1 Samuel 6:4

Easy-to-Read Version

The Philistines asked, "What kind of gifts should we send for Israel's God to forgive us?" The priests and magicians answered, "There are five Philistine leaders, one leader for each city. All of you and your leaders had the same problems. So you must make five gold models to look like five tumors. And you must make five gold models to look like five mice.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They asked, “What guilt offering should we send back to him?”

Hebrew Names Version
Then they said, "What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him?" They said, "Five golden tumors, and five golden mice, [according to] the number of the lords of the Pelishtim; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
And they said, "What is the guilt offering that we should return to him?" They said, "The number of the rulers of the Philistines is five. Therefore send five gold tumors and five gold mice, because one plague was on all of you and all your rulers.

English Standard Version
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.

New Century Version
The Philistines asked, "What kind of penalty offering should we send to Israel's God?" They answered, "Make five gold models of the growths on your skin and five gold models of rats. The number of models must match the number of Philistine kings, because the same sickness has come on you and your kings.

New English Translation
They inquired, "What is the guilt offering that we should send to him?" They replied, "The Philistine leaders number five. So send five gold sores and five gold mice, for it is the same plague that has afflicted both you and your leaders.

Amplified Bible
Then they said, "What shall the guilt offering be which we shall return to Him?" They answered, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords (governors) of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords.

New American Standard Bible
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.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then sayd they, What shalbe the sinne offring, which we shall giue vnto it? And they answered, Fiue golden emerods and fiue golden mise, according to the number of the princes of the Philistims: for one plague was on you all, and on your princes.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then they said, "What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?" And they said, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords.

Contemporary English Version
"What should we send?" the Philistines asked. The priests and fortunetellers answered: There are five Philistine rulers, and they all have the same disease that you have.

Complete Jewish Bible
They asked, "What kind of guilt offering should we send him?" and they replied, "Five gold models of tumors and five gold rats, because that's how many leaders the P'lishtim have, and you and your leaders all had the same illness.

Darby Translation
Then they said, What is the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden hemorrhoids, and five golden mice, the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague is upon them all, and upon your lords.

George Lamsa Translation
And they said, What sort of offerings shall we bring to it? They answered, Five golden boils and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was upon you all and upon your lords.

Good News Translation
"What gift shall we send him?" the people asked. They answered, "Five gold models of tumors and five gold mice, one of each for each Philistine king. The same plague was sent on all of you and on the five kings.

Literal Translation
And they said, What shall be the guilt offering which we shall send back to Him? And they said, The number of the rulers of the Philistines, five golden hemorrhoids, and five golden mice. For one plague has been on all of you, and on your rulers.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
They sayde: What is the trespace offeringe that we shall geue him? They answered: Fyue hynder partes of golde, and fyue golden myce, acordinge to the nombre of the fyue prynces of ye Philistynes. For there hath bene one maner of plage vpon you all, and vpon youre prynces.

American Standard Version
Then said they, What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden tumors, 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.

Bible in Basic English
Then they said, What sin-offering are we to send to him? And they said, Five gold images of the growths caused by your disease and five gold mice, one for every lord of the Philistines: for the same disease came on you and on your lords.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayd they: And what shalbe the sinne offering, which we shall rewarde him with? They aunswered: Fiue golden emerodes, and fiue golden myce, accordyng to the number of the princes of ye Philistines: For one plague was on you all, and on your princes.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then said they: 'What shall be the guilt-offering which we shall return to Him?' And they said: '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.

King James Version (1611)
Then said they, What shall be the trespasse offering, which wee shall returne to him? They answered, Fiue golden Emerods, and fiue golden mice, according to the number of the lordes of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they say, What is the offering for the plague which we shall return to it? and they said,

English Revised Version
Then said they, What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden tumours, 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.

Berean Standard Bible
"What guilt offering should we send back to Him?" asked the Philistines. "Five gold tumors and five gold rats," they said, "according to the number of rulers of the Philistines, since the same plague has struck both you and your rulers.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thei seiden, What is it, that we owen to yelde to hym for trespas?

Young's Literal Translation
And they say, `What [is] the guilt-offering which we send back to Him?' and they say, `The number of the princes of the Philistines -- five golden emerods, and five golden mice -- for one plague [is] to you all, and to your princes,

Update Bible Version
Then they said, What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden tumors, 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.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
Then they said, "What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him?" They said, "Five golden tumors, 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.

New King James Version
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.

New Living Translation
"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.

New Life Bible
Then they said, "What should we return to Him for a sin gift?" And they said, "Five sores made of gold and five gold mice, as many as there are Philistine leaders. For the same trouble was upon all of you and on your leaders.

New Revised Standard
And they said, "What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?" They answered, "Five gold tumors and five gold mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for the same plague was upon all of you and upon your lords.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And they said - What shall be the guilt-offering, that we shall return to him? And they said - By the number of the lords of the Philistines, five tumours of gold, and five mice of gold, - for, one plague, was on you all, and on your lords.

Douay-Rheims Bible
They answered: What is it we ought to render unto him for sin? and they answered:

Revised Standard Version
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 upon all of you and upon your lords.

THE MESSAGE
"And what exactly would make for adequate compensation?" "Five gold tumors and five gold rats," they said, "to match the number of Philistine leaders. Since all of you—leaders and people—suffered the same plague, make replicas of the tumors and rats that are devastating the country and present them as an offering to the glory of the God of Israel. Then maybe he'll ease up and not be so hard on you and your gods, and on your country. Why be stubborn like the Egyptians and Pharaoh? God didn't quit pounding on them until they let the people go. Only then did he let up.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then they said, "What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?" And they said, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords.

