1 Samuel 5:1

The Ark Causes Trouble for the Philistines

5:1 Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

1 Samuel 5:6

5:6 The Lord attacked ¹  the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of ²  both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores. ³ 

1 Samuel 5:2

5:2 The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon.

1 Samuel 26:6

26:6 David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” Abishai replied, “I will go down with you.”

Nehemiah 13:23-24

13:23 Also in those days I saw the men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 13:24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod (or the language of one of the other peoples mentioned ⁴ ) and were unable to speak the language of Judah.

Isaiah 20:1

20:1 The Lord revealed the following message during the year in which King Sargon of Assyria sent his commanding general to Ashdod, and he fought against it and captured it. ⁵ 

Amos 1:8

1:8 I will remove ⁶  the ruler ⁷  from Ashdod, ⁸ 

the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. ⁹ 

I will strike Ekron ¹⁰  with my hand; ¹¹ 

the rest of the Philistines will also die.” ¹² 

The sovereign Lord has spoken!

¹ tn Heb “the hand of the Lord was heavy upon.”

² tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

³ tc The LXX and Vulgate add the following: “And mice multiplied in their land, and the terror of death was throughout the entire city.”

⁴ tn Heb “people and people.”

⁵ tn Heb “In the year the commanding general came to Ashdod, when Sargon king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and captured it.”

⁶ tn Heb “cut off.”

⁷ tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some translations take this expression as a collective singular referring to the inhabitants rather than the ruler (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).

⁸ sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

⁹ sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

¹⁰ sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).

¹¹ tn Heb “I will turn my hand against Ekron.” For other uses of the idiom, “turn the hand against,” see Ps 81:14; Isa 1:25; Jer 6:9; Zech 13:7.

¹² tn Heb “and the remnant of the Philistines will perish.” The translation above assumes that reference is made to other Philistines beside those living in the cities mentioned. Another option is to translate, “Every last Philistine will die.”