1 Samuel · Chapter 6

V. 1. Seven months-So long they kept it, as loath to lose so great a prize, and willing to try all ways to keep it.

Verse 1. The ark was in the country of the Philistines seven months — So long they kept it, as being loath to lose so great a prize, and willing to try all ways to keep it.

1. Seven months — “So enfeebled and debased was Israel by their sins, that they durst not or would not attempt to recover it. God displayed his own power by bringing back the ark, not by the hands of Israel, but by those of his enemies.” — Wordsworth.

Verse 2. The diviners] µymsq kosemim, from µsq kasam, to presage or prognosticate. See Deuteronomy 18:10. In what their pretended art consisted, we know not.

Verse 2. What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? — Hebrew, Jehovah. They never termed it the ark of Jehovah till this time: but now they seem to have been struck with some apprehension that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was above all gods. Tell us wherewith we shall send it, &c. — They did not call the priests and diviners together, to be resolved whether they should send it home or not, (for upon that point they seem to have been resolved already, verse 11,) but in what manner it should be sent, and whether accompanied with any presents, to obtain the favour of him whose ark it was.

Verse 2. The ark of the Lord—Hebrews of Jehovah. The Philistines knew the name of the Lord; and had heard of his wondrous works in Egypt, ver.

6. They had great light, as indeed all the surrounding nations of Israel must have had.

2. The priests and the diviners — These were the sacred orders among the Philistines, as the sacred scribes and magicians were among the Egyptians. Genesis 41:8; Exodus 7:11. Wherewith we shall send — That is, with what kind of a present. To his place — The land of Israel. They had already fully resolved to send the ark back, but they wished to be careful about the manner of their sending it, lest further woes afflict them.

V. 3. It shall be known-You shall understand, what is hitherto doubtful, whether he was the author of these calamities, and why they continued so long upon you.

Verse 3. Send it not empty] As it appears ye have trespassed against him, send him an offering for this trespass.

Why his hand is not removed] The sense is, If you send him a trespass-offering, and ye be cured, then ye shall know why his judgments have not been taken away from you previously to this offering. It is a common opinion, says Calmet, among all people, that although the Supreme Being needs nothing of his creatures, yet he requires that they should consecrate to him all that they have; for the same argument that proves his independence, infinitude, and self-sufficiency, proves our dependence, and the obligation we are under to acknowledge him by offering him due marks of our gratitude and submission. Such sentiments were common among all people; and God himself commands his people not to appear before him without an offering, Exodus 23:15: None shall appear before me empty.

Verse 3. Send it not empty — They answer directly to the question, first in general; that it must not be sent back without some offering. In any wise return him a trespass-offering — As an acknowledgment that they had offended the God of Israel by bringing his ark from its proper place; for which they begged his pardon by this offering. Then ye shall be healed, &c. — Le Clerc renders this sentence, Then if ye shall be healed, it shall be known, or manifest unto you, why his hand is not removed from you. And it is evident this is the meaning of the words. For these diviners were not sure whence these plagues came; but they thought in this way they should either be healed or know that the ark was not the cause of their sickness. It shall be known — You shall understand what is hitherto doubtful, whether he is the author of these calamities, and why they are continued so long upon you.

3. Send it not empty — That is, send it not without an offering. Compare Exodus 23:15. Return him a trespass offering — The Hebrew is emphatic — by all means return him a trespass offering. On the trespass offering see Leviticus 5:6. They doubtless meant to render the God of Israel this offering as a satisfaction for their offence in carrying his ark out of its own land. Then ye shall be healed — It is better to render this as a conditional sentence, then may ye be healed, etc., for from verse 9 we infer that these diviners still suspected that it was only by chance that they were smitten.

V. 4. Emerods-Figures representing the disease. These they offered not in contempt of God, for they fought to gain his favour hereby; but in testimony of their humiliation, that by leaving this monument of their own shame and misery, they might obtain pity from God. Mice-Which marred their land by destroying the fruits thereof; as the other plague afflicted their Bodies.

Verse 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.

Verse 4. Five golden emerods — Figures in gold representing the disease. Five golden mice — Images of the mice which had marred their land by destroying its fruits. According to the number of the lords of the Philistines — Who were five, and were to be at the charge of offering one for each of them. These things they offered, not in contempt of God, for they sought to gain his favour hereby; but in testimony of their humiliation, that, by leaving this monument of their shame and misery, they might obtain pity from God. It may be observed here, that it appears to have been a custom among the ancient heathen, to consecrate unto their gods such monuments of their deliverances as represented the evils from which they were freed. So the Philistines did on this occasion. And, according to Tavernier, this is still practised among the Indians. When any pilgrim goes to a pagod for the cure of a disease, he brings the figure of the member affected; made either of gold, silver, or copper, according to his quality; which he offers to his god, and then falls a singing, as all others do after they have offered. See Travels, page 92.

