1 Samuel 5 Study Notes

5:1 The trip from Ebenezer to Ashdod was about nineteen miles. Ashdod—along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath—was one of Philistia’s five major cities.

5:2 Dagon was originally an agricultural and/or storm god of Canaan and Mesopotamia, but the Philistines made him head of their pantheon. Perhaps the Philistines thought they should place the ark next to his statue as a symbolic gesture of Dagon’s defeat of the Lord in battle.

5:3-4 Dagon’s head and both of his hands were broken off (lit “cut off”), suggesting Dagon’s fall was no accident. The positioning of head and hands on the threshold nearby also ruled out an accident.

5:5 From then on the priests of Dagon and all his worshipers avoided stepping on Dagon’s threshold—a threshold that marked the place of his defeat before God.

5:6 The Lord now oppressed the people of Ashdod, plaguing them as he had plagued the Egyptians (4:8). Tumors (Dt 28:27) probably describe symptoms of bubonic plague, a disease spread by rodents (1Sm 6:4). Others believe the term describes boils or hemorrhoids.

5:7-8 The Philistine rulers were the governors of the towns in the confederation listed in 6:17. Perhaps Gath, located more than twenty miles away at the mouth of the Elah Valley, was on friendlier terms with Israel (21:10; 27:3; 2Sm 15:18; 1Kg 2:39), prompting relocation of the ark.

5:9 The Philistines’ plan failed as God then brought the tumors to Gath.

5:10-11 The Philistine citizens of Ekron, located ten miles north of Gath, cried out (see note at 4:13) in fear of their lives when the ark of . . . God came to their city.

5:12 On outcry, see note at 4:13.