Michael's Abbey Bible Study - 1 Samuel Chapter 6

1 Now the ark of the Lord had been in the country of the Philistines seven months. The narrative of chapters 4 and 5 doesn't give any time frame, making it seem like this all happened in days or weeks. From the time the Ark of Yahweh was captured and taken through the Philistine city of Aphek to Ashdod until this point in time was seven months. For the disrespect God could have squashed the Philistines like bugs and sent righteous Israelites to retrieve the Ark. But even when angry, God's patience is far beyond our comprehension. And God was not done with the Philistines yet.
The "country" of the Philistines is literally "the field", sedeh in Hebrew. They weren't a nation. Using the term "country" is misleading. A better translation would be "the land of the Philistines."
In fact, in the area called Palestine there have been only 4 actual nations in all of history, and all of them were Israeli. The people today called Palestinians are primarily from Jordan until the King of Jordan exiled over 2,000,000 of them because of their attempted violent overthrow of his kingdom and long history of violent terrorism. (And he had no illusions about the Palestinians as when he was a boy he was standing next to his grandfather when he was assassinated by a Palestinian.) There has never been a nation of the people we now call Palestinians anywhere.
2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we shall send it to its place." It is highly unlikely that this was the first time the Philistine priests and diviners were consulted. It is very likely they had been consulted for months regarding the plague and its cause. It may have been their prompting that made them move the Ark from city to city. It is likely these were saying to send the Ark back to Israel, which is why the lords were now asking how to send it back instead of whether they should send it back. As it would have been a defeat the lords were not ready to accept giving the Ark up until now. So the movement to other Philistine cities before now may have been a compromise, or a test.
It is notable that this is the first time the Philistine lords use the proper name for God, Yahweh. And now they ask how to send it to its place, not if they should send it. These details show that these lords were finally convinced by the consequences that it was a bad idea to keep the Ark and oppose Yahweh.
3 They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but you shall surely return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you." Philistine tradition and religious rules said what they did in taking the Ark and placing it in the temple of Dagon in a subservient position was right and correct. However, these Philistine religious authorities now understood that the right perspective was Yahweh's view of what was right and wrong. Thus, the stated need for a guilt offering shows they understood that since Yahweh viewed it as an offense, they had to make up for their transgression.
The end of the verse is a little awkward in English. In other words, they were saying that if they send the Ark with a guilt offering back to Israel and they are healed, then they will know why the hand of Yahweh had not been lifted from them before they sent it back. By doing things to be sure to appease Yahweh, then they would know it wasn't really from Him if the plague continued in Philistine lands.
4 Then they said, "What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?" And they said, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords. This is the first mention of mice. Because of this, some scholars hypothesize that the plague was bubonic and the Philistines understood mice to be the carrier. As stated in the notes on Chapter 5, there is no evidence that was understood in this area at this time by anyone. Additionally, if they could have put the cause to the mice then there would have been no motivation to give up the Ark. What was understood as the primary problem with mice was they would consume and destroy food crops, especially when they were harvested and stored. And as it is easier to wipe out the predators of mice than the mice themselves, some cultures in trying to rid themselves of pests made the problem worse.
The language regarding the need for five offerings, one for each Philistine lord states that this was because one plague was on all of them and all the lords. Since the plague seemed to follow the Ark, it seems that this refers to the mice having ravaged all their lands, not just the three lords that held the Ark.
Another suggestion is that mice were about the size and shape of the tumors, making this the reason they were chosen as the figures to be used. Their traditions centered around recognizable figures in their idol worship and offerings. Thus they were also representative of the tumors. This is also speculation, but does fit the Hebrew text.
It also fits the Hebrew text that they were suffering a dual plague, one of tumors and another of mice that were destroying crops. That mice were not mentioned before would be explained by the fact that the mice were not localized to the area that held the Ark. Therefore the text about the Ark moving would only be relevant to that plague and not the mice. Regardless, whether it was one plague symbolically represented by golden mice or of a second plague of actual mice, the cause was believed to be due to Yahweh's anger.