Ver. 4. Five golden mice. See on 1 Samuel 5:6.

4. Five golden emerods, and five golden mice — Perhaps these Philistine soothsayers had heard the history of the brazen serpent, (Numbers 21:4-9,) and therefore supposed that the wrath of Israel’s God might be appeased by talismans. At all events, it was a common custom among the heathen nations of antiquity to make use of such talismanic offerings as a preservative against evil. Apollonius of Tyana is said to have made a brazen scorpion and set it on a pillar in the city of Antioch. whereupon the scorpions of that country all vanished. See many examples given in Kitto’s “Daily Bible Illustrations.” Had the ark remained in their own country, these talismans would, of course, have been set up in their midst; but when the ark was sent away, they deemed it most proper to send them along with it into its own land. The annexed cut is a picture of a Greek votive tablet in the British Museum. It is thought to present the lower part of the face of a woman who, healed of an affection of the nose or mouth, had caused this tablet to be placed in the temple of some god in token of her gratitude for her healing. According to the number of the lords — One golden mouse and one golden boil for each of the five confederate cities, and golden mice for other cities besides these. See verses 17, 18.

V. 5. Give glory-The glory of his power in conquering you, who seemed to have conquered him; of his justice in punishing you, and of his goodness if he relieve you.

Verse 5. He will lighten his hand from off you] The whole land was afflicted; the ground was marred by the mice; the common people and the lords afflicted by the hæmorrhoids, and their gods broken in pieces.

Verse 5. Of your mice that mar the land — By this it appears that their county was infested by mice, which had eaten their corn in the field, and other fruits of the earth, though no mention is made of this before. And give glory to the God of Israel — That is, acknowledge, by this present, that he is the inflicter of these plagues, and has power to remove them, begging his pardon and seeking for healing from him. And hereby give him the glory of his power in conquering you, who seemed to have conquered him; of his justice in punishing you; and of his goodness if he relieve you. For this is the signification of this phrase in a similar case, (Revelation 16:9,) where St. John complains that after many plagues men did not repent. To give glory unto God — That is, to acknowledge his sovereign authority, power, justice, and other attributes.

5. Images of your mice that mar the land — This plague is here for the first time distinctly mentioned, though something of the kind is implied, 1 Samuel 5:6, where the coasts of Ashdod are said to have been smitten. A sudden and rapid increase of this little animal in seven months might be a sore plague indeed to the harvest fields of the Philistines. “Of all the smaller rodentia which are injurious, both in the fields and in the woods, there is not,” says Professor Bell, “one which produces such extensive destruction as this little animal when its increase, as is sometimes the case, becomes multitudinous.” You… your gods… your land — Their persons were plagued with boils, their gods with disgrace, and their land with mice.

V. 6. Wherefore, &c.-They express themselves thus, either because some opposed the sending home the ark, though most had consented to it; or because they thought they would hardly send it away in the manner prescribed, by giving glory to God, and taking shame to themselves.

Verse 6. Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts] They had heard how God punished the Egyptians, and they are afraid of similar plagues. It appears that they had kept the ark long enough.

Did they not let the people go] And has he not wrought wonderfully among us? And should we not send back his ark?

Verse 6. Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts — They express themselves thus, either because some opposed the sending home the ark, though most had consented to it; or because they thought they would hardly send it away in the manner prescribed, by giving glory to God, and taking shame to themselves.

6. As the Egyptians — The miracles of the exodus had been noised abroad among many nations, and inspired them with a fear of Jehovah. See 1 Samuel 4:8; Joshua 2:10; 9:9.

V. 7. Milch kine, &c.-In respect to the ark; and for the better discovery, because such untamed heifers are apt to wander, and keep no certain and constant paths, as oxen accustomed to the yoke do, and therefore were most unlikely to keep the direct road to Israel’s land. From them-Which would stir up natural affection in their dams, and cause them rather to return home, than to go to a strange country.

Verse 7. Make a new cart] It was indecent and improper to employ in any part of the worship of God any thing that had before served for a common purpose. Every thing in the worship of God is said to be sanctified: now the general meaning of that word is, to separate a thing from all earthly and common uses, and devote it solely to the service of God. When David removed the ark from the house of Abinadab, he put it on a new cart, 2 Samuel 6:3.

Bring their calves home from them] So it appears that their calves had been with them in the fields. This was a complete trial: unless they were supernaturally influenced, they would not leave their calves; unless supernaturally directed, they would not leave their home, and take a way unguided, which they had never gone before.

