9 If it goes by the land of Israel to Beth-shemesh, then this great evil is his work; but if not, then we may be certain that the evil was not his doing, but was the working of chance.
Then turning west, the line goes from Baalah to Mount Seir, and on to the side of Mount Jearim (which is Chesalon) on the north, then down to Beth-shemesh, and on past Timnah:
And Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their grass-lands; nine towns from those two tribes.
And the young man said, I came by chance to Mount Gilboa, and I saw Saul supporting himself on his spear; and the war-carriages and horsemen overtook him.
And again I saw under the sun that the reward goes not to him who is quick, or the fruits of war to the strong; and there is no bread for the wise, or wealth for men of learning, or respect for those who have knowledge; but time and chance come to all.
If the horn is sounded in the town will the people not be full of fear? will evil come on a town if the Lord has not done it?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Samuel 6
Commentary on 1 Samuel 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
In this chapter we have the return of the ark to the land of Israel, whither we are now gladly to attend it, and observe,
1Sa 6:1-9
The first words of the chapter tell us how long the captivity of the ark continued-it was in the country of the Philistines seven months. In the field of the Philistines (so it is in the original), from which some gather that, having tried it in all their cities, and found it a plague to the inhabitants of each, at length they sent it into the open fields, upon which mice sprang up out of the ground in great multitudes, and destroyed the corn which was now nearly ripe and marred the land. With that judgment they were plagued (v. 5), and yet it is not mentioned in the foregoing chapter; so God let them know that wherever they carried the ark, so long as they carried it captive, they should find it a curse to them. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed in the field, Deu. 28:16. But, most take it to signify, as we render it, The country of the Philistines. Now,
1Sa 6:10-18
We are here told,
1Sa 6:19-21
Here is,