1 Samuel 6: The Philistines send the ark back on a cart to Beth Shemesh
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What happens?
After seven months the Philistines ask their priests and diviners what to do with Yahweh's ark. They are told to send it back with a guilt offering, five gold tumors and five gold mice, one for each of the lords of the Philistines, and to put it on a new cart pulled by two nursing cows that have never been yoked, with their calves shut up at home: if the cows go straight to Beth Shemesh, it was Yahweh who struck them, and if not, it happened by chance. The cows go straight up the road to Beth Shemesh, lowing as they go. The people of Beth Shemesh rejoice, offer the cows as a burnt offering, and the Levites set the ark on a great stone. Yahweh strikes the men of Beth Shemesh with a great slaughter because they looked into the ark, the people mourn, and they ask, "Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God?" They send to Kiriath Jearim to take the ark away.
Who is speaking?
The narrator tells the story. No verse is in gold: God speaks no words in this chapter. The Philistines ask their priests and diviners what to do in verses 2 and 4, and the priests and diviners answer in verses 3 to 9. The men of Beth Shemesh speak in verse 20, and their messengers to Kiriath Jearim in verse 21. Verse 19, that Yahweh struck the men of Beth Shemesh, is the narrator's words. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1Yahweh’s ark was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
In plain English: Yahweh's ark was in the land (literally: field) of the Philistines for seven months.
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2The Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with Yahweh’s ark? Show us how we should send it to its place.”
In plain English: The Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, "What shall we do with Yahweh's ark? Tell us how we should send it to its place."
The Hebrew word: "Diviners" is from qasam, which the dictionary gives as "properly, to distribute, i.e. determine by lot or magical scroll; by implication, to divine". The law forbids it in Israel: "There shall not be found with you ... one who uses divination" (). Here they are the Philistines' own diviners, and the text tells what they said and what happened.
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3They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, don’t send it empty; but by all means return a trespass offering to him. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.”
In plain English: They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty. Be sure to send him back a guilt offering (this Bible: trespass offering). Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not turned away from you."
The Hebrew word: "Trespass offering" is asham, which the dictionary gives as "guilt; by implication, a fault; also a sin-offering". It is the offering of for one who "sins unwittingly regarding Yahweh's holy things". This Bible says "trespass" or a longer form in 34 of the 41 verses that use asham, and "guilt" or a longer form in 6.
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4Then they said, “What should the trespass offering be which we shall return to him?” They said, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, for the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.
In plain English: Then they asked, "What guilt offering should we send back to him?" They said, "Five gold tumors and five gold mice, for the number of the lords of the Philistines, because one plague was on you all and on your lords.
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5Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your mice that mar the land; and you shall give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his hand from you, from your gods, and from your land.
In plain English: So make images of your tumors and images of your mice that are ruining the land, and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand (this Bible: release his hand) on you, on your gods and on your land.
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6Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had worked wonderfully among them, didn’t they let the people go, and they departed?
In plain English: Why should you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had dealt harshly with them (or: made sport of them; this Bible: worked wonderfully among them), did they not let the people go, and they left?
The Hebrew word: "Worked wonderfully" is alal, which the dictionary gives as "to effect thoroughly ... (in a bad sense) to overdo, i.e. maltreat, be saucy to". It is the word Yahweh used of Egypt in , "what things I have done to Egypt". The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) has "when he mocked them".
What changes: Read as this Bible has it, the priests remember the wonders done in Egypt. Read with the dictionary, they remember that the God of Israel dealt harshly with Egypt, or made sport of it, until Pharaoh let the people go. Either way, these are the Philistine priests' words, warning their own people.
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7“Now therefore take and prepare yourselves a new cart and two milk cows on which there has come no yoke; and tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home from them;
In plain English: "So now, get a new cart ready, and two cows that are nursing calves (this Bible: milk cows) and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, and take their calves home, away from them,
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8and take Yahweh’s ark and lay it on the cart. Put the jewels of gold, which you return him for a trespass offering, in a box by its side; and send it away, that it may go.