Verse 7. Make a new cart, &c. — It was in honour of the ark that they employed nothing about it that had ever served for any other use. And there was another reason for choosing such kine as are here mentioned; that it might be more manifest that they were led by the God of Israel, if they went directly into his country. For untamed heifers are apt to run back, or to wander, and keep no certain and constant paths, as oxen accustomed to the yoke do; and therefore were very unlikely to keep the direct road to the land of Israel. And the taking their calves from them would excite natural affection in them, and cause them rather to return home to their calves than to go into a strange country.

7. A new cart — Compare 2 Samuel 6:3. An old vehicle, or one used for meaner purposes, would not accord with the sacredness of the ark. Two milch kine, (cows,) on which… no yoke — And therefore not likely, in the natural course of things, to be at once docile and tractable. Bring their calves home from them — Which would add still more to the difficulty of drawing them away from their own fields.

Verse 8. The jewels of gold] The word ylq keley, which our translators so often render jewels, signifies vessels, implements, ornaments, &c. A jewel of gold has an odd sound to those who always attach the idea of a precious stone to the term.

Verse 8. In a coffer by the side thereof — They had either heard, or by their present sufferings were made to fear, that it was dangerous to look into the ark; and therefore they did not open it to put their present within it.

8. Jewels of gold — Rather, vessels of gold; that is, the golden images mentioned in verse 4. A coffer — A chest, or box. They did not venture to open the ark and put the golden vessels in it, but placed them in a chest beside it.

V. 9. His own coast-Or Border, that is, the way that leadeth to his coast, or border, namely, the country to which it belongs. Then he, &c.-Which they might well conclude, if such heifers should against their common use, and natural instinct, go into a strange path, and regularly and constantly proceed in it, without any man’s conduct.

Verse 9. A chance that happened to us] The word hrqm mikreh, from hrq karah, to meet or coalesce, signifies an event that naturally arises from such concurring causes as, in the order and nature of things, must produce it.

Thus a bad state of the atmosphere, putrid exhalations, bad diet, occasioned by any general scarcity, might have produced the disease in question; and to something of this kind they would attribute it, if the other evidences did not concur. This gives us the proper notion of chance; and shows us that it is a matter as dependent upon the Divine providence, as any thing can be: in short, that these occurrences are parts of the Divine government.

The word chance, though often improperly used to signify such an occurrence as is not under the Divine government, is of itself, not only simple, but expressive; and has nearly the meaning of the Hebrew word: it comes from the French cheoir, or escheoir, to fall out, to occur, to fall to. Hence our law-term escheat, any lands that fall to the lord of the manor by forfeiture, or for want of heirs: i.e., these are the occurrences which naturally throw the lands into the hands of the lord.

Verse 9. And see if it goeth up by his own coast — Without any guide; to Beth-shemesh — A city in the tribe of Judah, in the confines of both countries. Then he hath done this great evil — Hath inflicted this sore calamity upon us. This they might well conclude, if such heifers should, contrary to their custom and natural instinct, go into a strange path, and regularly and constantly proceed in it, without being guided by any one.

Ver. 9. A chance that happened to us. hrqm mikreh, a natural consequence, after the fatigues of war, which implies the care of God; for what is accounted chance by men, is all the operations of heaven. See on chap. 10. Luke 10:31. It would seem that the Spirit of God moved the tongue of this pythoness to deliver this oracle, though she might not know it; nor do such favours prove the divine approbation of heathen oracles, more than the rain which falls on the just and the unjust. Isaiah 41:23.

9. His own coast — The land of the ark, the same as his place, in verse 2. Beth-shemesh — Situated about seven miles southeast of Ekron; it was a border city of the tribe of Judah, (Joshua 15:10.) and one allotted to the Levites. Joshua 21:16. It was identified by Dr. Robinson, in 1838, with the modern Ain Shems. A chance — An accident; a fortuitous event. There still lingered in some minds the thought that possibly the ark was not the cause of their troubles.

V. 12. Beth-shemesh-A city of the priests, who were by office to take care of it. Loving-Testifying at once both their natural and vehement inclination to their calves, and the supernatural power which over-ruled them to a contrary course. The lords went-To prevent all imposture, and to get assurance of the truth of the event. All which circumstances tended to the greater illustration of God’s glory.

Verse 12. Lowing as they went] Calling for their calves. To the right hand or to the left] Some think they were placed where two roads met; one going to Ekron, the other to Beth-shemesh. It is possible that they were put in such circumstances as these for the greater certainty of the affair: to have turned from their own homes, from their calves and known pasture, and to have taken the road to a strange country, must argue supernatural influence.

