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1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
New English Translation

The Philistines Return the Ark

6 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land[a] of the Philistines for seven months,[b] 2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.”

3 They replied, “If you are going to send the ark of[c] the God of Israel back, don’t send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand has not been removed from you.” 4 They inquired, “What is the guilt offering that we should send to him?”

They replied, “The Philistine leaders number five. So send five gold sores and five gold mice, for it is the same plague that has afflicted both you and your leaders. 5 You should make images of the sores and images of the mice[d] that are destroying the land. You should honor the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his grip on you, your gods, and your land.[e] 6 Why harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh did?[f] When God[g] treated them harshly, didn’t the Egyptians send the Israelites on their way?[h] 7 So now go and make a new cart. Get two cows that have calves and that have never had a yoke placed on them. Harness the cows to the cart, and take their calves from them back to their stalls. 8 Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a chest beside it the gold objects you are sending to him as a guilt offering. You should then send it on its way. 9 But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident.”

10 So the men did as instructed.[i] They took two cows that had calves and harnessed the cows to a cart; they also removed their calves to their stalls. 11 They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the chest, the gold mice, and the images of the sores. 12 Then the cows went directly on the road to Beth Shemesh. They went along that route, bellowing[j] more and more;[k] they turned neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the Philistines were walking along behind them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh.

13 Now the residents of Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they were pleased at the sight. 14 The cart was coming to the field of Joshua, who was from Beth Shemesh. It paused there near a big stone. Then they cut up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it, which contained the gold objects. They placed them near the big stone. At that time the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 The five leaders of the Philistines watched what was happening and then returned to Ekron on the same day.

17 These are the gold sores that the Philistines brought as a guilt offering to the Lord—one for each of the following cities: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 The gold mice corresponded in number to all the Philistine cities of the five leaders, from the fortified cities to hamlet villages, to greater Abel.[l] They positioned the ark of the Lord on a rock until this very day in the field of Joshua who was from Beth Shemesh.

19 But the Lord[m] struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; he struck down 50,070 of[n] the men. The people grieved because the Lord had struck the people with a hard blow. 20 The residents of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark[o] go up from here?”

21 So they sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down here and take it back home with you.”

7 Then the people[p] of Kiriath Jearim came and took the ark of the Lord; they brought it to the house of Abinadab located on the hill. They consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord.

Further Conflict with the Philistines

2 It was quite a long time—some twenty years in all—that the ark stayed at Kiriath Jearim. All the people[q] of Israel longed for[r] the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 6:1 tn Heb “field.”
  2. 1 Samuel 6:1 tc The LXX adds “and their land swarmed with mice.”
  3. 1 Samuel 6:3 tc The LXX and a Qumran ms add “the covenant of the Lord.”
  4. 1 Samuel 6:5 tn Heb “your mice.” A Qumran ms has simply “the mice.”
  5. 1 Samuel 6:5 tn Heb “Perhaps he will lighten his hand from upon you and from upon your gods and from upon your land.”
  6. 1 Samuel 6:6 tn Heb “like Egypt and Pharaoh hardened their heart.”
  7. 1 Samuel 6:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  8. 1 Samuel 6:6 tn Heb “and they sent them away and they went.”
  9. 1 Samuel 6:10 tn Heb “and the men did so.”
  10. 1 Samuel 6:12 tn Most translations have “low” (ASV, ESV, KJV, NASB, NIV, NLV, Amplified, etc.), or “moo” (CEV, CEB). The verb גָּעָה (gaʿah) is rare (only here and Job 6:5) but cognate languages suggest a loud sound (e.g. Syriac “to scream” Ugaritic “to roar,” see HALOT 199). sn The behavior of the cows demonstrates God’s sovereignty. If the cows are “mooing” contentedly, it suggests that God essentially took over their wills or brains, and they walked along, forgetting their calves entirely, and focused on their new and unaccustomed task as if long trained for it. If they are “bellowing,” the picture suggests that they know they are leaving their calves and are protesting in discontent. But they are divinely driven (by unseen angelic cattle prods?) against their wills.
  11. 1 Samuel 6:12 tn The Hebrew has two infinitive absolutes ‏הָלֹךְ וְגָעוֹ (halok vegaʿo) walking and bellowing. In such a pairing, the infinitive ‏הָלֹךְ (halok) often indicates going on more and more (increasing) in the activity mentioned by the other infinitive. Cf. Gen 26:13; 1 Sam 14:19).
  12. 1 Samuel 6:18 tc A few Hebrew mss and the LXX read “villages; the large rock…[is witness] until this very day.”
  13. 1 Samuel 6:19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  14. 1 Samuel 6:19 tc The number 50,070 is surprisingly large, although it finds almost unanimous textual support in the MT and in the ancient versions. Only a few medieval Hebrew mss lack “50,000,” reading simply “70” instead. However, there does not seem to be sufficient external evidence to warrant reading 70 rather than 50,070, although that is done by a number of recent translations (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The present translation (reluctantly) follows the MT and the ancient versions here.
  15. 1 Samuel 6:20 tn Heb “he” or “it”; the referent here (the ark) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. also NIV, CEV, NLT). Others, however, take the referent to be the Lord himself.
  16. 1 Samuel 7:1 tn Heb “men.”
  17. 1 Samuel 7:2 tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).
  18. 1 Samuel 7:2 tn Heb “mourned after”; NIV “mourned and sought after”; KJV, NRSV “lamented after”; NAB “turned to”; NCV “began to follow…again.”
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1 Samuel 6:1-7:2
Christian Standard Bible

The Return of the Ark

6 When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory for seven months, 2 the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners(A) and pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”

3 They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, do not send it without an offering.(B) Send back a guilt offering to him,(C) and you will be healed. Then the reason his hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.”[a]

4 They asked, “What guilt offering should we send back to him?”

And they answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice(D) corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers,(E) since there was one plague for both you[b] and your rulers. 5 Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land. Give glory to Israel’s God,(F) and perhaps he will stop oppressing you,[c](G) your gods, and your land.(H) 6 Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs?(I) When he afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left?(J)

7 “Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked.(K) Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8 Take the ark of the Lord, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending him as a guilt offering in a box(L) beside the ark.(M) Send it off and let it go its way. 9 Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh,(N) it is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not his hand that punished(O) us—it was just something that happened to us by chance.”

10 The men did this: They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and confined their calves in the pen. 11 Then they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12 The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh.(P) They stayed on that one highway,(Q) lowing as they went; they never strayed to the right or to the left. The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh.

13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.(R) 15 The Levites(S) removed the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 When the five Philistine rulers(T) observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.

17 As a guilt offering to the Lord, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city:(U) Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages.(V) The large rock[d](W) on which the ark of the Lord was placed is still in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh today.

19 God struck down the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord.[e](X) He struck down seventy persons.[f] The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter. 20 The people of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord this holy God?(Y) To whom should the ark go from here?”

21 They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim,(Z) saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and get it.”[g]

7 So the people of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the Lord and took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill.(AA) They consecrated his son Eleazar to take care of it.

Victory at Mizpah

2 Time went by until twenty years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel longed for the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. 6:3 DSS, LXX read healed, and an atonement shall be made for you. Shouldn’t his hand be removed from you?”
  2. 6:4 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read them
  3. 6:5 Lit will lighten the heaviness of his hand from you
  4. 6:18 Some Hb mss, LXX, Tg; other Hb mss read meadow
  5. 6:19 LXX reads But the sons of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the men of Beth-shemesh when they saw the ark of the Lord.
  6. 6:19 Some Hb mss, Josephus; other Hb mss read 70 men, 50,000 men
  7. 6:21 Lit and bring it up to you
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