5 "So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will ease His hand from you, your gods, and your land. A big part of the diviners' job was to come up with tests to figure out what various gods wanted, making it natural for the lords to turn to them. It appears the lords were searching for a solution, and were getting desperate because of the death and chaos from the tumors. So they were willing to take actions intended to appease Yahweh on the chance that it would work. That it was such an expensive experiment speaks to their desperation. Of course, in their idol worship gods were only appeased by great sacrifice, so it was an expense they were accustomed to.
It is significant that the Philistine priests and diviners list the three things that were suffering from the hand of Yahweh. While it is possible the effects on the land referred to the lack of production caused by the chaos of the plague of tumors, it is more likely that this confirms that mice were a separate plague. It seems strange to us that they would continue to worship Dagon after the idol had been humiliated. But the gods of a people were viewed as intrinsically connected to the people. Conversion was not something they considered. Which is why capture of a rival god was so sought after and so devastating to the ones who lost their god's idol.
6 "Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not allow the people to go, and they departed? To convince the lords to follow their advice, the Philistine priests and diviners compare their situation to what happened in Egypt, and the lords to the Pharaoh and the Egyptians. In brining up the hardened hearts, they are saying don't make Yahweh bring more and more plagues before they finally give in. Yahweh will get His way in the end anyway, so it is better to comply now. This is a lesson we ought to keep in mind ourselves.
7 "Now therefore, take and prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them. In addition to the plague ending, the method of the return of the Ark is set up as a further test. These are things diviners came up with. A new cart would be ceremonially clean as it hadn't been used for any base purpose like hauling manure. Thus this part is part of the appeasement to honor Yahweh. The test is the cows. A milch cow is one that is nursing, which means they would have a young calf that hasn't yet been weaned. A nursing cow is hyper-focused on their calf and will struggle to get to it. Additionally, cows have to be trained to wear a yoke and pull a cart, plow or thresher. Training two cows to pull together is even more complicated. Not to mention a cow that has never had a yoke on it will fight it and is more likely to damage a cart than successfully pull it. So for the cows to stay still so they can be hitched to the cart and the cart can be loaded, be able to pull the cart at all, and to pull it somewhere other than where their calves are would be contravening multiple natural and expected outcomes. For this configuration to take the Ark back to Israel would have to be by divine intervention.
8 "Take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you return to Him as a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go. After the milch cows are harnessed to the cart, then the Ark and the guilt offering are to be loaded. The cows allowing the loaded by staying still their first time in a yoke would be a sign of divine intervention. Then the cart is to be set moving. But as there will be no driver, it will go where the cows decide to pull it.
9 "Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance." Here is the final part of the test. The cows should head to where their calves are. Or more likely, be unable to pull the cart at all. But if the cart gets pulled towards Israel, then the Philistines will know without a doubt that Yahweh was behind all that happened to Dagon, the plague and the chaos. The wording is not about the cows, but what the Ark will do. Their view is the Ark will guide the journey if Yahweh is behind all of this. Of course, we know this to be an error from their idol worship. The Ark has no power on its own. It is Yahweh that acts.
Beth-Shemesh was 12 miles west of Jerusalem in the Sorek valley. This would be the most direct route back to Israel. This is the location of the current city of Tel er-Rumeilah.
10 Then the men did so, and took two milch cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 11 They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the likenesses of their tumors. The did as the Philistine priests and diviners said to do. The side note that the calves were shut up at home adds to the strength of the test. An unguided animal will usually return to their home where they are used to being fed. And this would be the first place a cow would look for their calf.
12 And the cows took the straight way in the direction of Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh. Contrary to all reason and normal behavior, the cows pulled as a team and headed away from their calves and homes directly towards Israel by the most direct road. The lords of the Philistines saw this for themselves. This emphasizes how important it was to them to know for sure if all this was Yahweh or just random chance. It also may be that they were being sure the diviners and priests weren't misleading them for their own personal gain.
13 Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark and were glad to see it. That the Israelites there were harvesting their wheat places this event during May or June, putting the battle where the Ark was lost between September and November the previous year. That they were glad to see the Ark goes without saying. By explicitly stating this it is implied that the Philistine lords were of the opposite side of the emotional spectrum. Their victory was turned to a defeat. Yahweh was superior to Dagon. And they were helpless should Yahweh turn His attention their way then and in the future.