The lords of the Philistines went after] They were so jealous in this business that they would trust no eyes but their own. All this was wisely ordered, that there might be the fullest conviction of the being and interposition of God.

Verse 12. The kine took the straight way to Beth-shemesh — Though they had no driver, nor visible director, and had such strong attractives to draw them back, and there were so many other ways in which they might have gone. Lowing as they went — After their calves, which had been taken from them; and hereby evidencing at once both their natural and vehement inclination to their calves, and the supernatural power which overruled them to a contrary course. The lords went — To prevent all imposture, and to get assurance of the truth of the event. All which circumstances tended to the greater illustration of God’s glory.

12. The kine took the straight way — Literally, were straight in the way on the way of Beth-shemesh, in a highway they continued going and lowing. This wondrous sign was evidence, beyond all possibility of doubt, that it was Jehovah’s hand that had smitten Philistia, her people, and her gods. The lords of the Philistines went after them — Their eyes had never witnessed a sight like this before, and they were anxious to see it to the end.

V. 14. They-Not the lords of the Philistines, but the Beth-shemites, the priest that dwelt there. Offered the kine-There may seem to be a double error in this act.

First, that they offered females for a burnt-offering, contrary to Leviticus 1:3.

Secondly, that they did it in a forbidden place, Deuteronomy 12:5,6. But this case being extraordinary, may in some sort excuse it, if they did not proceed by ordinary rules.

Verse 14. They clave the wood of the cart] Both the cart and the cattle having been thus employed, could no longer be devoted to any secular services; therefore the cattle were sacrificed, and the cart was broken up for fuel to consume the sacrifice.

Verse 14. The cart came into the field of Joshua, and stood there — This was another marvellous thing, that the kine went no further, but stood, as soon as they were come into the territory of a city belonging to the priests, (for such Beth-shemesh was,) whose office it was to take care of the ark. Where there was a great stone — Which seems to have been the boundary of the two countries. They offered the kine — That is, the Beth-shemites, the priests, did this, and not the lords of the Philistines. The great stone probably served for an altar, and on it they offered a whole burnt-offering, in praise to God for his goodness. But was there not a double error in this act? 1st, In that they offered females for a burnt-offering, contrary to Leviticus 1:3. 2d, In that they did it in a forbidden place? See Deuteronomy 12:5, 6. To this it must be answered, that a case so singular is not to be brought to the test of the general rules. These regulations respected only ordinary offerings, and not such as an extraordinary occasion, like this, might require. Besides, the ark being here, and God having not yet appointed any place for its future residence, now Shiloh was destroyed, they thought in reason their sacrifice might be here acceptable to him. And they the rather chose to offer these cows to God, because they considered them as belonging to him, as having drawn his ark, and been particularly directed by him, and therefore to be his sacrifices.

14. And they — Namely, the Levites mentioned in the next verse, for probably a large proportion of the Beth-shemites were Levites.

Verse 15. The Levites took down] It appears there were some of the tribe of Levi among the people of Beth-shemesh: to them appertained the service of the tabernacle.

Ver. 15. Offered burnt-offerings. This was often done, as well by prophets as by gentiles, under visible marks of the divine presence; and no complaint is made against it, though the law required the usual oblations to be offered on his altar alone: 1 Samuel 7:9.

15. The Levites took down — We have already noticed that Beth-shemesh was a city of the Levites, (see on verse 9.) There was fitness in the kine stopping and standing still, when they had brought the sacred treasure to those whose duty it was to look after it.

16. Returned to Ekron the same day — Which might easily be done, providing they knew the route — the distance being only seven miles. “It might be said, by those ignorant of the country, that the whole distance being a level plain, there was no great miracle needed to secure the safe transmission of the ark over this comparatively short distance; but let them make a similar experiment, and stake their skepticism upon its success, if they have the courage to do so, or let them even try to reach Ain Shems themselves without a guide, and see how they will succeed.” — W.M. Thomson.

Verse 17. These are the golden emerods] Each of these cities, in what may be called its corporate capacity, sent a golden emerod.

V. 18. Villages-This is added for explication of that foregoing phrase, all the cities; either to shew, that under the name of the five cities were comprehended all the villages and territories belonging to them, in whose name, and at whose charge these presents were made; or to express the difference between this and the former present, the emerods being only five, according to the five cities mentioned, ver. 17, because it may seem, the cities only, or principally, were pestered with that disease; and the mice being many more according to the number of all the cities, as is here expressed: the word city being taken generally so, as to include not only fenced cities, but also the country villages, and the fields belonging to them. Abel-This is mentioned as the utmost border of the Philistines territory, to which the plague of mice extended. And this place is here called Abel, by anticipation from the great mourning mentioned in the following verse. It is desirable, to see the ark in its habitation, in all the circumstances of solemnity. But it is better to have it on a great stone, and in the fields of the wood, than to be without it. The intrinsic grandeur of divine ordinances ought not to be diminished in our eyes, by the meanness and poverty of the place, where they are administered.

