth may be more full of august and solemn ministries; between
the mighty music of the spheres and the rhythms of human life there may be
antiphonies, echoes, responses, too subtle or too vast for our ears to grasp; but so long as
the universe is His, and all its innumerable hosts do His will, we may at all times hear
35

the sentinel
Who moves about from place to place,
And whispers to the worlds of space,
In the deep night, that all is well,
God is with us and in us; and His presence is the true talisman. Trusting in this, we are
secure in all perils and all vicissitudes. If He make us sore, He will bind up; if He bruise,
His hands will make whole. In six troubles He will deliver us, nor in seven shall evil
touch us. So that He be with us and for us, we may laugh at ravage and famine, at change
and death; for then even the stones of the field will be in league with us and the stars in
their courses will fight on our behalf. If we love Him, nothing can in anywise harm us,
for nothing can separate us from His love. In Him all things are ours—life and death,
heaven and earth—things present and things to come.
Illustration
‘Sin brings sorrow. So was it with Israel long ago. The tyranny of the Philistines and the
exile of the ark, these were the bitter harvests of the people’s transgressions. So is it with
me to-day. After I sin, “there follows a mist and a weeping rain, and life is never the same
again.” In my outer history or my inner history, in others who are influenced by me, I
reap a dreary wage. Ah, they are wisest who are simple concerning evil. But sorrow
should lead on to penitence. It should bend and break my heart. It should kindle again
my desires after God. And penitence brings God near once more, in grace, in blessing, in
peace.’
5 Make models of the tumors and of the rats
that are destroying the country, and give glory
to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand
from you and your gods and your land.
36

CLARKE, "He will lighten his hand from off you - The whole land was afflicted;
the ground was marred by the mice; the common people and the lords afflicted by the
haemorrhoids, and their gods broken in pieces.
GILL. "Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods,.... Which some take to
be images of the five cities; others of a man at large with the disease in his back parts;
others of that part of the body of a man only, in a circular form, in which the disease was,
and expressing that; but the text is plain for the disease only, as high large tumours:
though Maimonides (f) says of these images, that the word is attributed to them, not
because of their external form, but because of their spiritual virtue and influence;
whereby the damage or disease of the emerods in the hinder parts were removed: he
seems to take them to be a sort of talismans, which were images of a disease or noxious
creature a country was infected with, made under some celestial influence to remove it;
and Tavernier (g) relates, as Bishop Patrick observes, that it is a practice with the
Indians to this day, that when any pilgrim goes to a pagoda for the cure of any disease,
he brings the figure of the member affected, made either of gold, silver, or copper,
according to his quality, which he offers to his god. There is a tradition among the
Heathens, which seems to be borrowed from this history, and serves to establish the
credit of it; the Athenians not receiving Bacchus and his rites with due honour, he was
angry with them, and smote them with a disease in their private parts, which was
incurable; on which they consulted the oracle, which advised them in order to be rid of
the disease to receive the god with all honour and respect; which order the Athenians
obeyed, and made images of the several parts, privately and publicly, and with these
honoured the god in memory of the disease (h): both the disease and cure are here
plainly pointed at:
and images of your mice that mar the land; that devoured the fruits of it, as these
creatures in many instances have been known to do; and particularly in Palestine, the
country of the Philistines, where in some places their fields were sometimes almost
deserted because of the abundance of them; and were it not for a sort of birds that
devoured them, the inhabitants could not sow their seed (i): the Boeotians sacrificed to
Apollo Pornopion (which signifies a mouse), to save their country from them (k);
Aristotle (l) reports of field mice, that they sometimes increase to such incredible
numbers, that scarce any of the corn of the field is left by them; and so soon consumed,
that some husbandmen, having appointed their labourers to cut down their corn on one
day, coming to it the next day, in order to cut it down, have found it all consumed; Pliny
(m) speaks of field mice destroying the harvest; Aelianus (n) relates such an incursion of
field mice into some parts of Italy, as obliged the inhabitants to leave the country, and
which destroyed the corn fields and plants, as if they had been consumed by heat or cold,
or any unseasonable weather; and not only seeds were gnawn, but roots cut up; so the
Abderites (o) were obliged to leave their country because of mice and frogs:
37

