mh_parser/vol_split/9 - 1Samuel/Chapter 6.xml

<div2 id="iSam.vii" n="vii" next="iSam.viii" prev="iSam.vi" progress="27.29%" title="Chapter VI">
<h2 id="iSam.vii-p0.1">F I R S T   S A M U E L</h2>
<h3 id="iSam.vii-p0.2">CHAP. VI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iSam.vii-p1">In this chapter we have the return of the ark to
the land of Israel, whither we are now gladly to attend it, and
observe, I. How the Philistines dismissed it, by the advice of
their priests (<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.6.1-2Sam.6.11" parsed="|2Sam|6|1|6|11" passage="2Sa 6:1-11">ver.
1-11</scripRef>), with rich presents to the God of Israel, to make
an atonement for their sin (<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.6.3-2Sam.6.5" parsed="|2Sam|6|3|6|5" passage="2Sa 6:3-5">ver.
3-5</scripRef>), and yet with a project to bring it back, unless
Providence directed the kine, contrary to their inclination, to go
to the land of Israel, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.6.8-2Sam.6.9" parsed="|2Sam|6|8|6|9" passage="2Sa 6:8,9">ver. 8,
9</scripRef>. II. How the Israelites entertained it. 1. With great
joy and sacrifices of praise, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.6.12-2Sam.6.18" parsed="|2Sam|6|12|6|18" passage="2Sa 6:12-18">ver.
12-18</scripRef>. 2. With an over-bold curiosity to look into it,
for which many of them were struck dead, the terror of which moved
them to send it forward to another city, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.6.19-2Sam.6.21" parsed="|2Sam|6|19|6|21" passage="2Sa 6:19-21">ver. 19-21</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="iSam.vii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6" parsed="|1Sam|6|0|0|0" passage="1Sa 6" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iSam.vii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.1-1Sam.6.9" parsed="|1Sam|6|1|6|9" passage="1Sa 6:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Sam.6.1-1Sam.6.9">
<h4 id="iSam.vii-p1.8">The Ark Among the
Philistines. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p1.9">b. c.</span> 1120.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iSam.vii-p2">1 And the ark of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p2.1">Lord</span> was in the country of the Philistines seven
months.   2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the
diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p2.2">Lord</span>? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his
place.   3 And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God
of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass
offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why
his hand is not removed from you.   4 Then said they, What
<i>shall be</i> the trespass offering which we shall return to him?
They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice,
<i>according to</i> the number of the lords of the Philistines: for
one plague <i>was</i> on you all, and on your lords.   5
Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your
mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of
Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and
from off your gods, and from off your land.   6 Wherefore then
do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened
their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they
not let the people go, and they departed?   7 Now therefore
make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come
no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home
from them:   8 And take the ark of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p2.3">Lord</span>, and lay it upon the cart; and put the
jewels of gold, which ye return him <i>for</i> a trespass offering,
in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go.
  9 And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to
Beth-shemesh, <i>then</i> he hath done us this great evil: but if
not, then we shall know that <i>it is</i> not his hand <i>that</i>
smote us: it <i>was</i> a chance <i>that</i> happened to us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.vii-p3">The first words of the chapter tell us how
long the captivity of the ark continued—it was <i>in the country
of the Philistines seven months. In the field of the
Philistines</i> (so it is in the original), from which some gather
that, having tried it in all their cities, and found it a plague to
the inhabitants of each, at length they sent it into the open
fields, upon which mice sprang up out of the ground in great
multitudes, and destroyed the corn which was now nearly ripe and
marred the land. With that judgment they were plagued (<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.5" parsed="|1Sam|6|5|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), and yet it is not
mentioned in the foregoing chapter; so God let them know that
wherever they carried the ark, so long as they carried it captive,
they should find it a curse to them. <i>Cursed shalt thou be in the
city, and cursed in the field,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.16" parsed="|Deut|28|16|0|0" passage="De 28:16">Deut. xxviii. 16</scripRef>. But, most take it to
signify, as we render it, <i>The country of the Philistines.</i>
Now, 1. Seven months Israel was punished with the absence of the
ark, that special token of God's presence. How bare did the
tabernacle look without it! How was the holy city now a desolation,
and the holy land a wilderness! A melancholy time no doubt it was
to the good people among them, particularly to Samuel; but they had
this to comfort themselves with, as we have in the like distress
when we are deprived of the comfort of public ordinances, that,
wherever the ark is, <i>the Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's
throne is in heaven,</i> and by faith and prayer we may have access
with boldness to him there. We may have God nigh unto us when the
ark is at a distance. 2. Seven months the Philistines were punished
with the presence of the ark; so long it was a plague to them,
because they would not send it home sooner. Note, Sinners lengthen
out their own miseries by obstinately refusing to part with their
sins. Egypt's plagues would have been fewer than ten if Pharaoh's
heart had not been hardened not to let the people go. But at length
it is determined that the ark must be sent back; there is no
remedy, they are undone if they detain it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.vii-p4">I. The priests and the diviners are
consulted about it, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.2" parsed="|1Sam|6|2|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. They were supposed to be best acquainted both with
the rules of wisdom and with the rites of worship and atonement.
