CHAPTER V _The Philistines set up the ark in the temple of Dagon at Ashdod;_ _whose image is found next morning prostrate before it, broken_ _in pieces_, 1-5. _The Philistines are also smitten with a sore disease_, 6. _The people of Ashdod refuse to let the ark stay with them; and_ _the lords... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 5:2. _THE HOUSE OF DAGON_] On this idol, which was supposed to be partly in a _human_ form, and partly in that of a _fish_, see the note on Judges 16:23. Some think that this idol was the same with _Dirceto, Attergatis_, the _Venus_ of Askelon, and the _Moon_. - See Calmet's _Disserta... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 5:3. _THEY OF ASHDOD AROSE EARLY ON THE MORROW_] Probably to perform some act of their superstition in the temple of their idol. _DAGON_ WAS _FALLEN UPON HIS FACE_] This was one proof, which they little expected, of the _superiority_ of the God of Israel. _SET HIM IN HIS PLACE AGAIN... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 5:4. _ONLY_ THE STUMP OF _DAGON WAS LEFT_] Literally, Only דגן _dagon_ (i.e., the _little fish_) was left. It has already been remarked that Dagon had the head, arms and hands of a man or woman, and that the rest of the idol was in the form of a _fish_, to which Horace is supposed to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 5:5. _TREAD ON THE THRESHOLD_] Because the arms, c., of Dagon were broken off by his fall on the threshold, the threshold became sacred, and neither his priests nor worshippers ever tread on the threshold. Thus it was ordered, in the Divine providence, that, by a religious custom of t... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 5:7. _HIS HAND IS SORE UPON US, AND UPON DAGON OUR GOD._] Here the _end_ was completely answered: they now saw that they had not prevailed against Israel, on account of their god being more _powerful_ than _Jehovah_; and they now feel how easily this God can confound and destroy their... [ Continue Reading ]
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, Ask... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 5:9. _THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS AGAINST THE CITY_] As it was at _Ashdod_, so it was at _Gath_. The _Vulgate_ says, _Et_ _computrescebant prominenter extales eorum_; which conveys the idea of a bloody flux, dysentery, and ulcerated anus; and it adds, what is not to be found in the Hebre... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 5:11. _SEND AWAY THE ARK_] It appears that it had been received at Ekron, for _there was a deadly destruction through the_ _whole city_. They therefore concluded that the ark should be sent back to Shiloh.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Samuel 5:12. _THE MEN THAT DIED NOT_] Some it seems were smitten with _instant death_; others with the _haemorrhoids_, and there was a universal consternation; and _the cry of the city went up to_ _heaven_-it was an exceeding great cry. IT does not appear that the Philistines had any corre... [ Continue Reading ]