King James Version
1 Samuel 6
21 verses with commentary
The Ark Returned to Israel
And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel's superstitious use of the Ark as a magical talisman demonstrated fundamental misunderstanding of covenant relationship. The Ark's capture and Israel's defeat prove that ext...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jud 20:29-48. They Destroy All the Benjamites, Except Six Hundred.
**29-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--**A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
The Philistines consult how to send back the ark.(1-9)
They bring it to Bethshemesh.(10-18)
The people smitten for looking into the ark.(19-21)
**Verses 1-9**
Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the ark; so long it was a plague to them, because they would not send it home sooner. Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by ...
Read full commentary →And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel's superstitious use of the Ark as a magical talisman demonstrated fundamental misunderstan...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **What shall we do to the ark of the Lord?**—During the seven months which followed the great Philistine victory of Aphek, the Ark remained in the country of the enemies of Israel. It was removed from temple to temple in the various cities, but the same doom always followed it. The inhabitants of the city where was the Ark were smitten with deadly abscesses, in addition to which, from the stat...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jud 20:29-48. They Destroy All the Benjamites, Except Six Hundred.
**29-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--**A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
The Philistines consult how to send back the ark.(1-9)
They bring it to Bethshemesh.(10-18)
The people smitten for looking into the ark.(19-21)
**Verses 1-9**
Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the ark; so long it was a plague to them, because they would not send it home sooner. Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by ...
Read full commentary →And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel's superstitious use of the Ar...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Send it not empty.**—The advice was to propitiate with gifts the powerful Hebrew Deity, whom they imagined was offended and angry at the insult offered Him—the being placed in an inferior position in the Dagon temple.
The priests and diviners evidently thought that the Hebrew Deity, in some way resident in the “golden chest,” was a childish, capricious deity, like one of their own loved gods...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jud 20:29-48. They Destroy All the Benjamites, Except Six Hundred.
**29-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--**A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
The Philistines consult how to send back the ark.(1-9)
They bring it to Bethshemesh.(10-18)
The people smitten for looking into the ark.(19-21)
**Verses 1-9**
Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the ark; so long it was a plague to them, because they would not send it home sooner. Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by ...
Read full commentary →Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods , and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. you: Heb. them
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel's ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Five golden emerods, and five golden mice.**—It was a general custom in the nations of antiquity to offer to the deity, to whom sickness or recovery from sickness was ascribed, likenesses of the diseased parts; so, too, those who had escaped from shipwreck would offer pictures, or perhaps their garments, to Neptune, or, as some tell us, to Isis. (See, for instance, Horace, *Carm. i.* 5.) Sla...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jud 20:29-48. They Destroy All the Benjamites, Except Six Hundred.
**29-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--**A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
The Philistines consult how to send back the ark.(1-9)
They bring it to Bethshemesh.(10-18)
The people smitten for looking into the ark.(19-21)
**Verses 1-9**
Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the ark; so long it was a plague to them, because they would not send it home sooner. Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by ...
Read full commentary →Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods , and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel's supersti...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Images of your mice.**—This is the first mention of the plague of “mice” in the Hebrew text. The Greek Version had (see above) carefully appended to the description of the bodily disease the account of this scourge which devastated the land of Philistia. In these warm countries which border the Mediterranean vast quantities of these mice from time to time seem to have appeared and devoured t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jud 20:29-48. They Destroy All the Benjamites, Except Six Hundred.
**29-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--**A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
The Philistines consult how to send back the ark.(1-9)
They bring it to Bethshemesh.(10-18)
The people smitten for looking into the ark.(19-21)
**Verses 1-9**
Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the ark; so long it was a plague to them, because they would not send it home sooner. Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by ...
Read full commentary →Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed? wonderfully: or, reproachfully the people: Heb. them
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel's superstitious use of the Ark as a magical talisman demonstr...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **As the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts.**—We have here the traditional account of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, no doubt, as it was preserved in Philistia. These constant references to the story of Moses and the Exodus are indications of the deep impression those events had made on the surrounding nations; hence the value they set on the Ark, which they looked upon as the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jud 20:29-48. They Destroy All the Benjamites, Except Six Hundred.
**29-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--**A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
The Philistines consult how to send back the ark.(1-9)
They bring it to Bethshemesh.(10-18)
The people smitten for looking into the ark.(19-21)
**Verses 1-9**
Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the ark; so long it was a plague to them, because they would not send it home sooner. Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by ...