and ye shall give glory to the God of Israel; by sending these images as
monuments of their shameful and painful disease, and of the ruin of their fields; owning
that it was the hand of the Lord that smote their bodies with emerods, and filled their
fields with mice which devoured them; seeking and asking pardoning of him by the
trespass offering they sent him:
peradventure he will lighten his hand from you: abate the violence of the disease,
and at length entirely remove it:
and from your gods; not Dagon only, but others seem to have suffered, wherever the
ark came: for the Philistines had other deities; besides Dagon at Ashdod, there were
Baalzebub at Ekron, and Marnas at Gaza, and Derceto at Ashkelon; and perhaps another
at Gath, though unknown; and besides the gods suffered, or however their priests, by the
number of men that died, and by the fruits of the earth being destroyed; which must in
course lessen their revenues: and from off your land; the fruits of which were destroyed
by mice.
HENRY, ". 4. They encourage them to hope that hereby they would take an effectual
course to get rid of the plague: You shall be healed, 1Sa_6:3. For, it seems, the disease
obstinately resisted all the methods of cure their physicians had prescribed. “Let them
therefore send back the ark, and then,” say they, “It shall be known to you why his
hand is not removed from you, that is, by this it will appear whether it is for your
detaining the ark that you are thus plagued; for, if it be, upon your delivering it up
the plague will cease.” God has sometimes put his people upon making such a trial,
whether their reformation would not be their relief. Prove me now herewith, saith the
Lord of hosts, Mal_3:10; Hag_2:18, Hag_2:19. Yet they speak doubtfully (1Sa_6:5):
Peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you; as if now they began to think that
the judgment might come from God's hand, and yet not be removed immediately
upon the restitution of the ark; however that was the likeliest way to obtain mercy.
Take away the cause and the effect will cease
JAMISON, "give glory unto the God of Israel — By these propitiatory presents, the
Philistines would acknowledge His power and make reparation for the injury done to
His ark.
lighten his hand ... from off your gods — Elohim for god.
CONSTABLE, "Yahweh had reduced the fertility of the crops of the Philistines
38

as well as afflicting the people and their gods (1 Samuel 6:5). The Philistines
remembered that this is what Yahweh had done to the Egyptians earlier (1
Samuel 6:6). The priests counseled the people not to harden their hearts as
Pharaoh had done. Hardening the heart only brings divine retribution (cf.
Joshua 7:19).
PETT, "1 Samuel 6:5
‘For this reason you shall make images of your tumours, and images of your
rodents that mar the land; and you shall give glory to the God of Israel.
Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and
from off your land.”
So these were to be made and offered to the God of Israel indicating that
they recognised that it was He Who had punished them, and by this means
they would give glory to the God of Israel. The hope was that He would then
leave them, and their gods, and their land alone. Note how their words exalt
YHWH over the Philistine gods, as the writer intends us to recognise.
(This very fact suggests that the Philistines did not in fact destroy YHWH ’s
Sanctuary at Shiloh around this time. Having had one experience of YHWH
they would tend to be more wary how they treated what belonged personally
to Him. This would not deter them from attacking His people. That would
not have been seen by them as sacrilegious, for they did not realise how
YHWH felt about His people when they were being faithful to the covenant.
But to desecrate YHWH’s own sanctuary would have been something that
they would think twice about. Possibly when the effects of this experience of
YHWH died down they decided to take revenge. But we are in fact nowhere
told that it was the Philistines who destroyed Shiloh. For what information
we have see Psalms 78:60; Jeremiah 7:12; Jeremiah 7:14; Jeremiah 26:6;
Jeremiah 26:9. All we know from this is that YHWH deserted it and that it
fell into ruin, perhaps because Israel itself decided to move the Tabernacle
elsewhere. It was later to be found at Nob (1 Samuel 21:1-4) which was less
39

accessible to the Philistines. But that was many years later).
PULPIT. "1Sa_6:5
Mice that mar the land. The idea of a plague of field mice is, as we have seen, due to
one of those many unauthorised insertions of the Septuagint by which they supposed
that they removed difficulties from the way of their readers. As the ancients use the
names of animals in a very generic way, any rodent may be meant from the jerboa
downwards; but probably it was the common field mouse, arvicola arvensis, still
common in Syria, which multiplies with great rapidity, and is very destructive to the
crops, and so became the symbol of devastation and pestilence (see on 1Sa_5:6).
When, as Herodotus relates (Book 2:141), the Assyrian army of Sennacherib had been
defeated, because a vast multitude of field mice had overrun his camp and gnawed
asunder the bow strings of his troops, the Egyptians raised a statue to Hephaestus,
holding in his hand a mouse. But very probably this is but the literal explanation by
Herodotus of what he saw, while to a well instructed Egyptian it represented their god
of healing, holding in his hand the mouse, as the symbol either of the devastation
which he had averted, or of the pestilence with which he had smitten the Assyrian
army (see on 1Sa_5:6).
BENSON, "1 Samuel 6:5. Of your mice that mar the land — By this it appears
that their county was infested by mice, which had eaten their corn in the
field, and other fruits of the earth, though no mention is made of this before.
And give glory to the God of Israel — That is, acknowledge, by this present,
that he is the inflicter of these plagues, and has power to remove them,
begging his pardon and seeking for healing from him. And hereby give him
the glory of his power in conquering you, who seemed to have conquered
him; of his justice in punishing you; and of his goodness if he relieve you.
For this is the signification of this phrase in a similar case, (Revelation 16:9,)
where St. John complains that after many plagues men did not repent. To
give glory unto God — That is, to acknowledge his sovereign authority,
power, justice, and other attributes.
WHEDON, " 5. Images of your mice that mar the land — This plague is here for
40

