Discovery Box1 Samuel 5:1--6:9
Context5:1 Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 5:2 The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon. 5:3 When the residents of Ashdod got up early the next day, 1 Dagon was lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him back in his place. 5:4 But when they got up early the following day, Dagon was again lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and his two hands were sheared off and were lying at the threshold. Only Dagon’s body was left intact. 2 5:5 (For this reason, to this very day, neither Dagon’s priests nor anyone else who enters Dagon’s temple step on Dagon’s threshold in Ashdod.)
5:6 The Lord attacked 3 the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of 4 both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores. 5 5:7 When the people 6 of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked 7 both us and our god Dagon!”
5:8 So they assembled 8 all the leaders of the Philistines and asked, “What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They replied, “The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
5:9 But after it had been moved the Lord attacked 9 that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city 10 with sores. 11 5:10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.
But when the ark of God arrived at Ekron, the residents of Ekron cried out saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here 12 to kill our 13 people!” 5:11 So they assembled 14 all the leaders of the Philistines and said, “Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won’t kill us 15 and our 16 people!” The terror 17 of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there. 18 5:12 The people 19 who did not die were struck with sores; the city’s cry for help went all the way up to heaven.
6:1 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land 20 of the Philistines for seven months, 21 6:2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.”
6:3 They replied, “If you are going to send the ark of 22 the God of Israel back, don’t send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand is not removed from you.” 6:4 They inquired, “What is the guilt offering that we should send to him?”
They replied, “The Philistine leaders number five. So send five gold sores and five gold mice, for it is the same plague that has afflicted both you and your leaders. 6:5 You should make images of the sores and images of the mice 23 that are destroying the land. You should honor the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his grip on you, your gods, and your land. 24 6:6 Why harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? 25 When God 26 treated them harshly, didn’t the Egyptians send the Israelites on their way? 27 6:7 So now go and make a new cart. Get two cows that have calves and that have never had a yoke placed on them. Harness the cows to the cart and take their calves from them back to their stalls. 6:8 Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a chest beside it the gold objects you are sending to him as a guilt offering. You should then send it on its way. 6:9 But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident.”
[5:3] 1 tc The LXX adds “they entered the temple of Dagon and saw.”
[5:4] 2 tc Heb “only Dagon was left.” We should probably read the word גֵּו (gev, “back”) before Dagon, understanding it to have the sense of the similar word גְּוִיָּה (gÿviyyah, “body”). This variant is supported by the following evidence: The LXX has ἡ ῥάχις (Jh rJacis, “the back” or “trunk”); the Syriac Peshitta has wegusmeh (“and the body of”); the Targum has gupyeh (“the body of”); the Vulgate has truncus (“the trunk of,” cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT). On the strength of this evidence the present translation employs the phrase “Dagon’s body.”
[5:6] 3 tn Heb “the hand of the
[5:6] 4 tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[5:6] 5 tc The LXX and Vulgate add the following: “And mice multiplied in their land, and the terror of death was throughout the entire city.”
[5:7] 7 tn Heb “for his hand is severe upon.”
[5:8] 8 tn Heb “and they sent and gathered.”
[5:9] 9 tn Heb “the hand of the
[5:9] 10 tn Heb “and he struck the men of the city from small and to great.”
[5:9] 11 tn See the note on this term in v. 6. Cf. KJV “and they had emerods in their secret parts.”
[5:11] 14 tn Heb “and they sent and gathered.”
[5:11] 18 tn Heb “the hand of God was very heavy there.”
[6:1] 21 tc The LXX adds “and their land swarmed with mice.”
[6:3] 22 tc The LXX and a Qumran
[6:5] 23 tn Heb “your mice.” A Qumran
[6:5] 24 tn Heb “Perhaps he will lighten his hand from upon you and from upon your gods and from upon your land.”
[6:6] 25 tn Heb “like Egypt and Pharaoh hardened their heart.”
[6:6] 26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
