1 Samuel 5
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
1 Samuel 5
NJB (MT versing) Capture of the Ark Provokes God The Philistines and the Ark The Ark Troubles the Philistines The Covenant Box Among the Philistines The Ark Brings Disaster to the Philistines 5:1-5 5:1-5 5:1-5 5:1-5 5:1-5 5:6-12 5:6-9 5:6-12 5:6-8b 5:6-12 5:8c-12 5:10-12 Etc.
1 Samuel 5:1-5
5:1 Notice the different names of the Deity of the ark. the ark of the covenant of YHWH ‒ 1 Sam. 4:3,6 the ark of the covenant of YHWH of hosts ‒ 1 Sam. 4:4 the ark of the covenant of God (Elohim) ‒ 1 Sam. 4:4 the ark of God (YHWH) ‒ 1 Sam. 4:5; 5:3,4; 6:1,8,11,15,19,21 the ark of God (Elohim) ‒ 1 Sam. 4:13,17,18,19,21,22; 5:1,9,10 the ark of God (El) ‒ 1 Sam. 5:7,8,11; 6:3 For the Israelites the name YHWH is used most often but for foreigners it would be El or Elohim. ▣ "Ashdod" See notes at 1 Sam. 4:1. 5:2 "Dagon" This was a grain god (i.e., male fertility god; ABD, p. 2) of the Fertile Crescent (BDB 186) from the third millennium b.c. The Philistines assimilated the religious culture of the Canaanites (cf. Josh. 15:41; 19:27; 1 Samuel 5; 1 Chr. 10:10). In some texts found at Ugarit, Dagon is the father of Ba'al. See note in IVP Background Bible Commentary, p. 287. SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST 5:3 "Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark" This was a symbolic gesture of the power and reality of YHWH vs. a molten idol (cf. vv. 3, 4). 5:4 "the threshold" In the ANE the board or stone that formed the bottom of the door was seen as an especially sacred site. It could house the demonic. People were careful not to step on the threshold (cf. v. 5). Even the modern practice of carrying one's new bride over the threshold is a throwback to this ancient superstition.
1 Samuel 5:6-12
5:6 "the hand of the Lord was heavy" "Hand" is a Semitic idiom for power. SPECIAL TOPIC: HAND SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE GOD ▣ NASB, JPSOA, REB footnote "hemorrhoids" NKJV, NRSV, TEV, NJB, REB "tumors" "it broke out upon them into the ships, and in the midst of its territory mice grew up" "boils" The MT has the noun (BDB 779 II), which is also found in the plagues of Deut. 28:27, where it is translated "tumors" ‒ NASB, JPSOA "emerods" ‒ NKJV "ulcers" ‒ NRSV "sores" ‒ TEV "swelling in the groin" ‒ NJB Because the LXX mentions "mice" most commentators today think it refers to the dark swollen bumps caused by the bites of fleas which caused bubonic plague. Notice that one of the offerings of the Philistines was "golden mice," 1 Sam. 6:4. 5:8 "the lords of the Philistines" See note at 1 Sam. 4:1. ▣ "the ark of the God of Israel" See full note at 1 Sam. 5:1. 5:9 NASB, NRSV "very great confusion" NKJV, Peshitta "very great destruction" TEV, NJB, JPSOA "great panic" "great havoc" "very great disturbance" The MT has the ADJECTIVE "great" (BDB 152) and the FEMININE NOUN "tumult," "confusion" (BDB 223). The NOUN appears again in v. 11. 5:11 The leaders (i.e., kings) of the five city-states of the Philistines give two commands related to the ark. send away ‒ BDB 1018, KB 1511, Piel IMPERATIVE let it return ‒ BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal JUSSIVE The symbol of their victory had become the source of their problems! 5:12 "went up to heaven" As the Egyptians cried out to Israel's God (cf. Exod. 11:6; 12:30), so too, now the Philistines cry out. SPECIAL TOPIC: THE HEAVENS AND THE THIRD HEAVEN