1 Samuel 6:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And they said, "What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?" They answered, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords.

NIV: The Philistines asked, "What guilt offering should we send to him?" They replied, "Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers.

NASB: Then they said, 'What is to be the guilt offering that we shall return to Him?' And they said, 'Five gold tumors and five gold mice corresponding to the number of the governors of the Philistines, since one plague was on all of you and on your governors.

CSB: They asked, "What guilt offering should we send back to him?" And they answered, "Five gold tumors and five gold mice corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers, since there was one plague for both you and your rulers.

NLT: What sort of guilt offering should we send?' they asked. And they were told, 'Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land.

KJV: Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

NKJV: Then they said, “What is the trespass offering which we shall return to Him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines. For the same plague was on all of you and on your lords.

The leaders of the Philistines are ready to send the ark of the Lord back to Israel in hopes that it will end the suffering and death of God's judgment against them (1 Samuel 5:6–12; 6:2). Their priests and diviners have counseled not to return the ark without a guilt offering to the Lord of Israel if they hope to be healed (1 Samuel 6:3). Here the leaders ask what that guilt offering should be.

The priests and diviners suggest sending five golden tumors and five golden mice, one for each of the five lords of the five major cities of the Philistines. The priests add a new detail here that the same plague struck all the lords and each of their cities. Apparently, it was not contained to the cities in which the ark had been held (1 Samuel 5:6–12). God struck the entire nation with the same tumors and panic.

Commentators are divided about whether the text should be read to describe five golden tumors and five golden mice, or five golden tumors which also resemble mice. In other words, it is unclear if five or ten objects are intended. Commentators also speculate about the meaning of mice in this passage. Some suggest mice or rats brought the plague to the Philistines, making it similar to the bubonic plague. Since that disease causes swollen growths, it would correspond to the tumors that came from God's wrath. Other commentators believe the sculpted golden mice were meant to symbolize the tumors that had ravaged the people's bodies as a kind of infestation.

In either case, this guilt offering seems to be an example of so-called "sympathetic magic." This principle has been practiced by many religions, including in the ancient world. A representation of the affliction was sacrificed or sent away in hopes that the god or gods would take away the actual affliction.

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.