Chapter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

1 Samuel 6:15
ESV And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord.
NIV The Levites took down the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord.
NASB And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the saddlebag that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the Lord.
CSB The Levites removed the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord.
NLT Several men of the tribe of Levi lifted the Ark of the Lord and the chest containing the gold rats and gold tumors from the cart and placed them on the large rock. Many sacrifices and burnt offerings were offered to the Lord that day by the people of Beth-shemesh.
KJV And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the Lord.
NKJV The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the Lord.

What does 1 Samuel 6:15 mean?

During the time of Joshua—not the Joshua of the prior verse (1 Samuel 6:14) but the leader of the Israelites after Moses—the city of Beth-shemesh was given to the priestly tribe of the Levites (Joshua 21:16). The Levites were not given their own territory in Israel, but they were given cities inside each of the territories so they could be available to serve the people of every tribe. Presumably, that is why some of the Levites were so quickly available to take the ark from the cart.

The stone upon which the people sacrificed the milk cows as a burnt offering was apparently exceptionally large. The Levites placed the ark and the box containing the golden items from the Philistines on the stone, and then the men of the community offered the sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord there.

The Lord seems to receive these offerings, but readers familiar with the law of Moses may be concerned. This is a very casual treatment of the ark and sacrifices made alongside the guilt offering from the Philistines. In fact, the people of Beth-shemesh were being far too careless with the ark of the Lord in their enthusiasm over its return (1 Samuel 6:19). This is not too surprising given the prior descriptions about the treatment of the ark during the battle with the Philistines (1 Samuel 4:2–5).
Expand
Expand
Expand
What is the Gospel?
Download the app:
BibleRef.com is part of Got Questions Ministries

For answers to your Bible questions, please visit