Read full commentary →Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel's superstitious use of the Ark as a magical talisman demonstrated fundamental misunderstan...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Now therefore make a new cart.**—The note here in the *Speaker’s Commentary *is interesting. “This was so ordered in reverence to the Ark, and was a right and true feeling. (See Numbers 19:2; 2Samuel 6:3.) So our Lord rode on an ass ‘whereon never man sat’ (Mark 11:2), and His holy body was laid in Joseph’s ‘new tomb, wherein never man before was laid’ (Matthew 27:60; Luke 23:53). For the su...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jud 20:29-48. They Destroy All the Benjamites, Except Six Hundred.
**29-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--**A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
The Philistines consult how to send back the ark.(1-9)
They bring it to Bethshemesh.(10-18)
The people smitten for looking into the ark.(19-21)
**Verses 1-9**
Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the ark; so long it was a plague to them, because they would not send it home sooner. Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by ...
Read full commentary →And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go.</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel's superstitious use of the Ark as a magical talisman ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **In a coffer by the side thereof.**—The reverent awe with which these Philistines treated the Ark, which had, they supposed, wrought them such great evil, presents a strong contrast to the careless curiosity of the men of Beth-shemesh with regard to the same sacred object—a careless curiosity, which was punished, as we so often find in the case of acts of sacrilege, with extreme severity.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jud 20:29-48. They Destroy All the Benjamites, Except Six Hundred.
**29-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--**A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
The Philistines consult how to send back the ark.(1-9)
They bring it to Bethshemesh.(10-18)
The people smitten for looking into the ark.(19-21)
**Verses 1-9**
Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the ark; so long it was a plague to them, because they would not send it home sooner. Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by ...
Read full commentary →And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us. he: or, it
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us.</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel's superstitious use of the Ark as a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **It was a chance that happened to us.**—The priests and diviners were not certain whether the plague had been sent by the offended God of Israel or had visited Philistia in the ordinary course of nature. This strange experiment would satisfy the minds of the Philistine people. If the cows, contrary to their expectation, kept on the road to Bethshemesh, this would be a sign that they were driv...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jud 20:29-48. They Destroy All the Benjamites, Except Six Hundred.
**29-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--**A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 6
Chapter Outline
The Philistines consult how to send back the ark.(1-9)
They bring it to Bethshemesh.(10-18)
The people smitten for looking into the ark.(19-21)
**Verses 1-9**
Seven months the Philistines were punished with the presence of the ark; so long it was a plague to them, because they would not send it home sooner. Sinners lengthen out their own miseries by ...
Read full commentary →And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home:
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home:</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel's superstitious use of the Ark as a magical talisman demonstrated fundamental misunderstanding of covenant relationship. The Ark's capture and ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jud 20:29-48. They Destroy All the Benjamites, Except Six Hundred.
**29-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--**A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
These two kine knew their owner, their great Owner, whom Hophin and Phinehas knew not. God's providence takes notice even of brute creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. When the reapers saw the ark, they rejoiced; their joy for that was greater than the joy of harvest. The return of the ark, and the revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint and trouble, are...
Read full commentary →And they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods.</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel's superstitious use of the Ark as a magical talisman demonstrated fundamental misunderstanding of covenant relationship. The Ark's...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Jud 20:29-48. They Destroy All the Benjamites, Except Six Hundred.
**29-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--**A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
These two kine knew their owner, their great Owner, whom Hophin and Phinehas knew not. God's providence takes notice even of brute creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. When the reapers saw the ark, they rejoiced; their joy for that was greater than the joy of harvest. The return of the ark, and the revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint and trouble, are...
Read full commentary →And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway , lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethshemesh.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the kine took the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh.</strong><br><br>The Ark narrative reveals that God's presence cannot be manipulated through religious symbols or ritualistic practices. Israel'...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Went along the highway, lowing.**—But the dumb beasts did what the idol priests and diviners scarcely considered possible, for God’s hand drove them. The narrative here throughout is evidently unadorned, very easy and natural, and speaks of primitive customs, telling its story of the Divine interference of the *“*Glorious Arm” with exquisite simplicity and truth.
The dumb beasts went on the...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
These two kine knew their owner, their great Owner, whom Hophin and Phinehas knew not. God's providence takes notice even of brute creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. When the reapers saw the ark, they rejoiced; their joy for that was greater than the joy of harvest. The return of the ark, and the revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint and trouble, are...
