And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. Ver. 1. _And the Philistines took the ark of God._] Which had been so greatly abused by the Israelites, that God justly suffered it to be taken from them by the Philistines; to whom also it proved as fatal as the gol... [ Continue Reading ]
When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. Ver. 2. _They brought it into the house of Dagon._] Which some _a_ will have to be _Iupiter Aratrius sive Frumentarius,_ - called Dagon of _Dagan,_ which signifieth grain, - because he taught the... [ Continue Reading ]
And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon [was] fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. Ver. 3. _And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow,_] viz., To their devotions, the fittest time for whic... [ Continue Reading ]
And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon [was] fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands [were] cut off upon the threshold; only [the stump of] Dagon was left to him. Ver. 4. _Behold, Dagon was fallen,... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. Ver. 5. _Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, &c._] This they did either by way of veneration, as accounting the threshold sanctified by the touch of their idol.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 6. _But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod._] For he will not always serve men for a sinning stock, though he oft bear long with the... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the men of Ashdod saw that [it was] so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god. Ver. 7. _The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us._] They should have rather parted with their sins, than with the ark:... [ Continue Reading ]
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]. Ver. 8. _What sha... [ Continue Reading ]
And it was [so], that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. Ver. 9. _And they had emerods in their secret parts._] Much worse than... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. Ver. 10. _Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron._] Thus they send the... [ Continue Reading ]
So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. Ver. 11... [ Continue Reading ]
And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven. Ver. 12. _And the men that died not were smitten, &c._] All that were smitten with emerods died not here, as they had done at the other cities, _quod petiverant ut arca restitueretur,_ _a_ because th... [ Continue Reading ]