6 But the hand H3027 of the LORD H3068 was heavy H3513 upon them of Ashdod, H796 and he destroyed H8074 them, and smote H5221 them with emerods, H2914 H6076 even Ashdod H795 and the coasts H1366 thereof.
So they sent H7971 and gathered together H622 all the lords H5633 of the Philistines, H6430 and said, H559 Send away H7971 the ark H727 of the God H430 of Israel, H3478 and let it go again H7725 to his own place, H4725 that it slay H4191 us not, and our people: H5971 for there was a deadly H4194 destruction H4103 throughout all the city; H5892 the hand H3027 of God H430 was very H3966 heavy H3513 there.
And G2532 now, G3568 behold, G2400 the hand G5495 of the Lord G2962 is upon G1909 thee, G4571 and G2532 thou shalt be G2071 blind, G5185 not G3361 seeing G991 the sun G2246 for G891 a season. G2540 And G1161 immediately G3916 there fell G1968 on G1909 him G846 a mist G887 and G2532 a darkness; G4655 and G2532 he went about G4013 seeking G2212 some to lead him by the hand. G5497
And he smote H5221 his enemies H6862 in the hinder parts: H268 he put H5414 them to a perpetual H5769 reproach. H2781
And it was so, that, after H310 they had carried it about, H5437 the hand H3027 of the LORD H3068 was against the city H5892 with a very H3966 great H1419 destruction: H4103 and he smote H5221 the men H582 of the city, H5892 both small H6996 and great, H1419 and they had emerods H2914 H6076 in their secret parts. H8368
Then said H559 they, What shall be the trespass offering H817 which we shall return H7725 to him? They answered, H559 Five H2568 golden H2091 emerods, H2914 H6076 and five H2568 golden H2091 mice, H5909 according to the number H4557 of the lords H5633 of the Philistines: H6430 for one H259 plague H4046 was on you all, and on your lords. H5633 Wherefore ye shall make H6213 images H6754 of your emerods, H2914 H6076 and images H6754 of your mice H5909 that mar H7843 the land; H776 and ye shall give H5414 glory H3519 unto the God H430 of Israel: H3478 peradventure he will lighten H7043 his hand H3027 from off you, and from off your gods, H430 and from off your land. H776
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].