Read full commentary →And they of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they 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.</strong><br><br>The wheat harvest setting provides both temporal marker and theological significance. The Hebrew verb samach (rejoiced) describes their spontaneous delight at seeing the Ark return. Beth-shemesh, meaning 'house of the sun,' was a L...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **And they of Beth-shemesh.**—Beth-shemesh, or “House of the Sun,” nearly equivalent to Heliopolis, “City of the Sun,” was a priestly city. It would thus have seemed that this was a fitting home for the Ark of the Covenant to rest in for a time. Shiloh, the old sanctuary, was, we know, now desolate and ruined; but the priests and Levites, from what follows, evidently had forfeited their old p...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
These two kine knew their owner, their great Owner, whom Hophin and Phinehas knew not. God's providence takes notice even of brute creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. When the reapers saw the ark, they rejoiced; their joy for that was greater than the joy of harvest. The return of the ark, and the revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint and trouble, are...
Read full commentary →And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the LORD.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the LORD.</strong><br><br>Divine providence directed the cart to stop at a specific location - the field of Joshua (whose name means 'salvation') beside a great stone suitable for an altar. The Hebrew 'ev...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **The field of Joshua, a Beth-shemite.**—The great stone—most likely a mass of natural rock rising from the soil—was the occasion of the cart being stopped there, Beth-shemesh and its suburbs being a city of the priests (Joshua 21:16). The presence of Levites, among whom were doubtless priests, is natural. These were, of course, the principal men of the city and its suburbs, and they were fam...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 21 Jud 21:1-15. The People Bewail The Desolation of Israel.
**2-5. the people came to the house of God, ... and lifted up their voices, and wept sore--**The characteristic fickleness of the Israelites was not long in being displayed; for scarcely had they cooled from the fierceness of their sanguinary vengeance, than they began to relent and rushed to the opposite extreme of self-accusati...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
These two kine knew their owner, their great Owner, whom Hophin and Phinehas knew not. God's providence takes notice even of brute creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. When the reapers saw the ark, they rejoiced; their joy for that was greater than the joy of harvest. The return of the ark, and the revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint and trouble, are...
Read full commentary →And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, wherein 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 unto the LORD.</strong><br><br>The Levites' involvement introduces proper order into the proceedings. Only Levites, specifically Kohathites, were authorize...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 21 Jud 21:1-15. The People Bewail The Desolation of Israel.
**2-5. the people came to the house of God, ... and lifted up their voices, and wept sore--**The characteristic fickleness of the Israelites was not long in being displayed; for scarcely had they cooled from the fierceness of their sanguinary vengeance, than they began to relent and rushed to the opposite extreme of self-accusati...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
These two kine knew their owner, their great Owner, whom Hophin and Phinehas knew not. God's providence takes notice even of brute creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. When the reapers saw the ark, they rejoiced; their joy for that was greater than the joy of harvest. The return of the ark, and the revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint and trouble, are...
Read full commentary →And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.</strong><br><br>The Philistine seranim (lords) witnessed the entire sequence: the cows' miraculous journey, the Israelites' joyful reception, and the sacrificial worship. Having followed the cart to verify their test's outcome, they now had undeniable proof that Yahweh's hand had indeed struck them...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **They returned to Ekron.**—The five Philistine princes, when they had watched the strange scene from a distance, returned; their mission was accomplished, and the question solved as to the source of the plagues which had visited their country.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 21 Jud 21:1-15. The People Bewail The Desolation of Israel.
**2-5. the people came to the house of God, ... and lifted up their voices, and wept sore--**The characteristic fickleness of the Israelites was not long in being displayed; for scarcely had they cooled from the fierceness of their sanguinary vengeance, than they began to relent and rushed to the opposite extreme of self-accusati...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
These two kine knew their owner, their great Owner, whom Hophin and Phinehas knew not. God's providence takes notice even of brute creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. When the reapers saw the ark, they rejoiced; their joy for that was greater than the joy of harvest. The return of the ark, and the revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint and trouble, are...
Read full commentary →And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the LORD; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the LORD; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;</strong><br><br>The narrator provides an itemized account of the guilt offering, listing each city's contribution. The Hebrew 'asham' (trespass or guilt offering) terminology shows the Philistines understood their...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **The golden emerods.**—The offering of the golden emerods (or *tumours*)*, *including one for each of the five principal cities. In the preceding chapter only Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron are mentioned as abiding places of the Ark, but there is no doubt that during the “seven months” the sacred chest was for a long or short period located in each of the five towns, in the Dagon temple which each ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 21 Jud 21:1-15. The People Bewail The Desolation of Israel.
