1 Samuel 6:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed?

NIV: Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

NASB: Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not let the people go, and they left?

CSB: Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When he afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left?

NLT: Don’t be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go.

KJV: Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?

NKJV: Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among them, did they not let the people go, that they might depart?

The priests are advising the leaders of the Philistines about how best to send the ark of the Lord (Exodus 25:10–16) back to the Israelites. They hope that doing so will cause the Israelites' God to stop the plagues which have been afflicting them (1 Samuel 5:6–12; 6:2–3). The priests have said plainly the Philistines should send a guilt offering to the Lord and give Him glory (1 Samuel 6:3–5).

Now they tell the leaders not to make the same mistake that the Pharaoh and the Egyptians did when the Lord sent plagues on them. The Pharaoh resisted the Lord and kept hardening his heart, refusing to let the people go (Exodus 7:13, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 34; 10:1–2, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:8). The point the priests of the Philistines are making is that, in the end, the result was the same: The Egyptians let the people go. Why suffer any more than they already have?

It's unclear if the Philistines ever read Moses' version of Exodus, but they clearly knew a version of the story (1 Samuel 4:5–9). More than that, the Philistines learned to fear the God of Israel from the story and intentionally applied what they learned to their own circumstances. The same could not be said of Israel in every season, or even of some modern believers in Jesus. It serves us well to remember that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). When we rightly understand who God is—both in His saving grace and in His majestic holiness—we are poised to honor God with our lives (Hebrews 4:11–13; Romans 12:1–2) and to experience true life in Him more richly (John 15:1–11).

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.