In plain English: and take Yahweh's ark and put it on the cart. Put the gold objects (this Bible: jewels of gold) that you are sending back to him as a guilt offering in a box beside it. Then send it off, and let it go.
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9Behold, if it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has done us this great evil; but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us. It was a chance that happened to us.”
In plain English: Watch: if it goes up by the road to its own land (literally: border), to Beth Shemesh, then he is the one who has done us this great harm. But if not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us. It was a chance that happened to us."
The Hebrew word: "Chance" is miqreh, which the dictionary gives as "something met with, i.e. an accident or fortune". It is the word in , where Ruth "happened to come" to the field of Boaz. Here the priests set up a test: the cows were nursing calves that had been taken home and shut up there (verses 7 and 10), and the text says the cows went straight to Beth Shemesh (verse 12).
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10The men did so, and took two milk cows and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.
In plain English: The men did so. They took two nursing cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.
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11They put Yahweh’s ark on the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors.
In plain English: They put Yahweh's ark on the cart, with the box holding the gold mice and the images of their tumors.
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12The cows took the straight way by the way to Beth Shemesh. They went along the highway, lowing as they went, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.
In plain English: The cows went straight along the road to Beth Shemesh. They kept to the one highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. The lords of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
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13The people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
In plain English: The people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. They looked up and saw the ark, and were glad to see it.
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14The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there, where there was a great stone. Then they split the wood of the cart and offered up the cows for a burnt offering to Yahweh.
In plain English: The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped there, where there was a large stone. They split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh.
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15The Levites took down Yahweh’s ark and the box that was with it, in which the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone; and the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to Yahweh.
In plain English: The Levites took down Yahweh's ark and the box with it, which held the gold objects, and put them on the large stone. That same day the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to Yahweh.
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16When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
In plain English: When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they went back to Ekron that same day.
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17These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering to Yahweh: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;
In plain English: These are the gold tumors that the Philistines sent back as a guilt offering to Yahweh: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron,
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18and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great stone on which they set down Yahweh’s ark. That stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
In plain English: and the gold mice, by the number of all the cities of the Philistines that belonged to the five lords, both walled (this Bible: fortified) cities and country villages, as far as the great stone (the Hebrew has: the great Abel) on which they set down Yahweh's ark. It is still in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh to this day.
Good to know: The Hebrew here has "Abel, the great", where verses 14 and 15 speak of "a great stone" (in Hebrew even). The dictionary gives Abel as "the name of two places". This Bible prints "the great stone", which fits verses 14 and 15. The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) also has "to the great stone".
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19He struck of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into Yahweh’s ark, he struck fifty thousand seventy of the men. Then the people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter.
In plain English: He struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into (or: looked at) Yahweh's ark. He struck down among the people seventy men, fifty thousand men (this Bible: fifty thousand seventy of the men; the Hebrew here is hard to follow). The people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter.
The Hebrew words: The Hebrew gives the number in an unusual way: "seventy men, fifty thousand men", without "and". "Looked into" is ra'ah, "to see", with the little word "in" (or: at). The old Greek translation in this collection (Brenton) begins the verse differently, "the sons of Jechonias were not pleased with the men of Bæthsamys", and has "seventy men, and fifty thousand men".
What changes: Read as this Bible has it, fifty thousand and seventy men were struck. Some readers take the words "fifty thousand men" as added, and read seventy. Read as "looked into", the men looked inside the ark; read as "looked at", they gazed on it. Either way, the text says he struck them "because they had looked into Yahweh's ark", and that the people mourned.
Good to know: The law in says of the Kohathites, the Levites who carried the holy things (), "they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die".
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20The men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? To whom shall he go up from us?”
In plain English: The men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? To whom will he (or: it) go up from us?"
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21They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back Yahweh’s ark. Come down and bring it up to yourselves.”
In plain English: They sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought back Yahweh's ark. Come down and take it up to you."
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