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1 SAMUEL 5

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

 NASB  NKJV  NRSV  TEV   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

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

  1. First paragraph
  2. Second paragraph
  3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 5:1-5
  1Now the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. 3When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again. 4But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

5:1 Notice the different names of the Deity of the ark.

  1. the ark of the covenant of YHWH ‒ 1 Sam. 4:3,6
  2. the ark of the covenant of YHWH of hosts ‒ 1 Sam. 4:4
  3. the ark of the covenant of God (Elohim) ‒ 1 Sam. 4:4
  4. the ark of God (YHWH) ‒ 1 Sam. 4:5; 5:3,4; 6:1,8,11,15,19,21
  5. the ark of God (Elohim) ‒ 1 Sam. 4:13,17,18,19,21,22; 5:1,9,10
  6. 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.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 5:6-12
  6Now the hand of the Lord was heavy on the Ashdodites, and He ravaged them and smote them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories. 7When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god." 8So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" And they said, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath." And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around. 9After they had brought it around, the hand of the Lord was against the city with very great confusion; and He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. 10So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to kill us and our people." 11They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people." For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12And the men who did not die were smitten with tumors and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

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"
LXX  "it broke out upon them into the ships,
 and in the midst of its territory mice grew up"
Peshitta  "boils"

The MT has the noun (BDB 779 II), which is also found in the plagues of Deut. 28:27, where it is translated

  1. "tumors" ‒ NASB, JPSOA
  2. "emerods" ‒ NKJV
  3. "ulcers" ‒ NRSV
  4. "sores" ‒ TEV
  5. "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"
REB  "great havoc"
LXX  "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.

  1. send away ‒ BDB 1018, KB 1511, Piel IMPERATIVE
  2. 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

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

  1. Why does the ark go by so many different names?
  2. Who was the god Dagon"?
  3. Why did the ancients fear the "threshold"?
  4. What killed so many Philistines? How does the LXX seem to answer this question?

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