1 Samuel 5:6

Contextual Overview

⁶The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod. He terrified the people of Ashdod and its territory and afflicted them with tumors. ⁶ But the hand of the LORD was heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and the borders of it. ⁶ But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof. ⁶ Now the hand of Yahweh was heavy against the Ashdodites and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors, both in Ashdod and its territories. ⁶ The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. ⁶ The Lord was hard on the people of Ashdod and their neighbors. He caused them to suffer and gave them growths on their skin. ⁶ The Lord attacked the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores. ⁶Then the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He caused them to be dumbfounded and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.⁶ Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the Ashdodites, and He made them feel devastated and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories.⁶ But the hand of the Lord was heauie vpon them of Ashdod, and destroyed them, and smote them with the emerods, both Ashdod, and the coastes thereof.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the hand: 1 Samuel 5:7, 1 Samuel 5:11, Exodus 9:3, Psalms 32:4, Acts 13:11

emerods: 1 Samuel 5:9, 1 Samuel 5:11, 1 Samuel 6:5, Deuteronomy 28:27, Job 31:3, Psalms 78:66

thereof: The LXX and Vulgate add:

בי לוףןם פחע קשסבע בץפחע בםוצץחףבם לץוע ךבי ודוםופן ףץדקץףיע טבםבפןץ לודבכח ום פח נןכוי.

(Et ebullierunt ville et agri in medio regionis illius, et nati sunt mures; et facta est confusio mortis magne in civitate).

"And [the cities and fields in Vulg.] the midst of that region produced mice; [Vulg. burst up, and mice were produced;] and there was the confusion of a great death in the city." 1 Samuel 6:4, 1 Samuel 6:5

Reciprocal: Genesis 41:31 - grievous Deuteronomy 2:15 - the hand of the Joshua 15:46 - near 2 Chronicles 26:6 - about Psalms 38:2 - thy hand Psalms 44:2 - how thou didst afflict Isaiah 26:11 - they shall Revelation 16:2 - a noisome

Cross-References

Genesis 4:26
There was also born a son to Shet, and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the LORD's name.

Genesis 4:26
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord .

Genesis 4:26
And as for Seth, he also fathered a son, and he called his name Enosh. At that time he began to call on the name of Yahweh.

Genesis 4:26
Seth also had a son, and they named him Enosh. At that time people began to pray to the Lord .

Genesis 4:26
And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people began to worship the Lord .

Genesis 4:26
To Seth, also, a son was born, whom he named Enosh (mortal man, mankind). At that [same] time men began to call on the name of the LORD [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving].

Genesis 4:26
To Seth also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then people began to call upon the name of the LORD.

Genesis 4:26
And to ye same Sheth also there was borne a sonne, and he called his name Enosh. Then beganne men to call vpon the name of the Lord.

Genesis 4:26
And to Seth, to him also, a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh.

Genesis 4:26
Later, Seth had a son and named him Enosh. About this time people started worshiping the Lord .

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But the hand of the Lord was heavy on them of Ashdod,.... Not only on their idol, but on themselves; it had crushed him to pieces, and now it fell heavy on them to their destruction:

and he destroyed them; either by the disease after mentioned they were smitten with, or rather with some other, since that seems not to be mortal, though painful; it may be with the pestilence:

and smote them with emerods; more properly haemorrhoids, which, as Kimchi says, was the name of a disease, but he says not what; Ben Gersom calls it a very painful disease, from whence comes a great quantity of blood. Josephus u takes it to be the dysentery or bloody flux; it seems to be what we commonly call the piles, and has its name in Hebrew from the height of them, rising up sometimes into high large tumours:

even Ashdod and the coasts thereof; not only the inhabitants of the city were afflicted with this disease, but those of the villages round about.

u Antiqu. l. 6. c. 1. sect. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Emerods - A corruption of “hemorrhoids.” It is mentioned Deuteronomy 28:27 among the diseases with which God threatened to punish the Israelites for disobedience.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 5:6. Smote them with emerods — The word עפלים apholim, from עפל aphal, to be elevated, probably means the disease called the bleeding piles, which appears to have been accompanied with dysentery, bloody flux, and ulcerated anus.

The Vulgate says, Et percussit in secretiori parte natium; "And he smote them in the more secret parts of their posteriors." To this the psalmist is supposed to refer, Psalms 78:66, He smote all his enemies in the HINDER PARTS; he put them to a perpetual reproach. Some copies of the Septuagint have εξεζεσεν αυτοις εις τας ναυς, "he inflamed them in their ships:" other copies have εις τας ἑδρας, "in their posteriors." The Syriac is the same. The Arabic enlarges: "He smote them in their posteriors, so that they were affected with a dysenteria." I suppose them to have been affected with enlargements of the haemorrhoidal veins, from which there came frequent discharges of blood.

The Septuagint and Vulgate make a very material addition to this verse: Και μεσον της χωρας αυτης ανεφυεσιν μυες· και εγενετο συγχυσις θανατου μεγαλη εν τη πολει; Et ebullierunt villae et agri in medio regionis illius; et nati sunt mures, et facta est confusio mortis magnae in civitate: "And the cities and fields of all that region burst up, and mice were produced, and there was the confusion of a great death in the city." This addition Houbigant contends was originally in the Hebrew text; and this gives us the reason why golden mice were sent, as well as the images of the emerods, (1 Samuel 6:4), when the ark was restored.