1 Samuel 6 · WEB
The Ark Returned to Israel
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The ark of Yahweh was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
2The Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of Yahweh? Show us how we should send it to its place."
3They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, don't send it empty; but by all means return him a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you."
4Then they said, "What is the trespass offering which we shall return to him?" They answered, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all and on your lords.
5Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your mice that mar the land. You shall give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will relieve his hand from off you, from off your gods, and from off your land.
6Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had worked wonderfully among them, didn't they let the people go, and they departed?
7Now therefore take and prepare yourselves a new cart and two milk cows, on which there has come no yoke; and tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home from them;
8and take the ark of Yahweh and lay it on the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which you return him for a trespass offering, in a box by its side; and send it away, that it may go.
9Behold, if it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has done us this great evil; but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it was a chance that happened to us."
10The men did so, and took two milk cows and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home;
11and they put the ark of Yahweh on the cart, the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors.
12The cows went straight on the way to Beth Shemesh. They went along the highway, lowing as they went, and didn't turn aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
14The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stood there, where there was a great stone. They split the wood of the cart and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh.
15The Levites took down the ark of Yahweh and the box that was with it, in which the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone; and the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to Yahweh.
16When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
17These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering to Yahweh: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;
18and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great stone, on which they set down the ark of Yahweh, which stone remains in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh to this day.
19He struck of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Yahweh, even he struck of the people fifty thousand seventy men; and the people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter.
20The men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? To whom shall he go up from us?"
21They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of Yahweh. Come down and take it up to yourselves."
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Summary
After seven months of devastating plagues, the Philistines consult their priests and return the Ark to Israel with gold offerings as a guilt offering, using an ox cart guided by God to confirm His hand in the affliction. The Ark miraculously travels to Beth Shemesh, where Israelites joyfully receive it. However, some men of Beth Shemesh look irreverently into the Ark and are struck dead, demonstrating that God's holiness is no less demanding in Israel than in Philistia. The Ark is then sent on to Kiriath Jearim.
Themes
- The holiness and unapproachable majesty of God
- God's sovereignty displayed even among pagan nations
- The proper fear and reverence due to God
- The folly of treating sacred things with casual familiarity
Key verses
- 1 Sam 6:20 — “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God?”
- 1 Sam 6:9 — “If it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has done us this great evil.”
Context & background
Beth Shemesh (modern Tell er-Rumeileh in the Shephelah foothills of modern central Israel) was an Israelite town at the edge of Philistine territory, roughly 15 miles west of Jerusalem. The five Philistine city-states — Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron — were all located along the modern Israeli and Gaza coastal plain. The test of the unmilked cows — naturally drawn to their calves rather than traveling uphill into Israelite territory — was designed to eliminate chance and confirm divine direction. Kiriath Jearim (modern Abu Ghosh, near Jerusalem) would house the Ark for twenty years until David retrieved it.
Cross-references
- 1 Sam 7:1-2 — The Ark rests at Kiriath Jearim, where it stays until David's time.
- 2 Sam 6:6-7 — Uzzah's death when touching the Ark echoes the same principle of God's holiness.
- Lev 10:1-3 — Nadab and Abihu struck dead for irreverent worship — God is holy before His people and before others.
- Num 4:15,20 — Levites were forbidden to look at or touch the holy objects; the Beth Shemesh deaths reflect this law.
- Ps 99:9 — "Exalt Yahweh our God and worship at his holy mountain, for Yahweh our God is holy."