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1 Samuel 6:2
ESV And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place."
NIV the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place."
NASB And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, 'What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we may send it to its place.'
CSB the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners and pleaded, "What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we can send it back to its place."
NLT Then the Philistines called in their priests and diviners and asked them, 'What should we do about the Ark of the Lord? Tell us how to return it to its own country.'
KJV And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.
NKJV And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it to its place.”

What does 1 Samuel 6:2 mean?

The Philistine people were desperate to get the ark of the Lord out of their region. As far as most of them were concerned, it had brought nothing but death and disease and suffering and terror during the entire seven months it had been in their possession (1 Samuel 5:11–12).

The decision seems to have been made to send the ark back to the Israelites. Some, however, wanted to conduct one more test. They hoped it was a coincidence that the ark had been present for all the suffering they had experienced (1 Samuel 6:9).

The people call for the priests and diviners, the pagan religious experts of their region, to come and advise on how best to send the ark back to Israel. According to the theology of the time outside of Israel, angry gods had to be appeased with the right kinds of sacrifices to get them to stop inflicting harm on the people. The Philistines believed they would need to give something special to Israel's God, along with returning Him to His people, so He would stop the tumors and panic.

None of this really mattered to the Lord. He alone is God, and no other gods exist to be appeased. He was provoking the Philistines to return the ark to Israel, but He was not doing it to get special sacrifices from the Philistines. He did not participate in their worship in any way.
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