Sāmǔĕrjìshàng 6:4

4 Fēilìshì rén shuō , yīngdāng yòng shénme xiàn wèi péi zuì de lǐwù ne . tāmen huídá shuō , dāng zhào Fēilìshì shǒulǐng de shùmù , yòng wǔ gè jīn zhì chuāng , wǔ gè jīn lǎo shǔ , yīnwei zaì nǐmen zhòngrén hé nǐmen shǒulǐng de shēnshang dōu shì yíyàng de zāi .

Sāmǔĕrjìshàng 6:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 6:4

Then said they, what shall be the trespass offering which we
shall return to him?
&c.] They paid a great deference to their priests and diviners, and were willing to be directed in all things by them; being ignorant of what was most proper in this case, and might be acceptable to the God of Israel:

they answered, five golden emerods, and five golden mice;
images of these made of gold, as appears from the next verse; the reason of the former is easy, from the above account of the disease they were afflicted with; but of the latter no hint is given before: indeed in the Vulgate Latin and Septuagint versions of ( 1 Samuel 5:6 ) is inserted a clause, that

``mice sprung up in the midst of their country;''

which is not in the Hebrew text, nor in the Chaldee paraphrase; yet appears to be a fact from the following verse, that at the same time their bodies were smitten with emerods, their fields were overrun with mice, which destroyed the increase of them; wherefore five golden mice were also ordered as a part of the trespass offering, and five of each were pitched upon:

according to the number of the lords of the Philistines;
who were five, and so the principalities under them; see ( Joshua 13:3 )

for one plague was on you all, and on your lords;
the lords and common people were equally smitten with the emerods, and the several principalities were alike distressed and destroyed with the mice; and therefore the trespass offering, which was a vicarious one for them, was to be according to the number of their princes and their principalities; five emerods for the five princes and their people smitten with emerods, and five mice on account of the five cities and fields adjacent being marred by mice.

Sāmǔĕrjìshàng 6:4 In-Context

2 Fēilìshì rén jiāng jìsī hé zhān bo de jù le lái , wèn tāmen shuō , wǒmen xiàng Yēhéhuá de yuē guì yīngdāng zĕnyàng xíng . qǐng zhǐshì wǒmen yòng hé fǎ jiāng yuē guì sòng huí yuán chù .

3 Tāmen shuō , ruò yào jiāng Yǐsèliè shén de yuē guì sòng huí qù , bùkĕ kōng kōng de sòng qù , bìyào gĕi tā xiàn péi zuì de lǐwù , ránhòu nǐmen kĕ dé quányù , bìng zhīdào tāde shǒu wèihé bù líkāi nǐmen .

4 Fēilìshì rén shuō , yīngdāng yòng shénme xiàn wèi péi zuì de lǐwù ne . tāmen huídá shuō , dāng zhào Fēilìshì shǒulǐng de shùmù , yòng wǔ gè jīn zhì chuāng , wǔ gè jīn lǎo shǔ , yīnwei zaì nǐmen zhòngrén hé nǐmen shǒulǐng de shēnshang dōu shì yíyàng de zāi .

5 Suǒyǐ dāng zhìzào nǐmen zhì chuāng de xiàng hé huǐhuaì nǐmen tiándì lǎo shǔ de xiàng , bìng yào guī róngyào gĕi Yǐsèliè de shén , huòzhĕ tā xiàng nǐmen hé nǐmen de shén , bìng nǐmen de tiándì , bǎ shǒu fàng qīng xiē .

6 Nǐmen wèihé yìng zhe xīn xiàng Āijí rén hé fǎlǎo yíyàng ne . shén zaì Āijí rén zhōngjiān xíng qí shì , Āijí rén qǐbù shìfàng Yǐsèliè rén , tāmen jiù qù le ma .