Verse 18. And the golden mice] The desolation that had been made through the land by these animals had excited a general concern; and it appears from the text, that all the cities of the Philistines, as well fended as without walls, sent a golden mouse as a trespass-offering. Remaineth unto this day] Some think the ark is intended, which continued on the stone of Abel for some considerable time after it was placed there; and that the memoranda from which this book was afterwards compiled, were made before it was removed: but it is not likely that it remained any time exposed in the open field. Therefore it is most natural to suppose that it is the stone of Abel which is here intended; and so our translators have understood the place, and have used supplementary words to express this sentiment: “Which stone remaineth unto this day.”

Verse 18. Both of fenced cities and country villages — This is added, either to show, that under the name of the five cities were comprehended all the villages and territories belonging to them, in whose name, and at whose charge, these presents were made; or to express the difference between this and the former present, the emerods being only five, according to the five cities mentioned verse 17; the cities, perhaps, being chiefly afflicted with that disorder; and the mice being many more, according to the number of all the cities and villages, as here expressed. Abel — This is mentioned as the utmost border of the Philistines’ territory, to which the plague of mice extended. And this place is here called Abel by anticipation, from the great mourning mentioned in the following verse. It is desirable to see the ark in its habitation, in all the circumstances of solemnity. But it is better to have it on a great stone, and in the fields of the wood, than to be without it. The intrinsic grandeur of divine ordinances ought not to be diminished in our eyes, by the meanness and poverty of the place where they are administered.

18. Both of fenced cities, and of country villages — From which it appears that many more images of the mice were sent than of the boils. Perhaps the plague of mice had marred the whole land, while that of boils was confined to the places where the ark had been. This statement is not a contradiction of verse 4, as Thenius asserts, but additional information which the writer paused not there to record. Even unto the great stone of Abel — lba d[w, and unto Abel. Instead of lba, Abel, two codices of Kennicott and one of De Rossi read ˆba, a stone, as in verses 14 and 15, and this reading is sustained by the Septuagint and Chaldaic versions, and is most probably the true one. If, now, we simply change the pointing of d[, unto, to d[, a witness, we relieve the latter part of this verse of all the obscurity that clings to it in the English version. Thus amended it reads: And a witness is the great stone whereon they set down the ark of the Lord unto this day, in the field of Joshua, the Beth-shemite; that is, the stone is a witness unto this day of the facts related in verses 14-18. This construction has the sanction of Thenius and Keil.

V. 19. Had looked-Having now an opportunity which they never yet had, it is not strange they had a vehement curiosity to see the contents of the ark. Of the people-In and near Beth-shemesh and coming from all parts on this occasion.

Verse 19. He smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men] The present Hebrew text of this most extraordinary reading stands thus:בעם Ëyw-vmv-tyb yvnab Ëyw vya ãla חמשים שבעים vaiyach beanshey Beith-shemesh-vaiyach baam shibim ish, chamishshim eleph ish; “And he smote among the men of Beth-shemesh, (because they looked into the ark of Jehovah,) and he smote among the people SEVENTY men, FIFTY THOUSAND men.”

From the manner in which the text stands, and from the great improbability of the thing, it is most likely that there is a corruption in this text, or that some explanatory word is lost, or that the number fifty thousand has been added by ignorance or design; it being very improbable that such a small village as Beth-shemesh should contain or be capable of employing fifty thousand and seventy men in the fields at wheat harvest, much less that they could all peep into the ark on the stone of Abel, in the corn-field of Joshua.

That the words are not naturally connected in the Hebrew text, is evident; and they do not stand better in the versions.

1. The VULGATE renders it thus:-Et percussit de populo SEPTUAGINTA viros; et QUINQUAGINTA MILLA plebis; “And he smote of the (chief) people SEVENTY men, and FIFTY THOUSAND of the (common) people.” This distinction, I suppose, St. Jerome intended between plebis and populus; which he might think was warranted by the אנשים anashim, and vya ish, of the Hebrew text.

2. The TARGUM of Jonathan is something similar to the Vulgate:-“And he smote am[ ybsb besabey amma, of the elders of the people SEVENTY men; alhqbw ubekahala, and of the congregation FIFTY THOUSAND men.”

3. The SEPTUAGINT follow the Hebrew text: kai epataxen en autoiv ebdomhkonta andrav, kai penthkonta ciliadav andrwn; “And he smote of them SEVENTY men; and FIFTY THOUSAND men.” ek tou laou, of the people, is added by some copies.

