1 Samuel 5:10

10 Then the Philistines sent the Ark of God to Ekron. But when it came into Ekron, the people of Ekron yelled, "Why are you bringing the Ark of the God of Israel to our city? Do you want to kill us and our people?"

1 Samuel 5:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 5:10

Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron
Another of the five principalities of the Philistines, about ten miles from Gath, where Baalzebub, or the god of the fly, was worshipped:

and it came to pass, that as the ark of God came to Ekron;
and had been there some little time:

that the Ekronites cried out;
when they perceived the hand of God was upon them, as upon the other cities; these were the chief magistrates of the city, with the lord of them, as appears by what follows:

saying, they have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us;
from one city to another, and at length to us:

to slay us and our people;
not that this was their intention, but so it was eventually.

1 Samuel 5:10 In-Context

8 The people of Ashdod called all five Philistine kings together and asked them, "What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?" The rulers answered, "Move the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath." So the Philistines moved it to Gath.

9 But after they moved it to Gath, there was a great panic. The Lord was hard on that city also, and he gave both old and young people in Gath growths on their skin.

10 Then the Philistines sent the Ark of God to Ekron. But when it came into Ekron, the people of Ekron yelled, "Why are you bringing the Ark of the God of Israel to our city? Do you want to kill us and our people?"

11 So they called all the kings of the Philistines together and said, "Send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its place before it kills us and our people!" All the people in the city were struck with terror because God was so hard on them there.

12 The people who did not die were troubled with growths on their skin. So the people of Ekron cried loudly to heaven.