14 The cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stood there where there was a large stone; and they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the Lord. Beth-shemesh was one of the cities throughout Israel that were given to the Levites in Joshua 21 as they were to serve as the priests and therefore did not have a territory like the other tribes. (However, not all Levites were priests. It just made them eligible.)
These two verses are not in chronological order. Since the Ark would have to be taken down from the cart before the cart could be broken up to use for the sacrificial fires. However, narrative traditions are not the same then as today. In this case, verse 14 reflects the actions of the people and verse 15 the actions of the priestly class. Burnt sacrifices were done via the priests, so the reference to the men sacrificing is still part of the Levitical narrative. Thus the dual references to sacrifice show both the people and levitical actions coming together.
The breaking up of the cart to burn the sacrifice was not an act of convenience. The Ark was supposed to be carried using poles resting on shoulders. Burning the cart for the sacrifice was to rectify the wrongful use of the cart.
16 When the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day. Ekron was the Philistine city closest to Beth-shemesh, and the last of their cities where the Ark resided and the plague of tumors occurred. Basically, this means the Philistine lords returned to their territory and their part in the narrative is completed.
17 These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; 18 and 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. The large stone on which they set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite. Here we get the list of the five ruling cities of the Philistines. There was one lord for each city, but we are not told their names. The five golden tumors and five golden mice were one for each lord, referred to by the city he ruled. The surrounding villages and territory were considered part of the ruling city they were near.
"To this day" means at the time this was written. It does not mean it would always be there, or is still there today.
19 He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. Just touching the Ark could result in death if it was irreverent. Looking inside it was very irreverent. The translation of the number of men is unlikely, which is why many reputable translations leave out the 50,000 entirely. Beth-shemesh was not a large city, and is very unlikely to have had more than 10,000 people including women and children, and probably had a population of a few thousand. 50,000 would have been all the Levite men in all of Israel. The Hebrew could be translated as "He struck down 70 men of 50,000 which is all the men of the Levites." 70 out of such a small town would have been a significant percentage. And nearly everyone would be touched by the loss, either losing a relative or friend. Finally, slaughter, makkah in Hebrew, refers to killing and does not imply a quantity.
Some Hebrew translation has to be done contextually because it's not specific, and their grammar is a little looser than English. Whereas Greek grammar is much more precise than English, but uses case endings on words rather than word order to express the grammar. An example of needing to use context in English is the word "you." In English it can be either you, one person or you, a group. We have to figure out which it is by the context. But in Hebrew and Greek you is specific whether it is plural or singular. (And Greek has a dual tense meaning you, two people.) Verse 19 could be translated as 50,070. But most writers wouldn't be that specific with a large number. And the context doesn't support it. But what does fit is the author including the 50000 for the total number of Levite men to give context to the 70 who were killed. Regardless, this is not a threat to understanding scripture. No doctrine is in jeopardy of being misinterpreted in Hebrew. When it is important the authors are specific. It is just unimportant narrative details that can be read differently.
20 The men of Beth-shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?" Standing before the Lord here could mean waiting upon the Lord, as Samuel did as a priest of God. This sort of waiting is waiting in service. But in this context what is meant is the inability to withstand when opposed. For example, the Egyptian magicians were not able to stand before Moses because of the boils brought by Yahweh in Exodus 9:11.
The root problem was here was a town that was given to Levites, who alone can be priests before God. Yet they had no reverence or respect for God. They went looking inside the Ark like little kids poking in their parents belongings in direct contradiction to the rules. This is the definition of irreverence, and God does not tolerate it. The respect and reverence of Samuel and his mother Hannah are a noteworthy in a nation and priesthood gone very wrong.
21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up to you." Kiriath-jearim was 15 miles east and a little north of Beth-shemesh at the border between the tribes of Judah, Dan and Benjamin. The modern city is called Tel el-Azhar, and is 8 miles from Jerusalem. While the Ark would stay here for 20 years, it is not known as a holy place. In fact, the name of the city has reflected Baal worship three times in its history: Baalah, Kiriath-baal, and Baale-judah.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation.

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