4 And when they arose early H7925 on the morrow H4283 morning, H1242 behold, Dagon H1712 was fallen H5307 upon his face H6440 to the ground H776 before H6440 the ark H727 of the LORD; H3068 and the head H7218 of Dagon H1712 and both H8147 the palms H3709 of his hands H3027 were cut off H3772 upon the threshold; H4670 only the stump of Dagon H1712 was left H7604 to him.
And the idols H457 he shall utterly H3632 abolish. H2498 And they shall go H935 into the holes H4631 of the rocks, H6697 and into the caves H4247 of the earth, H6083 for H6440 fear H6343 of the LORD, H3068 and for the glory H1926 of his majesty, H1347 when he ariseth H6965 to shake terribly H6206 the earth. H776
And your altars H4196 shall be desolate, H8074 and your images H2553 shall be broken: H7665 and I will cast down H5307 your slain H2491 men before H6440 your idols. H1544 And I will lay H5414 the dead carcases H6297 of the children H1121 of Israel H3478 before H6440 their idols; H1544 and I will scatter H2219 your bones H6106 round about H5439 your altars. H4196 In all your dwellingplaces H4186 the cities H5892 shall be laid waste, H2717 and the high places H1116 shall be desolate; H3456 that your altars H4196 may be laid waste H2717 and made desolate, H816 and your idols H1544 may be broken H7665 and cease, H7673 and your images H2553 may be cut down, H1438 and your works H4639 may be abolished. H4229
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Samuel 5
Commentary on 1 Samuel 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
1Sa 5:1, 2. The Philistines Bring the Ark into the House of Dagon.
1. Ashdod—or Azotus, one of the five Philistine satrapies, and a place of great strength. It was an inland town, thirty-four miles north of Gaza, now called Esdud.
2. the house of Dagon—Stately temples were erected in honor of this idol, which was the principal deity of the Philistines, but whose worship extended over all Syria, as well as Mesopotamia and Chaldea; its name being found among the Assyrian gods on the cuneiform inscriptions [Rawlinson]. It was represented under a monstrous combination of a human head, breast, and arms, joined to the belly and tail of a fish. The captured ark was placed in the temple of Dagon, right before this image of the idol.
1Sa 5:3-5. Dagon Falls Down.
3, 4. they of Ashdod arose early—They were filled with consternation when they found the object of their stupid veneration prostrate before the symbol of the divine presence. Though set up, it fell again, and lay in a state of complete mutilation; its head and arms, severed from the trunk, were lying in distant and separate places, as if violently cast off, and only the fishy part remained. The degradation of their idol, though concealed by the priests on the former occasion, was now more manifest and infamous. It lay in the attitude of a vanquished enemy and a suppliant, and this picture of humiliation significantly declared the superiority of the God of Israel.
5. Therefore neither the priests … nor any … tread on the threshold of Dagon—A superstitious ceremony crept in, and in the providence of God was continued, by which the Philistines contributed to publish this proof of the helplessness of their god.
unto this day—The usage continued in practice at the time when this history was written—probably in the later years of Samuel's life.
1Sa 5:6-12. The Philistines Are Smitten with Emerods.
6. the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod—The presumption of the Ashdodites was punished by a severe judgment that overtook them in the form of a pestilence.
smote them with emerods—bleeding piles, hemorrhoids (Ps 78:66), in a very aggravated form. As the heathens generally regarded diseases affecting the secret parts of the body as punishments from the gods for trespasses committed against themselves, the Ashdodites would be the more ready to look upon the prevailing epidemic as demonstrating the anger of God, already shown against their idol.
7. the ark of God shall not abide with us—It was removed successively to several of the large towns of the country, but the same pestilence broke out in every place and raged so fiercely and fatally that the authorities were forced to send the ark back into the land of Israel [1Sa 5:8-10].
11. they sent—that is, the magistrates of Ekron.
12. the cry of the city went up to heaven—The disease is attended with acute pain, and it is far from being a rare phenomenon in the Philistian plain [Van De Velde].