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1 Samuel 6:2-12

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2 And 1the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we shall send it to its place."
3 They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, 2do not send it empty; but you shall surely 3return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you."
4 Then they said, "What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?" And they said, "Five golden 4tumors and five golden mice 5according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords.
5 "So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and 6you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps 7He will ease His hand from you, 8your gods, and your land.
6 "Why then do you harden your hearts 9as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, 10did they not allow the people to go, and they departed?
7 "Now therefore, take and 11prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there 12has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them.
8 "Take the ark of the LORD and place it on the cart; and put 13the articles of gold which you return to Him as 14a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go.
9 "Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to 15Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then 16we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance."
10 Then the men did so, and took two milch cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.
11 They put the ark of the LORD on the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the likenesses of their tumors.
12 And the cows took the straight way in the direction of 17Beth-shemesh; they went along 18the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines followed * them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
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1 Samuel 6:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 6

In this chapter we are told the Philistines advised with their priests what to do with the ark, and wherewith to send it home, 1Sa 6:1,2 whose advice was to send with it a trespass offering, golden images of emerods and mice, and to put it on a new cart, and the images in a coffer on the side of the ark, and draw it with two cows, 1Sa 6:3-8, and gave them a token whereby they might know whether they had been smitten by the God of Israel or not, 1Sa 6:9 which advice they took, and acted in all things according to it; and the lords of the Philistines accompanied the ark to the border of Bethshemesh, 1Sa 6:10-12, where they of Bethshemesh received it with joy, and offered the kine for a burnt offering to the Lord, and the Levites took care of the ark and presents in it, and the lords of the Philistines returned home, 1Sa 6:13-18, but they of Bethshemesh looking into the ark were smitten of God, upon which they sent to the men of Kirjathjearim to fetch it from them, 1Sa 6:19-21.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
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Cross References 18

  • 1. Genesis 41:8; Exodus 7:11; Isaiah 2:6
  • 2. Exodus 23:15; Deuteronomy 16:16
  • 3. Leviticus 5:15, 16
  • 4. 1 Sam 5:6, 9, 12; 1 Samuel 6:17
  • 5. Joshua 13:3; Judges 3:3; 1 Samuel 6:17, 18
  • 6. Joshua 7:19; 1 Chronicles 16:28, 29; Isaiah 42:12; Jeremiah 13:16; John 9:24; Revelation 14:7
  • 7. 1 Samuel 5:6, 11
  • 8. 1 Sam 5:3, 4, 7
  • 9. Exodus 7:13; Exodus 8:15, 32; Exodus 9:34; Exodus 14:17
  • 10. Exodus 12:31
  • 11. 2 Samuel 6:3
  • 12. Numbers 19:2; Deuteronomy 21:3, 4
  • 13. 1 Samuel 6:4, 5
  • 14. 1 Samuel 6:3
  • 15. Joshua 15:10; Joshua 21:16
  • 16. 1 Samuel 6:3
  • 17. 1 Samuel 6:9
  • 18. Numbers 20:19

Footnotes 4

  • [a] Or "with what"
  • [b] Lit "them"
  • [c] Lit "them"
  • [d] Lit "way"
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org

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