the first time distinctly mentioned, though something of the kind is implied, 1
Samuel 5:6, where the coasts of Ashdod are said to have been smitten. A sudden and
rapid increase of this little animal in seven months might be a sore plague indeed to
the harvest fields of the Philistines. “Of all the smaller rodentia which are injurious,
both in the fields and in the woods, there is not,” says Professor Bell, “one which
produces such extensive destruction as this little animal when its increase, as is
sometimes the case, becomes multitudinous.”
You… your gods… your land — Their persons were plagued with boils, their gods
with disgrace, and their land with mice.
6 Why do you harden your hearts as the
Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god
dealt harshly with them, did they not send the
Israelites out so they could go on their way?
CLARKE, "Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts - They had heard how
God punished the Egyptians, and they are afraid of similar plagues. It appears that they
had kept the ark long enough.
Did they not let the people go - And has he not wrought wonderfully among us?
And should we not send back his ark?
GILL. "Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and
Pharaoh hardened their hearts?.... And would not let Israel go, when their
dismission was demanded by Moses and Aaron in the name of the Lord; but was refused
41

from time to time, being given up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart: and it
seems by this, that though it was proposed by some to send back the ark, and which the
priests and diviners approved of; yet there were some that were against it, who,
notwithstanding the plagues inflicted on them, like Pharaoh and the Egyptians hardened
their hearts; which story these priests were acquainted with by the tradition of their
ancestors, this being a fact then generally known in the world; or by the relation of the
Israelites, over whom they had ruled many years, and were conversant with them:
when he had wrought wonderfully among them: that is, the God of Israel, though
they mention not his name, who had wrought wonders in the land of Egypt; the ten
plagues he inflicted on them are referred to:
did they not let the people go, and they departed? who were convinced by these
plagues that they ought to let Israel go, and by them were prevailed upon to dismiss
them, and the people did go out of their land; and therefore should not we let the ark go
likewise, on whom plagues have been inflicted for detaining it? and may we not expect
more and greater, should we refuse to dismiss it?
JAMISON, "Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians
and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? — The memory of the appalling judgments
that had been inflicted on Egypt was not yet obliterated. Whether preserved in written
records, or in floating tradition, they were still fresh in the minds of men, and being
extensively spread, were doubtless the means of diffusing the knowledge and fear of the
true God.
K&D, "“Wherefore,” continued the priests, “will ye harden your heart, as the
Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? (Exo_7:13.) Was it not the case, that
when He (Jehovah) had let out His power upon them ( ְ‫בּ‬ ‫ל‬ֵ‫לּ‬ַ‫ע‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫,ה‬ as in Exo_10:2), they
(the Egyptians) let them (the Israelites) go, and they departed?” There is nothing
strange in this reference, on the part of the Philistian priests, to the hardening of the
Egyptians, and its results, since the report of those occurrences had spread among all the
neighbouring nations (see at 1Sa_4:8). And the warning is not at variance with the fact
that, according to 1Sa_6:9, the priests still entertained some doubt whether the plagues
really did come from Jehovah at all: for their doubts did not preclude the possibility of
its being so; and even the possibility might be sufficient to make it seem advisable to do
everything that could be done to mitigate the wrath of the God of the Israelites, of whom,
under existing circumstances, the heathen stood not only no less, but even more, in
dread, than of the wrath of their own gods.
PULPIT, "1Sa_6:6
Wherefore do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh? On
this reference to Egypt see on 1Sa_4:8. It is remarkable that they so correctly point out
that it was the obduracy of the Egyptians which made their punishment so severe. Yet
finally even they, in spite of their determined opposition were compelled to let Israel go.
So now the question is whether the Philistines will restore the ark on the warning of one
42

plague, or whether they will hold out till they have been smitten with ten.
BENSON, "1 Samuel 6:6. Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts — They
express themselves thus, either because some opposed the sending home the
ark, though most had consented to it; or because they thought they would
hardly send it away in the manner prescribed, by giving glory to God, and
taking shame to themselves.
PETT, "1 Samuel 6:6
“Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh
hardened their hearts? When he had wrought wonderfully among them, did
they not let the people go, and they departed?”
The priests and diviners now revealed their knowledge of Israel ’s history for
they suggested to the Philistine leaders that they should get a move on and
not harden their hearts as the Egyptian Pharaoh had done. The only result
for Egypt had been that the plagues had got worse. And in the end they had
had to let the Israelites go anyway. So delay could only be seen as foolish.
7 “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two
cows that have calved and have never been
yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take
their calves away and pen them up.
43

1 samuel 6 commentary

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