4. The SYRIAC has forty-five thousand less! It is as follows: [——Syriac— —] wamacho Morio beamo chamesho alapin weshabein gabrin; “And the Lord smote among the people FIVE thousand and SEVENTY men.”

5. The ARABIC is nearly similar: “And the LORD smote among the people; and there died of them [——Arabic——] FIVE thousand and SEVENTY men.”

We have no other versions from which we can receive any farther light.

6. JOSEPHUS is different from all the rest, and has fifty thousand less, for he renders the place thus, Antiq. Jud. libe. vi., cap. i., sect. 4: qrgh de kai colov tou Qeou meteisin, wste ebdomhkonta twn ek thv bhqsamhv kwmhv&balwn apekteinen “But the displeasure and wrath of God pursued them so, that SEVENTY men of the village of Beth-shemesh, approaching the ark, which they were not worthy to touch, (not being priests,) were struck with lightning.” Here we find the whole fifty thousand is omitted.

7. Rabbi Solomon Jarchi, giving the opinion of other rabbins as well as his own, says, “Our rabbins say SEVENTY men, and each of them was worth fifty thousand men; or fifty thousand, every one of whom was worth the seventy of the Sanhedrin.” This only shows embarrassment, but gives very little light.

All these discordances, together with the utter improbability of the thing, lead us to suppose there must be a corruption in this place, either by adding or omitting.

Dr. Kennicott has found three very reputable MSS. in which the words vya ãla חמשים chamishshim eleph ish, fifty thousand men, are wanting. The 1st, No. 84, a MS. from Holland; the 2d, No. 210, one of the Parisian MSS.; the 3d, No. 418, a MS. belonging to Milan; all three written about the beginning of the twelfth century, and numbered as above in Dr. K’s Bible.

Perhaps the omission in these MSS. was occasioned by a mistake of the transcriber, which might have easily happened, because of the word vya ish, which occurs both after שבעים shibim and after ãla eleph; for, having written the first, and taking his eye off, when he recommenced he might have supposed he had written the latter, and so proceed, leaving the words in question out of his copy. Two, three, or more persons might have been thus deceived, and so produce the above MSS.; or the mistake once made, all the MSS. copied from that would show the same omission. The common reading may be defended, if we only suppose the omission of a single letter, the particle of comparison k ke, like, as, or equal to, before the word חמשים chamishshim: thus כחמשים kechamishshim; the passage would then read: “And he smote of the people SEVENTY men, equal to FIFTY THOUSAND men;” that is, they were the elders or governors of the people.

Some solve the difficulty by translating, “He slew SEVENTY men OUT OF fifty thousand men.” There are various other methods invented by learned men to remove this difficulty, which I shall not stop to examine; all, however, issue in this point, that only SEVENTY MEN were slain; and this is, without doubt the most probable. The FIFTY THOUSAND, therefore, must be an interpolation, or be understood in some such way as that mentioned above. But the omission of the particle of similitude solves every difficulty; and this would account for the reading in Josephus, who in his recital would naturally leave out such an explanation of the worth of the seventy men, as his Roman readers could not easily comprehend such comparisons. With a great slaughter.] Seventy men slain, out of an inconsiderable village in a harvest day, was certainly a great slaughter.

Verse 19. Because they had looked into the ark — Which God had forbidden, not only to the common people, but to the sons of Levi also, Numbers 4:20. But the people, having now an opportunity which they had not had before, were moved with a vehement curiosity to see the contents of the ark, forgetting the divine prohibition and their duty. Perhaps they were desirous to see whether the Philistines had taken out the tables of the covenant; or to have a view of such an ancient, sacred monument, written with God’s own hand. Even he smote of the people — In and near Beth-shemesh, and coming from all parts on this occasion. Fifty thousand threescore and ten men — This translation is made by an unaccountable transposition of the words; which, in the Hebrew, lie exactly thus. He smote of the people threescore and ten men, fifty thousand men; the most probable sense of which is this: He smote threescore and ten men, fifty out of a thousand men. That is, God was so merciful as not to slay all that were guilty, but only seventy of them, observing this proportion, that out of a thousand offenders he smote only fifty persons, or a twentieth part. And this interpretation is very easy, by only supplying the letter m mem before ãla eleph, a thousand, making the sense to be, out of a thousand. And there are many passages of Scripture where this particle is manifestly wanting to make out the true meaning. This translation was long ago proposed by Bochart, and approved by Dr. Waterland, who renders the passage, He smote of the people threescore and ten men out of fifty thousand: which, he says, “is a juster rendering of the Hebrew, and is well defended by Le Clerc upon the place.” Josephus, it must be observed, mentions only seventy Beth-shemites as smitten on this occasion; Antiq., book 6, cap. 2. And Dr. Kennicott appeals to three Hebrew MSS., in confirmation of this sense of the clause. A great slaughter — It was a great slaughter, considering the smallness of this place, probably only a village.

