1 Samuel 6:11

11 They put the LORD's chest on the cart along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors.

1 Samuel 6:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 6:11

And they laid the ark of the Lord upon the cart
Perhaps the same men that made the cart; however they were the Philistines, yet were not punished for touching it, as Uzzah was, though an Israelite, ( 2 Samuel 6:6 2 Samuel 6:7 )

and the coffer with the mice of gold, and the images of their emerods;
which coffer was placed in a purse or bag hung at the side of the ark, with the golden mice and emerods in it.

1 Samuel 6:11 In-Context

9 Then watch what happens: If the cart goes up the road to its own territory toward Beth-shemesh, then Israel's God has brought this great disaster on us. If the cart goes another way, then we'll know that it wasn't God's hand that struck us. It happened to us randomly."

10 The rulers did just that. They took two nursing cows and harnessed them to the cart, penning their calves up at home.

11 They put the LORD's chest on the cart along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors.

12 The cows went straight ahead, following the road to Beth-shemesh. They kept to one route, mooing as they went, without turning right or left. The Philistine rulers followed them as far as the territory of Beth-shemesh.

13 Now the people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the chest, they were overjoyed at the sight.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or hemorrhoids; also in 6:17, the Qere form for the Hebrew written form of tumors used in 6:4-5