1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
Lexham English Bible
The Return of the Ark of Covenant
6 Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months, 2 and the Philistines called to the priests and to those who practiced divination, saying, “What should we do with the ark of Yahweh? Inform us how we should send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you are sending the ark of the God of Israel away, you must not send it away empty, but by all means return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will become known to you why his hand is not turned aside from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we should return to him?” They said, “The number of the rulers of the Philistines is five. Therefore send five gold tumors[a] and five gold mice, because one plague was on all of you and all your rulers. 5 You must make images of your tumors[b] and images of your mice that are ravaging the land, and you must give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand on you and on your gods and on your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? Is it not just like when he dealt with them wantonly so that they sent them away and they left? 7 So then, prepare[c] one new utility cart and two milking cows that have never had a yoke on them, and you must harness the cows to the utility cart and then turn their calves from following them to their stall. 8 And you must take the ark of Yahweh and place it on the utility cart with the gold objects that you are returning to him as a guilt offering. You must place them in the container[d] beside the ark and then send it off so that it goes away. 9 You must watch; if it goes up by the way of its territory to Beth Shemesh, he has caused this great disaster to come on us. But if not, then we will know his hand has not struck us; it was by chance that this happened to us. 10 So the men did so; they took two milking cows and harnessed them to the utility cart, but they shut up their calves in the stall. 11 Then they put the ark of Yahweh on the utility cart with the container[e] holding the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12 The cows went straight on the way on the road to Beth Shemesh, on the one main road, lowing as they went.[f] They did not turn aside to the right or to the left, and the rulers of the Philistines were walking after them up to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping the wheat harvest in the valley. They lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and they were glad to see it. 14 The utility cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped there where there was a large stone. They split the wood of the utility cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 15 Then the Levites took down the ark of Yahweh and the container[g] that was beside it, in which were the gold objects, and they set them on the large stone.[h] Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings, and they made[i] sacrifices to Yahweh on that day. 16 The five rulers of the Philistines saw it and returned to Ekron that same day.
17 Now these are the gold tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to Yahweh: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron. 18 And the gold mice according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, for their five rulers, from the fortified city to the unwalled village of the open country as far as the great stone, where they set[j] the ark of Yahweh until this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh. 19 He[k] struck seventy men[l] among the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked into the ark of Yahweh. So the people mourned because Yahweh had struck a great blow among the people. 20 Then the men of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? And to whom shall it[m] go up from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of Yahweh. Come down and take it up to yourselves.”
Revival and Victory at Mizpah
7 The men of Kiriath Jearim came and brought up the ark of Yahweh, and they brought it to the house of Abinadab in Gibeah. They consecrated Eleazer his son to guard the ark of Yahweh. 2 From[n] the day the ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim, days multiplied and became twenty years[o] while all the house of Israel mourned after Yahweh.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 6:4 The Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib) reads “boils”; the reading tradition (Qere) has “tumors”
- 1 Samuel 6:5 The Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib) reads “boils”; the reading tradition (Qere) has “tumors”
- 1 Samuel 6:7 Literally “take and make”
- 1 Samuel 6:8 Or perhaps “chest” or “bag”
- 1 Samuel 6:11 Or perhaps “chest” or “bag”
- 1 Samuel 6:12 Literally “they went going and lowing”
- 1 Samuel 6:15 Or perhaps “chest” or “bag”
- 1 Samuel 6:15 The Masoretic Hebrew text reads “Abel” here; some Hebrew manuscripts and LXX read “stone” (see 6:14–15)
- 1 Samuel 6:15 Literally “sacrificed”
- 1 Samuel 6:18 Literally “which they set down on it”
- 1 Samuel 6:19 That is, Yahweh
- 1 Samuel 6:19 Though the MT has “seventy men, fifty thousand men” (= 50,070), it is likely the original was “seventy men”
- 1 Samuel 6:20 That is, the ark of the covenant (alternatively read as “he,” referring to Yahweh)
- 1 Samuel 7:2 Literally “And it happened from”
- 1 Samuel 7:2 Literally “and the days were numerous, and they were twenty years”
1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
International Standard Version
The Philistines Return the Ark to Israel
6 The Ark of the Lord remained in Philistine territory[a] for seven months. 2 The Philistines summoned the priests and diviners and asked, “What should we do about the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”
3 They said, “If you send the Ark of the God of Israel back, don’t send it empty, but rather be sure to send back to him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and will know why his oppression[b] has not been removed from you.”
4 They asked, “What is the guilt offering that we should send back to him?”
“Five gold tumors and five gold mice,” they answered, “according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, since the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5 Make images of your tumors and images of the mice that are destroying your land, and you are to give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will remove his pressure from you, your gods, and your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts just as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? Isn’t it true that after God[c] toyed with them, they let Israel[d] go, and off they went?
7 “So make a new cart, and take two milk cows that have never had a yoke on them. Hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves away from them and back to the house. 8 Take the Ark of the Lord, put it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you are returning to him as a guilt offering in a box beside it. Then send it away and let it go. 9 Keep watching it. If it goes up along the road to its own territory to Beth-shemesh, it’s the Lord[e] who has done this great evil to us. But if it does not, then we will know that he wasn’t pressuring us. It happened to us as a natural event.”
10 The men did this. They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and penned up their calves in the house. 11 They put the Ark of the Lord, the box, the gold mice, and the images of their tumors on the cart. 12 The cows took a straight path along the road to Beth-shemesh. They stayed on the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn to the right or the left. The Philistine lords followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth-shemesh were gathering their wheat harvest in the valley. They looked up, saw the Ark, and rejoiced to see it. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh, and stopped there. In that place there was a large stone. They broke up the wood from the cart, and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 The descendants of Levi took down the Ark of the Lord, along with the box that was with it, containing the objects of gold, and they put them on the large stone. The men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord that day. 16 When the five Philistine lords saw this, they returned to Ekron that very day.
17 These are the gold tumors that the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron. 18 The gold mice represented[f] the number of all the Philistine towns belonging to the five lords, both fortified towns and unwalled villages. The large stone, beside which they put the Ark of the Lord, is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.
19 God struck down the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the Ark of the Lord. He struck down 50,070[g] men among the people, and the people mourned because the Lord struck down the people with a great slaughter. 20 The men of Beth-shemesh asked themselves, “Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? And to whom will the Ark[h] go from here?”[i]
21 They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, who told them, “The Philistines have returned the Ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up with you.”
The Ark is Stored in Kiriath-Jearim
7 The men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the Ark of the Lord. They brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill, and they consecrated his son Eleazar to care for the Ark of the Lord.
2 A long time passed—it was twenty years—from the time the Ark came to reside in Kiriath-jearim, and all the house of Israel mourned because of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 6:1 Lit. field
- 1 Samuel 6:3 Lit. hand
- 1 Samuel 6:6 Lit. he
- 1 Samuel 6:6 Lit. them
- 1 Samuel 6:9 Lit. he
- 1 Samuel 6:18 Lit. were according to
- 1 Samuel 6:19 So MT; LXX reads 70
- 1 Samuel 6:20 Lit. it
- 1 Samuel 6:20 Lit. us
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