Ver. 19. He smote—fifty thousand and threescore and ten men. Josephus, relating this, mentions no more than seventy men; and as Beth-shemesh was but a small city, originally allotted for the priests, it is probable that the number has been mis-written in the Hebrew copy. Tremellius conjectures the sense of the text to be, that the Lord smote them with emerods, as he had smitten fifty thousand and seventy of the Philistines. Another critic contends that the number should be five hundred and seventy men.

19. He smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark — Some irregularities may be observed in their hastily using the cart for their wood, and milch kine for a burnt offering; but these may be apologized for on the supposition that the cart and kine could never be put to nobler uses, and might, if preserved, be put to meaner and unworthy usage. But to look into the ark, which implies the removal of the cover and the golden cherubim, (Exodus 25:20, 21,) and to do this in the open field, and in full view of all the multitudes that came flocking in from the surrounding harvest fields — this was the foulest kind of sacrilege, and justly merited the severest judgment of Heaven. Fifty thousand and threescore and ten men — It is possible, indeed, that the remarkable events here described might have called together such an immense host as is here named, but it is extremely improbable, and the message sent to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim, (verse 21,) which was only six or seven miles distant, implies that they had not until then heard of the return of the ark from Philistia. The Septuagint has the same as the Hebrew, but other versions vary. Syriac and Arabic, Five thousand and seventy. Chaldee, Of the elders of the people seventy men, and of the congregation fifty thousand. Vulgate, Of the people (populo) seventy men, (viros,) and fifty thousand of the common people, (plebis.) An old Rabbinical tradition, with which some more modern expositors partially coincide, says that only seventy men were slain, but, being elders or chief men, they were of as much importance as fifty thousand ordinary persons. But such explanation is hardly worth recording. The Hebrew is, literally, he smote among the people seventy men, fifty thousand men, and some explain this as meaning seventy men of fifty thousand; but this leaves the main difficulty of the passage unsolved, namely, how to account for the presence of fifty thousand men. There is, probably, a corruption in the text. Three codices of Kennicott, and Josephus, omit the words fifty thousand men, and it is, perhaps, best to regard them as an interpolation.

V. 20. Who is able, &c.-That is, to minister before the ark where the Lord is present. Since God is so severe to mark what is amiss in his servants, who is sufficient to serve him? It seems to be a complaint, or expostulation with God, concerning this great instance of his severity. And to whom, &c.-Who will dare to receive the ark with so much hazard to themselves. Thus when the word of God works with terror on men’s consciences, instead of taking the blame to themselves, they frequently quarrel with the word, and endeavour to put it from them.

Verse 20. Who is able to stand] Why this exclamation? They knew that God had forbidden any to touch his ark but the priests and Levites; but they endeavoured to throw that blame on God, as a Being hard to be pleased, which belonged solely to themselves.

Verse 20. Who is able to stand? &c. — That is, to minister before the ark, where the Lord is present. Since God is so severe to mark what is amiss in his servants, who is sufficient to serve him? They seem by this to have been made sensible of their rashness, and brought to acknowledge the holiness of God to be such that they were not worthy of his divine presence among them, and therefore they desired that the ark might be placed elsewhere. And to whom shall he go up from us? — Who will dare to receive the ark with so much hazard to themselves? Thus when the word of God works with terror on men’s consciences, instead of taking the blame to themselves, they frequently quarrel with the word, and endeavour to put it from them.

20. Who is able to stand — For Israelite as well as Philistine is smitten by the presence of the holy shrine. To whom shall he go up from us — Who next will dare take charge of him?

V. 21. Kirjath-jearim-Whither they sent, either because the place was not far off from them, and so it might soon be removed: or because it was a place of eminency and strength, and somewhat farther distant from the Philistines, where therefore it was likely to be better preserved from any new attempts of the Philistines, and to be better attended by the Israelites, who would more freely and frequently come to it at such a place, than in Beth-shemesh, which was upon the border of their enemies land.

Verse 21. To the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim] They wished the ark away out of their village, but why they sent to this city instead of sending to Shiloh, does not appear: probably Shiloh had been destroyed by the Philistines, after the late defeat of Israel. This is most likely, as the ark was never more taken back to that place.

