1 Samuel 5:6-12

1 Samuel 5:6-12

[6] But the hand  of the LORD  was heavy  upon them of Ashdod,  and he destroyed  them, and smote  even Ashdod  and the coasts  thereof. [7] And when the men  of Ashdod  saw  that it was so, they said,  The ark  of the God  of Israel  shall not abide  with us: for his hand  is sore  upon us, and upon Dagon  our god.  [8] They sent  therefore and gathered  all the lords  of the Philistines  unto them, and said,  What shall we do  with the ark  of the God  of Israel?  And they answered,  Let the ark  of the God  of Israel  be carried about  unto Gath.  the ark  of the God  of Israel  about  thither. [9] And it was so, that, after  they had carried it about,  the hand  of the LORD  was against the city  with a very  great  destruction:  and he smote  of the city,  both small  and great,  in their secret parts.  [10] Therefore they sent  the ark  of God  to Ekron.  And it came to pass, as the ark  of God  came  to Ekron,  that the Ekronites  cried out,  saying,  They have brought about  the ark  of the God  of Israel  to us, to slay  us and our people.  [11] So they sent  and gathered together  all the lords  of the Philistines,  and said,  Send away  the ark  of the God  of Israel,  and let it go again  to his own place,  that it slay  us not, and our people:  for there was a deadly  destruction  throughout all the city;  the hand  of God  was very  heavy  [12] that died  not were smitten  and the cry  of the city  went up  to heaven. 

What does 1 Samuel 5:6-12 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The writer now began to stress the major theme in the ark narrative: the hand [1] of the Lord. [2] There are nine occurrences of this anthropomorphic phrase in this section of1Samuel ( Jeremiah 21:5-6; 1 Samuel 5:6-7; 1 Samuel 5:9; 1 Samuel 5:11; 1 Samuel 6:3; 1 Samuel 6:5; 1 Samuel 6:9; 1 Samuel 7:13). The hand of the Lord represents Yahweh in action (cf. Exodus 9:3; 1 Samuel 4:8). In the biblical world, people spoke of sickness and death as the bad effects of the "hand" of some god. [3] This was the conclusion of Ashdod"s leaders who attributed their recent calamities to Yahweh ( 1 Samuel 5:7). God afflicted the Philistines with tumors, swellings caused by new tissue growth.
Evidently the men of Ashdod believed that it was particularly with their city that Yahweh felt displeasure. So they moved the ark to Gath (lit. winepress), which lay about12miles southeast of Ashdod. Dagon could not prevent the tumors (lit. buboes) and death with which Yahweh afflicted the Philistines ( 1 Samuel 5:6; 1 Samuel 5:9-12). The people of Ashdod should have turned from worshipping Dagon and put their trust in Yahweh. Death followed because they chose to continue in unbelief in spite of their confession of Yahweh"s superiority ( 1 Samuel 5:7).
The Hebrew word translated "broke out" occurs only here in the Old Testament ( 1 Samuel 5:9). The Septuagint translators interpreted it accurately as "groin." These tumors were apparently most prominent in the groin area, hence the English translation "hemorrhoids." Tumors in the groin are a symptom of bubonic plague. Since the Philistines associated mice with this plague ( 1 Samuel 6:4-5), and mice carry bubonic plague, it seems clear that the hand of Yahweh sent this particular affliction on them.
Ekron stood about6 miles north of Gath. [4] The reputation of the ark preceded it to that town, and its residents did not welcome it as a trophy of war. They saw it instead as a divine instrument of death (cf. Exodus 2:23; Exodus 11:6; Exodus 12:30). The Philistines repeatedly acknowledged Yahweh"s superior power over themselves and Dagon ( 1 Samuel 5:7-12; cf. 1 Samuel 2:6; cf. 1 Samuel 2:25; Exodus 10:7; Exodus 12:31-33). This is another testimony to Yahweh"s sovereignty in the narrative. The cry that went up to heaven from Philistia ( 1 Samuel 5:12) recalls the death cry that went up to heaven earlier from Egypt when God afflicted that enemy ( Exodus 12:30; cf. 1 Samuel 4:8). Through the seven months that the ark was in Philistia ( 1 Samuel 6:1) the Philistines learned what the Israelites had not: Yahweh is the sovereign God. Yet they refused to bow before Him and so experienced death, though the Lord mixed mercy with judgment and did not kill all the Philistines ( 1 Samuel 5:12).
Chapters4,5 both testify to God"s sovereignty. Neither Israel, in chapter4 , nor the Philistines, in chapter5 , could control or resist His will. We cannot manipulate God. We must follow Him rather than expecting Him to follow us. Had the Israelites learned this lesson they probably would not have demanded a king like the other nations ( 1 Samuel 8:5) but waited for Him to provide His choice for them.