And the Israelites being their neighbours, and famed above all
people for the institutions of their religion, they had no doubt
the curiosity to acquaint themselves with their laws and usages;
and therefore it was proper to ask them, <i>What shall we do to the
ark of Jehovah?</i> All nations have had a regard to their priests,
as the men whose lips keep knowledge. Had the Philistines diviners?
We have divines, of whom we should enquire wherewith we shall
<i>come before the Lord</i> and <i>bow ourselves before the most
high God.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.vii-p5">II. They give their advice very fully, and
seem to be very unanimous in it. It was a wonder they did not, as
friends to their country, give it, <i>ex officio—officially,</i>
before they were asked. 1. They urge it upon them that it was
absolutely necessary to send the ark back, from the example of
Pharaoh and the Egyptians, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.6" parsed="|1Sam|6|6|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. Some, it may be, were loth to yield, and were willing
to try it out with the ark awhile longer, and to them they apply
themselves: <i>Wherefore do you harden your hearts, as the
Egyptians and Pharaoh did?</i> It seems they were well acquainted
with the Mosaic history, and could cite precedents out of it. This
good use we should make of the remaining records of God's judgments
upon obstinate sinners, we should by them be warned not to harden
our hearts as they did. It is much cheaper to learn by other
people's experience than by our own. The Egyptians were forced at
last to let Israel go; therefore let the Philistines yield in time
to let the ark go. 2. They advise that, when they sent it back,
they should send a trespass-offering with it, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.3" parsed="|1Sam|6|3|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Whatever the gods of other
nations were, they knew the God of Israel was a jealous God, and
how strict he was in his demands of sin-offerings and
trespass-offerings from his own people; and therefore, since they
found how highly he resented the affront of holding his ark
captive, those with whom he had such a quarrel must <i>in any wise
return him a trespass-offering,</i> and they could not expect to be
healed upon any other terms. Injured justice demands satisfaction.
So far natural light instructed men. But when they began to
contrive what that satisfaction should be, they became wretchedly
vain in their imaginations. But those who by wilful sin have
imprisoned the truth in unrighteousness, as the Philistines did the
ark (<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.18" parsed="|Rom|1|18|0|0" passage="Ro 1:18">Rom. i. 18</scripRef>), may
conclude that there is no making their peace with him whom they
have thus injured but by a sin-offering; and we know but one that
can take away sin. 3. They direct that this trespass-offering
should be an acknowledgement of the punishment of their iniquity,
by which they might take shame to themselves as conquered and
yielding, and guilty before God, and might <i>give glory to the God
of Israel</i> as their mighty conqueror and most just avenger,
<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.5" parsed="|1Sam|6|5|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. They must make
images of the <i>emerods,</i> that is, of the swellings and sores
with which they had been afflicted, so making the reproach of that
shameful disease perpetual by their own act and deed (<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.66" parsed="|Ps|78|66|0|0" passage="Ps 78:66">Ps. lxxviii. 66</scripRef>), also images of the
<i>mice that had marred the land,</i> owning thereby the almighty
power of the God of Israel, who could chastise and humble them,
even in the day of their triumph, by such small and despicable
animals. These images must be made of gold, the most precious
metal, to intimate that they would gladly purchase their peace with
the God of Israel at any rate, and would not think it bought too
dearly with gold, <i>with much fine gold.</i> The <i>golden
emerods</i> must be, in number, five, according to the <i>number of
the lords,</i> who, it is likely, were all afflicted with them, and
were content thus to own it; it was advised that the <i>golden
mice</i> should be five too, but, because the whole country was
infested with them, it should seem, upon second thoughts, they sent
more of them, <i>according to the number both of the fenced cities
and of the country villages,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.18" parsed="|1Sam|6|18|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. Their priests reminded them
that <i>one plague was on them all;</i> they could not blame one
another, for they were all guilty, which they were plainly told by
being all plagued. Their proposal to offer a trespass-offering for
their offence was conformable enough to divine revelation at that
time; but to send such things as these for trespass-offerings was
very foreign, and showed them grossly ignorant of the methods of
reconciliation appointed by the law of Moses; for there it appears
all along that it is blood, and not gold, that makes atonement for
the soul. 4. They encourage them to hope that hereby they would
take an effectual course to get rid of the plague: <i>You shall be
healed,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.3" parsed="|1Sam|6|3|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
For, it seems, the disease obstinately resisted all the methods of
cure their physicians had prescribed. "Let them therefore send back
the ark, and then," say they, "<i>It shall be known to you why his
hand is not removed from you,</i> that is, by this it will appear
whether it is for your detaining the ark that you are thus plagued;
for, if it be, upon your delivering it up the plague will cease."