IT was a very ancient usage, when a plague or other calamity infested a country, city, &c. for the magicians to form an image of the destroyer, or of the things on which the plague particularly rested, in gold, silver, ivory, wax, clay, &c., under certain configurations of the heavens; and to set this up in some proper place, that the evils thus represented might be driven away. These consecrated images were the same that are called talismans, or rather telesms, among the Asiatics. Mr. Locke calls the diviners talismans, but this is a mistake; the image, not the fabricator, was called by this name.

I have seen several of these talismans, of different countries; and such images were probably the origin of all the forms of gods which, in after times, were the objects of religious worship. It is well known that Ireland is not infested with any venomous creature; no serpent of any kind is found in it:—

“No poison there infects, no scaly snake

Lurks in the grass, nor toads annoy the lake.”

This has been attributed to a telesm, formed with certain rites under the sign Scorpio. Such opinions have been drawn from very ancient pagan sources: e.g.: A stone engraved with the figure of a scorpion, while the moon is in the sign Scorpio, is said to cure those who are stung by this animal. Apollonius Tyaneus is said to have prevented flies from infesting Antioch, and storks from appearing in Byzantium, by figures of those animals formed under certain constellations. A brazen scorpion, placed on a pillar in the city of Antioch, is said to have expelled all such animals from that country. And a crocodile of lead is also said to have preserved Cairo from the depredations of those monsters. See Calmet.

Virgil refers to this custom, Eclogue viii., ver. 80, where he represents a person making two images or telesms, one of wax, another of clay, which were to represent an absent person, who was to be alternately softened or hardened, as the wax or clay image was exposed to the fire:— Limus ut hic durescit, et haec ut cera liquescit

Uno et eodem igni: sic nostro Daphnis amore.

“As this clay hardens, and this wax softens, by one and the same fire, so may Daphnis by my love.”

This thought is borrowed from Theocritus, Idyl. ii., ver. 28. A beautiful marble figure of Osiris, about four inches and a quarter high, now stands before me, entirely covered with hieroglyphics; he is standing, and holds in each hand a scorpion and a snake by the tails, and with each foot he stands on the neck of a crocodile. This I have no doubt was a telesm, formed under some peculiar configuration of the heavens, intended to drive away both scorpions and crocodiles. This image is of the highest antiquity, and was formed probably long before the Christian era. Tavernier observes that something like what is mentioned in the text is practiced among the Indians; for when a pilgrim goes to one of the idol temples for a cure, he brings the figure of the member affected, made either of gold, silver, or copper, according to his circumstances, which he offers to his god. This custom was common among the heathens, and they consecrated to their gods the monuments of their deliverance. From heathenism it was adopted by corrupt Christianity; and Theodoret informs us that in his time there might be seen about the tombs of the martyrs figures of eyes, hands, feet, and other parts of the body, which represented those of the offerers which they supposed had been healed by the intercession of those holy persons! This degrading superstition is continued among the papists to the present day: I have seen at St. Winifred’s well, in Holywell, Flintshire several staves, crutches, and handbarrows, hung up in different places, which were reported to be the votive offerings of the maimed, the halt, the withered, &c., who had received their cure by the virtue of the saint! It is true the crutches are such as no man or woman could ever walk with; and the barrows are such as most evidently never carried any human being. But they serve the purpose of superstition, and keep up an idolatrous reverence for the well and the legendary virgin. After all, I need not say that the system of judicial astrology is vain, unfounded, absurd, and wicked. It in effect presumes to take the government of the world out of the hand of an all-wise God, and to abandon it to the most fortuitous and unconnected occurrences of life; for the stars have their influences according to this pretended science, conformably to the occurrences here below: e.g., if a child be born but one hour sooner or later than a particular configuration of the heavens, his destiny will be widely different from what it otherwise would have been; and as an almost infinite number of casualties may accelerate or retard a birth, consequently the whole destiny of man is influenced and ruled by these casualties: to say nothing of the absurdity, that those omnipotent stars ever can affect the infant while invested with a thin covering of flesh in the womb of its parent. But the whole science is a tissue of absurdities. I SAMUEL

Verse 21. Kirjath-jearim — Whither they sent, either because the place was not far off from them, and so it might soon be removed: or, because it was a place of eminence and strength, and somewhat farther distant from the Philistines, where therefore it was likely to be better preserved from any new attempts of the Philistines, and to be better attended by the Israelites, who would more freely and frequently come to it at such a place than in Beth-shemesh, which was upon the border of their enemies’ land.

21. Kirjath-jearim — A city about seven miles northeast of Beth-shemesh, and the nearest large town on the way from Beth-shemesh to Shiloh. This may have been one reason why the Beth-shemites sent thither for men to come down and fetch up the ark. Ancient Kirjath is represented by the modern village Kuriet-el-Enab, “city of grapes.” See note on Joshua 9:17.