**2-5. the people came to the house of God, ... and lifted up their voices, and wept sore--**The characteristic fickleness of the Israelites was not long in being displayed; for scarcely had they cooled from the fierceness of their sanguinary vengeance, than they began to relent and rushed to the opposite extreme of self-accusati...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
These two kine knew their owner, their great Owner, whom Hophin and Phinehas knew not. God's providence takes notice even of brute creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. When the reapers saw the ark, they rejoiced; their joy for that was greater than the joy of harvest. The return of the ark, and the revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint and trouble, are...
Read full commentary →And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite. great: or, great stone
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Beth-shemite.</strong><br><br>The golden mice extended beyond the five capital cities to re...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18)**And the golden mice.**—We have here a far greater number of “golden mice” mentioned as being offered in expiation than appear specified in the directions of the priests and diviners (1Samuel 6:4). The truth was that whilst the human sickness was confined to the five cities, the plague of field mice no doubt extended over the whole country. The inhabitants of all the villages were anxious to ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day--**that is, in danger of becoming extinct; for, as it appears from Jud 21:7, they had massacred all the women and children of Benjamin, and six hundred men alone survived of the whole tribe. The prospect of such a blank in the catalogue of the twelve tribes, such a gap in the national arrangements, was too painful to contemplate, and immediate m...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-18**
These two kine knew their owner, their great Owner, whom Hophin and Phinehas knew not. God's providence takes notice even of brute creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. When the reapers saw the ark, they rejoiced; their joy for that was greater than the joy of harvest. The return of the ark, and the revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint and trouble, are...
Read full commentary →And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.</strong><br><br>The narrative takes a devastating turn. The Hebrew 'ra'ah' (to look, gaze) combined with the preposition 'be' (into) sug...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **They had looked into the ark.**—Some commentators consider that the words here should be rendered, “because they had looked at the Ark” with a foolish irreverent staring, which dishonoured the holiness of the sacred mercy-seat; but it is better far to preserve the rendering of our English Version, which is also the favourite Rabbinical explanation of the original. It seems probable that the...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-21**
It is a great affront to God, for vain men to pry into, and meddle with the secret things which belong not to them, De 29:29; Col 2:18. Man was ruined by desiring forbidden knowledge. God will not suffer his ark to be profaned. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Those that will not fear his goodness, and reverently use the tokens of his grace, shall be made to feel his justic...
Read full commentary →And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?</strong><br><br>The survivors' response contains profound theological insight expressed through two questions. First: 'Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God?' The Hebrew 'qadosh' (holy) emphasizes God's otherness, His separation from all that is common or profane. ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Who is able to stand?**—There is some superstition involved in this exclamation, “Whither shall we send this awful visitant?” The men of the priestly city of Beth-shemesh strangely connected their invisible King with that golden Ark, which, sacred though it was, was but a lifeless chest of wood and gold.
Yet through their superstition we can discern a deep consciousness of sin and shortcomi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly--**This city lay within the territory of eastern Manasseh, about fifteen miles east of the Jordan, and was, according to Josephus, the capital of Gilead. The ban which the assembled tribes had pronounced at Mizpeh seemed to impose on them the necessity of punishing its inhabitants for not joining the crusade against Benjamin; and ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-21**
It is a great affront to God, for vain men to pry into, and meddle with the secret things which belong not to them, De 29:29; Col 2:18. Man was ruined by desiring forbidden knowledge. God will not suffer his ark to be profaned. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Those that will not fear his goodness, and reverently use the tokens of his grace, shall be made to feel his justic...
Read full commentary →And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.</strong><br><br>Beth-shemesh's solution was to transfer the Ark elsewhere. Kirjath-jearim ('city of forests'), located about ten miles northeast in the hill country, would become the Ark's home for approximately two decades. Th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Kirjath-jearim.**—Kirjath-jearim should be spelt and pronounced Kirjatb-jearim, the “city of woods” (wood-ville, wood-town, wooton). Its modern name is Kurzet-el-Erab, “the city of grapes,” the woods being in later days replaced by vines.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 19-21**
It is a great affront to God, for vain men to pry into, and meddle with the secret things which belong not to them, De 29:29; Col 2:18. Man was ruined by desiring forbidden knowledge. God will not suffer his ark to be profaned. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Those that will not fear his goodness, and reverently use the tokens of his grace, shall be made to feel his justic...
Read full commentary →