1 Samuel 6:2 - Printer Friendly

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.”

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.

First Samuel 6:1–18 describes the Philistine plan to send the ark of the Lord back to Israel. They hope to stop the plague and panic with which God d afflicted them (1 Samuel 5). At the advice of their priests and diviners, the Philistines place the ark and a guilt offering of five golden mice and five golden tumors on a new cart pulled by two milk cows. The cows head straight for the Israelite town of Beth-shemesh. There, the rejoicing people offer the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. The Levites living in the town place the ark and the golden images on a large rock. The lords of the Philistines see the sacrifice and return to Ekron.

The Philistine religious leaders advise the five lords of the Philistines to send the ark of the Lord back to Israel with a guilt offering to stop the plague of tumors ravishing their land (1 Samuel 5:6–12). The Philistines place the ark along with five golden mice (or five golden tumors and five golden mice) on a new cart hitched to two untrained milk cows whose calves are shut up at home. The cows head straight for the Israelite border town of Beth-shemesh. There, the people rejoice and offer the cows before the ark as a burnt offering to the Lord. The Lord kills seventy men of the town because the people looked at the ark. Frightened, the people send to Kiriath-jearim and ask them to take the ark.

First Samuel 6 finds most of the Philistines convinced that the plague and panic (1 Samuel 5:6–12) are from the Lord. They place the ark of the Lord and a guilt offering of golden mice on a cart pulled by two milk cows. The cows pull the ark straight to the Israelite town of Beth-shemesh, where the rejoicing people offer the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord before the ark. The Lord kills seventy men of the town for looking at (or in) the ark. The people of Beth-shemesh send word to those in another town to take the ark away.

First Samuel introduces the key figures who led Israel after the era of the judges. The books of 1 and 2 Samuel were originally part of a single text, split in certain translations shortly before the birth of Christ. Some of the Bible’s most famous characters are depicted in this book. These including the prophet Samuel, Israel’s first king, Saul, her greatest king, David, and other famous names such as Goliath and Jonathan. By the end of this book, Saul has fallen; the book of 2 Samuel begins with David’s ascension to the throne.