God has sometimes put his people upon making such a trial, whether
their reformation would not be their relief. <i>Prove me now
herewith, saith the Lord of hosts,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.10 Bible:Hag.2.18-Hag.2.19" parsed="|Mal|3|10|0|0;|Hag|2|18|2|19" passage="Mal 3:10,Hag 2:18,19">Mal. iii. 10; Hag. ii. 18, 19</scripRef>.
Yet they speak doubtfully (<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.5" parsed="|1Sam|6|5|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>): <i>Peradventure he will lighten his hand from off
you;</i> as if now they began to think that the judgment might come
from God's hand, and yet not be removed immediately upon the
restitution of the ark; however that was the likeliest way to
obtain mercy. Take away the cause and the effect will cease. 5. Yet
they put them in a way to make a further trial whether it was the
hand of the God of Israel that had smitten them with these plagues
or no. They must, in honour of the ark, put it on a new cart or
carriage, to be drawn by two milch-cows, that had calves daily
sucking them (<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.7" parsed="|1Sam|6|7|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>),
unused to draw, and inclined to home, both for the sake of the crib
where they were fed and of the calves they nourished, and, besides,
altogether unacquainted with the road that led towards the land of
Israel. They must have no one to lead or drive them, but must take
their own way, which, in all reason, one might expect, would be
home again; and yet, unless the God of Israel, after all the other
miracles he has wrought, will work one more, and by an invisible
power lead these cows, contrary to their natural instinct and
inclination, to the land of Israel, and particularly to
Beth-shemesh, they will retract their former opinion, and will
believe it was not the hand of God that smote them, but it was a
chance that <i>happened to them,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p5.11" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.8-1Sam.6.9" parsed="|1Sam|6|8|6|9" passage="1Sa 6:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8, 9</scripRef>. Thus did God suffer himself
to be tempted and prescribed to, after he had been otherwise
affronted, by these uncircumcised Philistines. Would they have been
content that the honour of Dagon, their god, should be put upon
such an issue as this? See how willing bad men are to shift off
their convictions of the hand of God upon them, and to believe,
when they are in trouble, that it is <i>a chance that happens to
them;</i> and, if so, the rod has no voice which they are concerned
to hear or heed.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iSam.vii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.10-1Sam.6.18" parsed="|1Sam|6|10|6|18" passage="1Sa 6:10-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Sam.6.10-1Sam.6.18">
<h4 id="iSam.vii-p5.13">The Restoration of the Ark. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p5.14">b. c.</span> 1119.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iSam.vii-p6">10 And the men did so; and took two milch kine,
and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home:  
11 And they laid the ark of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p6.1">Lord</span>
upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images
of their emerods.   12 And the kine took the straight way to
the way of Beth-shemesh, <i>and</i> went along the highway, lowing
as they went, and turned not aside <i>to</i> the right hand or
<i>to</i> the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after
them unto the border of Beth-shemesh.   13 And <i>they of</i>
Beth-shemesh <i>were</i> reaping their wheat harvest in the valley:
and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see
<i>it.</i>   14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a
Bethshemite, and stood there, where <i>there was</i> a great stone:
and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt
offering unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p6.2">Lord</span>.   15
And the Levites took down the ark of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p6.3">Lord</span>, and the coffer that <i>was</i> with it,
wherein the jewels of gold <i>were,</i> and put <i>them</i> on the
great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings
and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p6.4">Lord</span>.   16 And when the five lords of the
Philistines had seen <i>it,</i> they returned to Ekron the same
day.   17 And these <i>are</i> the golden emerods which the
Philistines returned <i>for</i> a trespass offering unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p6.5">Lord</span>; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for
Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;   18 And the golden
mice, <i>according to</i> the number of all the cities of the
Philistines <i>belonging</i> to the five lords, <i>both</i> of
fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great
<i>stone of</i> Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p6.6">Lord</span>: <i>which stone remaineth</i> unto
this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.vii-p7">We are here told,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.vii-p8">I. How the Philistines dismissed the ark,
<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.10-1Sam.6.11" parsed="|1Sam|6|10|6|11" passage="1Sa 6:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10, 11</scripRef>. They
were made as glad to part with it as ever they had been to take it.
