1 Samuel 5:8

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

What shall: Zechariah 12:3

Gath: 1 Samuel 17:4, Amos 6:2

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 6:17 - Gath 1 Samuel 6:20 - General 1 Samuel 29:2 - the lords 1 Chronicles 18:1 - Gath

Gill's Notes on the Bible

They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them,.... The other four lords, for there were five with this; see Joshua 13:3,

and said, what shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? they no doubt told them what they and their idol had suffered on account of it, and the resolution they were come to that it should be no longer with them; and therefore desire to know what must be done with it, whether they should return it to the people of Israel, or dispose of it somewhere else; it is probable some might be for the former, but the greater part were not, and were for keeping it in their possession somewhere or another:

and they answered, let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath; which was another of the five principalities of the Philistines, and not far from Ashdod; according to Jerom x, it is included in the remnant of Ashdod, Jeremiah 25:20 and according to Bunting y but four miles from it. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions make this to be the answer of the men of Gath, the one reading it,

"and they of Gath said, let the ark of God come to us;''

and the other,

"they of Gath answered, let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about;''

for they suspected, as Procopius Gazaeus observes, that the destruction did not come from God, but was a disease arising from some pestilential cause. They perhaps imagined it was in the air in and about Ashdod, or that though the situation of the ark was not liked, in another place it might be otherwise, and more agreeable:

and they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither; they seem not to carry it directly to the place, but carried it in a round about way, as if they had a mind to give it an airing, before they fixed it any where.

x Comment. in Hierem. c. 25. fol. 151. B. y Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 123.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The “lords” (see Judges 3:3) were very unwilling to give up their triumph, and, with the common pagan superstition, imagined that some local bad luck was against them at Ashdod. The result was to bring the whole Philistine community under the same calamity.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 5:8. The lords of the Philistines — The word סרני sarney, which we translate lords, is rendered by the Chaldee טורני tureney, tyrants. The Syriac is the same. By the Vulgate and Septuagint, satrapae, satraps. Palestine was divided into five satrapies: Ashdod, Ekron, Askelon, Gath, and Gaza. See Joshua 13:8. But these were all federates and acted under one general government, for which they assembled in council.

Let the ark - be carried about — They probably thought that their affliction rose from some natural cause; and therefore they wished the ark to be carried about from place to place, to see what the effects might be. If they found the same evil produced wherever it came, then they must conclude that it was a judgment from the God of Israel.