Contextual Overview

¹ The Philistines kept the Lord 's Holy Box in their land for seven months. ² The Philistines called their priests and magicians and said, "What must we do with the Lord 's Box? Tell us how to send it back home." ³ The priests and magicians answered, "If you send back the Holy Box of the God of Israel, don't send it away empty. You must offer gifts to the God of Israel. Then you will be healed. You must do this so that God will stop punishing you." ⁴ The Philistines asked, "What kind of gifts should we send for Israel's God to forgive us?" The priests and magicians answered, "There are five Philistine leaders, one leader for each city. All of you and your leaders had the same problems. So you must make five gold models to look like five tumors. And you must make five gold models to look like five mice. ⁵ So make models of the tumors and models of the mice that are ruining the country. Give these gold models to the God of Israel as payment. Then maybe the God of Israel will stop punishing you, your gods, and your land. ⁶ Don't be stubborn like Pharaoh and the Egyptians. God punished the Egyptians. That is why the Egyptians let the Israelites leave Egypt. ⁷ "You must build a new wagon and get two cows that have just had calves. These must be cows that have never worked in the fields. Tie the cows to the wagon so that they can pull it. Then take the calves back home and put them in their pen. Don't let them follow their mothers. ⁸ Put the Lord 's Holy Box on the wagon. You must put the golden models in the bag beside the Box. They are your gifts for God to forgive your sins. Send the wagon straight on its way. ⁹ Watch the wagon. If the wagon goes toward Beth Shemesh in Israel's own land, then it is their God who has given us this great sickness. But if the cows don't go straight to Beth Shemesh, we will know it was not their God who brought this sickness to us. It was just one of those things that sometimes happen."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Five golden: 1 Samuel 6:5, 1 Samuel 6:17, 1 Samuel 6:18, 1 Samuel 5:6, 1 Samuel 5:9, Exodus 12:35, Joshua 13:3, Judges 3:3

you all: Heb. them

Reciprocal: Exodus 11:1 - Yet will 1 Samuel 6:8 - jewels 1 Samuel 6:16 - the five 1 Samuel 29:2 - the lords Psalms 78:66 - And he Psalms 107:40 - contempt Isaiah 44:11 - all his

Cross-References

Genesis 6:15
"This is the size I want you to make the boat: 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.

Genesis 6:20
Two of every kind of bird, animal, and creeping thing will come to you so that you might keep them alive.

Genesis 6:21
Also bring every kind of food into the boat, for you and for the animals."

Genesis 6:22
Noah did everything God commanded him.

Genesis 11:4
Then the people said, "Let's build ourselves a city and a tower that will reach to the sky. Then we will be famous. This will keep us together so that we will not be scattered all over the earth."

Numbers 13:33
We saw the giant Nephilim people there! (The descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim.) We felt like little grasshoppers. Yes, we were like grasshoppers to them!"

Numbers 16:2
These four men gathered 250 other men from Israel together and came against Moses. They were leaders who had been chosen by the people. All the people knew them.

Deuteronomy 3:11
(Og was the king of Bashan. He was one of the few Rephaites still alive. His bed was made from iron, and it was over 13 feet long and 6 feet wide. The bed is still in the city of Rabbah, where the Ammonites live.)

1 Samuel 17:4
The Philistines had a champion fighter named Goliath, who was from Gath. He was over 9 feet tall. Goliath came out of the Philistine camp.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said they, what shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him?.... They paid a great deference to their priests and diviners, and were willing to be directed in all things by them; being ignorant of what was most proper in this case, and might be acceptable to the God of Israel:

they answered, five golden emerods, and five golden mice; images of these made of gold, as appears from the next verse; the reason of the former is easy, from the above account of the disease they were afflicted with; but of the latter no hint is given before: indeed in the Vulgate Latin and Septuagint versions of 1 Samuel 5:6 is inserted a clause, that

"mice sprung up in the midst of their country;''

which is not in the Hebrew text, nor in the Chaldee paraphrase; yet appears to be a fact from the following verse, that at the same time their bodies were smitten with emerods, their fields were overrun with mice, which destroyed the increase of them; wherefore five golden mice were also ordered as a part of the trespass offering, and five of each were pitched upon:

according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; who were five, and so the principalities under them; see Joshua 13:3

for one plague was on you all, and on your lords; the lords and common people were equally smitten with the emerods, and the several principalities were alike distressed and destroyed with the mice; and therefore the trespass offering, which was a vicarious one for them, was to be according to the number of their princes and their principalities; five emerods for the five princes and their people smitten with emerods, and five mice on account of the five cities and fields adjacent being marred by mice.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

It was a prevalent custom in pagan antiquity to make offerings to the gods expressive of the particular mercy received. Thus, those saved from shipwreck offered pictures of the shipwreck, etc., and the custom still exists among Christians in certain countries.

The plague of the mice is analogous to that of the frogs in Egypt. The destructive power of field-mice was very great.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 6:4. Five golden emerods, and five golden mice — One for each satrapy. The emerods had afflicted their bodies; the mice had marred their land. Both, they considered, as sent by God; and, making an image of each, and sending them as a trespass-offering, they acknowledged this. See at the end.