1 Samuel6

After seven months, the Philistines, afflicted by the Ark of the LORD, consult their priests and diviners on how to return it. They are advised to send it with a trespass offering of golden emerods and mice, using unyoked milch kine to test if the plagues were from the God of Israel. The kine miraculously transport the Ark directly to Bethshemesh, where the inhabitants rejoice but are smitten by the LORD for looking into the Ark, leading them to send it away.

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The Philistines Seek to Return the Ark

When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines seven months,

the Philistines summoned the priests and diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how to send it back to its place.”

They replied, “If you return the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means return it to Him with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why His hand has not been lifted from you.”

“What guilt offering should we send back to Him?” asked the Philistines. “Five gold tumors and five gold rats,” they said, “according to the number of rulers of the Philistines, since the same plague has struck both you and your rulers.

Make images of your tumors and of the rats that are ravaging the land. Give glory to the God of Israel, and perhaps He will lift His hand from you and your gods and your land.

Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When He afflicted them, did they not send the people on their way as they departed?

Now, therefore, prepare one new cart with two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.

Take the ark of the LORD, set it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending Him as a guilt offering. Then send the ark on its way,

but keep watching it. If it goes up the road to its homeland, toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has brought on us this great disaster. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not His hand that punished us and that it happened by chance.”

The Ark's Miraculous Journey to Beth-shemesh

So the men did as instructed. They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and penned up their calves.

Then they put the ark of the LORD on the cart, along with the chest containing the gold rats and the images of the tumors.

And the cows headed straight up the road toward Beth-shemesh, staying on that one highway and lowing as they went, never straying to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed behind them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

Now the people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed at the sight.

The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.

And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold objects, and they placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD.

And when the five rulers of the Philistines saw this, they returned to Ekron that same day.

As a guilt offering to the LORD, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.

The number of gold rats also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities belonging to the five rulers—the fortified cities and their outlying villages. And the large rock on which they placed the ark of the LORD stands to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.

Judgment on Beth-shemesh and the Ark's Relocation

But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck them with a great slaughter.

The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?”

So they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up with you.”

Study Notes for 1 Samuel 6

Verse 1

The seven-month period underscores the duration of the Philistine suffering, confirming that the plagues were not random but were divine judgment for possessing the sacred Ark.

Verse 2

The Philistines consult both 'priests' (religious officials) and 'diviners' (interpreters of omens), combining their religious and occult resources to understand the power of the God of Israel.

Verse 3

The requirement for a 'trespass offering' (Hebrew: *’asham*) mirrors Israelite law (Leviticus 5), suggesting the consultants recognized that YHWH required atonement and reparation for the offense against His holiness.

Verse 4

The 'golden emerods' (tumors or hemorrhoids) and 'mice' (likely representing the carriers of the bubonic plague) were votive offerings—replicas of the affliction—intended to appease the offended deity, a common practice in the ancient Near East.

Verse 5

By offering these images, the Philistines implicitly acknowledged YHWH’s supremacy over their own gods and sought to divert His hand of judgment. To 'give glory' here means to recognize His power.

Verse 6

The consultants warn the Philistine lords against hardening their hearts, citing the famous example of Pharaoh and the Exodus plagues, demonstrating that YHWH’s power was known even among their enemies.

Verse 7

The kine (cows) were chosen for two specific reasons: they had never been yoked (making them difficult to control) and they were nursing their calves (creating a strong natural maternal instinct to return home).

Verse 9

This verse sets up the test: if the cows ignore instinct and travel directly to Israelite territory (Beth-shemesh), it proves the plague was divine judgment; otherwise, it was merely 'chance' (*miqreh*).

Verse 12

The straight path taken by the cows, despite their strong instinct to return to their calves, confirmed to the Philistines that the hand of the God of Israel had guided the Ark supernaturally.

Verse 14

The immediate action of offering the cart and the kine as a burnt offering demonstrates the inhabitants' gratitude and recognition that YHWH had delivered His Ark.

Verse 15

The Levites, who were responsible for the proper handling of the Ark, took it down and placed it, along with the offerings, on the great stone, validating the return ritual.

Verse 17

The number five corresponds exactly to the 'five lords' of the Philistine confederation (Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron), indicating that the plague had affected the entire ruling structure.

Verse 18

The mention of the golden mice indicates a plague that affected both fortified cities and the surrounding agricultural areas, confirming the widespread nature of the judgment.

Verse 19

The severity of the judgment highlights the absolute holiness of the Ark and the strict prohibition against unauthorized viewing (Numbers 4:20). The casual curiosity of the Beth-shemesh residents was treated as sacrilege.

Verse 20

This exclamation shows the people recognized that YHWH’s holiness (*qadosh*) was terrifying and required a level of ritual purity and reverence they had failed to provide.

Verse 21

The Ark was subsequently taken to Kirjath-jearim, a Gibeonite city, where it remained in the house of Abinadab for twenty years (7:2) until King David moved it to Jerusalem.

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1 Samuel6

The Philistines Seek to Return the Ark

The Ark's Miraculous Journey to Beth-shemesh

Judgment on Beth-shemesh and the Ark's Relocation

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