As God had fetched Israel out of the house of bondage, so now he
fetched the ark out of its captivity, in such a manner as that
<i>Egypt was glad when they departed,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.38" parsed="|Ps|105|38|0|0" passage="Ps 105:38">Ps. cv. 38</scripRef>. 1. They received no money or
price for the ransom of it, as they hoped to do, even beyond a
king's ransom. Thus it is prophesied of Cyrus (<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.45.13" parsed="|Isa|45|13|0|0" passage="Isa 45:13">Isa. xlv. 13</scripRef>), <i>He shall let go my
captives, not for price nor reward.</i> Nay, 2. They gave jewels of
gold, as the Egyptians did to the Israelites, to be rid of it. Thus
the ark that was carried into the land of the Philistines, a trophy
of their victory, carried back with it trophies of its own, and
lasting monuments of the disgrace of the Philistines. Note, God
will be no loser in his glory, at last, by the successes of the
church's enemies against his ark, but will get himself honour from
those that seek to do dishonour to him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.vii-p9">II. How the kine brought it to the land of
Israel, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.12" parsed="|1Sam|6|12|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. They
<i>took the straight way to Beth-shemesh,</i> the next city of the
land of Israel, and a priests' city, <i>and turned not aside.</i>
This was a wonderful instance of the power of God over the
brute-creatures, and, all things considered, no less than a
miracle, that cattle unaccustomed to the yoke should draw so even,
so orderly, and still go forward,—that, without any driver, they
should go from home, to which all tame creatures have a natural
inclination, and from their own calves, to which they had a natural
affection,—that, without any director, they should go the straight
road to Beth-shemesh, a city eight or ten miles off, never miss the
way, never turn aside into the fields to feed themselves, nor turn
back home to feed their calves. They went on lowing for their young
ones, by which it appeared that they had not forgotten them, but
that nature was sensible of the grievance of going from them; the
power of the God of nature therefore appeared so much the greater,
in overruling one of the strongest instincts of nature. These two
kine, says Dr. Lightfoot, knew their owner, their great owner
(<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.3" parsed="|Isa|1|3|0|0" passage="Isa 1:3">Isa. i. 3</scripRef>), whom Hophni and
Phinehas knew not, to which I may add they brought home the ark to
shame the stupidity of Israel, that made no attempt to fetch it
home. God's providence is conversant about the motions even of
brute-creatures, and serves its own purposes by them. The lords of
the Philistines, with a suitable retinue no doubt, went after them,
wondering at the power of the God of Israel; and thus those who
thought to triumph over the ark were made to go like menial
servants after it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.vii-p10">III. How it was welcomed to the land of
Israel: <i>The men of Beth-shemesh were reaping their
wheat-harvest,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.13" parsed="|1Sam|6|13|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. They were going on with their worldly business, and
were in no care about the ark, made no enquiries what had become of
it; if they had, it is likely they might have had private
intelligence beforehand of its coming, and might have gone to meet
it, and conduct it into their own border. But they were as careless
as the people that <i>ceiled their own houses</i> and <i>let God's
house lie waste.</i> Note, God will in his own time effect the
deliverance of his church, not only though it be fought against by
its enemies, but though it be neglected by its friends. Some
observe that the returning ark found the men of Beth-shemesh, not
idling or sporting in the streets of the city, but busy, reaping
their corn in their fields, and well employed. Thus the tidings of
the birth of Christ were brought to the shepherds when they were
<i>keeping their flock by night.</i> The devil visits idle men with
his temptations. God visits industrious men with his favours. The
same invisible hand that directed the kine to the land of Israel
brought them into the field of Joshua, and in that field they
stood, some think for the owner's sake, on whom, being a very good
man, they suppose God designed to put this honour. I rather think
it was for the sake of the great stone in that field, which was
convenient to put the ark upon, and which is spoken of, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.14-1Sam.6.15 Bible:1Sam.6.18" parsed="|1Sam|6|14|6|15;|1Sam|6|18|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:14,15,18"><i>v.</i> 14, 15, 18</scripRef>. Now, 1.
