1 Samuel 6:10

10 They did what they were told: they took two cows and hitched them to the wagon, and shut the calves in the barn.

1 Samuel 6:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 6:10

And the men did so
Made a new cart, not the lords of the Philistines, but workmen by their orders:

and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart;
with the gear that horses, asses, or oxen, were usually fastened to a carriage they drew:

and shut up their calves at home;
or, "in the house" ^F19; the cow house or stable where they used to be put; this they did to restrain them from following the cows, which would disturb them in drawing the cart.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (tybb) "in domo", Pagninus, Montanus

1 Samuel 6:10 In-Context

8 Take the Lord's Covenant Box, put it on the wagon, and place in a box beside it the gold models that you are sending to him as a gift to pay for your sins. Start the wagon on its way and let it go by itself.

9 Then watch it go; if it goes toward the town of Beth Shemesh, this means that it is the God of the Israelites who has sent this terrible disaster on us. But if it doesn't, then we will know that he did not send the plague; it was only a matter of chance."

10 They did what they were told: they took two cows and hitched them to the wagon, and shut the calves in the barn.

11 They put the Covenant Box in the wagon, together with the box containing the gold models of the mice and of the tumors.

12 The cows started off on the road to Beth Shemesh and headed straight toward it, without turning off the road. They were mooing as they went. The five Philistine kings followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.