1 Samuel 5:8

_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. AND THEY CARRIED THE ARK OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL ABOUT THITHER._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

6-12 The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Philistines; he not only convinced them of their folly, but severely chastised their insolence. Yet they would not renounce Dagon; and instead of seeking God's mercy, they desired to get clear of his ark. Carnal hearts, when they smart under the judgments of God, would rather, if it were possible, put him far from them, than enter into covenant or communion with him, and seek him for their friend. But their devices to escape the Divine judgments only increase them. Those that fight against God will soon have enough of it....

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

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....

EXPOSITION THE ARK OF GOD IN PHILISTIA (1 Samuel 5:1). 1 SAMUEL 5:1 THE PHILISTINES TOOK THE ARK OF GOD. The silence of Scripture is often as remarkable as what it tells us. From Psalms 78:60-19; Jeremiah 7:12; Jeremiah 26:9, we gather that from Aphek the Philistines marched upon Shiloh, and having captured it, put all whom they found there to the sword, a

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

6. THE ARK IN THE HANDS OF THE PHILISTINES AND ITS RETURN CHAPTER 5 _ 1. The ark in the house of Dagon (1 Samuel 5:1)_ 2. The Philistines smitten by Jehovah (1 Samuel 5:6) The ark was brought to Ashdod, the leading city of the Philistines, and set up in the temple dedicated to Dagon, the chief god of the people. It was half fish and half man, the symbol of fertility. Before this idol the ark was set up. In their blindness they imagined that Dagon had conquered the God of Israel. The next morning they found Dagon fallen with his face to the earth before the ark. It was the Lord who did it and not an accident. The next morning the whole idol-image, except the fish-part, is fallen upon the ground. “The head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands lay cut off upon the threshold.” T

1 SAMUEL 5. THE ARK IN THE PHILISTINE CITIES. 1 Samuel 5:1. Ashdod. 1 Samuel 5:8. Gath. 1 Samuel 5:10. Ekron: see Joshua 11:22; Joshua 13:3; p 28. 1 Samuel 5:2. Dagon: see Judges 16:23 *. 1 Samuel 5:3. The Ark is thought of as possessing marvellous inherent powers; it brings disaster on

LORDS. princes. See note on Joshua 13:3....

_all the lords of the Philistines_ A peculiar term _Seren_is used exclusively to denote the five -lords" who ruled in the five cities of the Philistine confederacy. In all probability it preserves their native title. They had all equal rights, for though Achish is called "_king_of Gath" in ch. 1 Samuel 21:10; 1 Samuel 27:2, this is only from a foreign point of view, and he could not overrule the decision of his colleagues (1 Samuel 29:6-11). Here we find one city appealing to the rest for counsel in the calamity which had befallen it. _unto Gath_ Gath may have been chosen because there was no Dagon-temple there, the Philistines attributing the plague to the antagonism between Jehovah and Dago