When the reapers <i>saw the ark, they rejoiced</i> (<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.13" parsed="|1Sam|6|13|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); their joy for that was
greater than the joy of harvest, and therefore they left their work
to bid it welcome. When the Lord turned again the captivity of his
ark they were <i>like men that dream; then was their mouth filled
with laughter,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.126.1-Ps.126.2" parsed="|Ps|126|1|126|2" passage="Ps 126:1,2">Ps. cxxvi. 1,
2</scripRef>. Though they had not zeal and courage enough to
attempt the rescue or ransom of it, yet, when it did come, they
bade it heartily welcome. Note, The return of the ark, and the
revival of holy ordinances, after days of restraint and trouble,
cannot but be matter of great joy to every faithful Israelite. 3.
They offered up the kine for a burnt-offering, to the honour of
God, and made use of the wood of the cart for fuel, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.14" parsed="|1Sam|6|14|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Probably the
Philistines intended these, when they sent them, to be a part of
their trespass-offering, to make atonement, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.3 Bible:1Sam.6.7" parsed="|1Sam|6|3|0|0;|1Sam|6|7|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:3,7"><i>v.</i> 3, 7</scripRef>. However, the men of
Beth-shemesh looked upon it as proper to make this use of them,
because it was by no means fit that ever they should be put to any
other use; never shall that cart carry any common thing that has
once carried that sacred symbol of the divine presence: and the
kine had been under such an immediate guidance of heaven that God
had, as it were, already laid claim to them; they were servants to
him, and therefore must be sacrifices to him, and no doubt were
accepted, though females, whereas, in strictness, every
burnt-offering was to be a male. 3. They deposited the ark, with a
chest of jewels that the Philistines presented, upon the great
stone in the open field, a cold lodging for the ark of the Lord and
a very mean one; yet better so than in Dagon's temple, or in the
hands of the Philistines. It is desirable to see the ark in its
habitation in all the circumstances of solemnity and splendour; but
better have it upon a great stone, and in the fields of the wood,
than be without it. The intrinsic grandeur of instituted ordinances
ought not to be diminished in our eyes by the meanness and poverty
of the place where they are administered. As the burning of the
cart and cows that brought home the ark might be construed to
signify their hopes that it should never be carried away again out
of the land of Israel, so the setting of it upon a great stone
might signify their hopes that it should be established again upon
a firm foundation. The church is built upon a rock. 4. They offered
the sacrifices of thanksgiving to God, some think upon the great
stone, more probably upon an altar of earth made for the purpose,
<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.7" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.15" parsed="|1Sam|6|15|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. And, the case
being extraordinary, the law for offering at the altar in the court
of the tabernacle was dispensed with, and the more easily because
Shiloh was now dismantled; God himself had forsaken it, and the
ark, which was its chief glory, they had with them here.
Beth-shemesh, though it lay within the lot of the tribe of Dan, yet
belonged to Judah, so that this accidental bringing of the ark
hither was an indication of its designed settlement there, in
process of time; for, when God <i>refused the tabernacle of Joseph,
he chose the tribe of Judah,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.67-Ps.78.68" parsed="|Ps|78|67|78|68" passage="Ps 78:67,68">Ps. lxxviii. 67, 68</scripRef>. It was one of those
cities which were assigned out of the lot of Judah to the <i>sons
of Aaron,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.9" osisRef="Bible:Josh.21.16" parsed="|Josh|21|16|0|0" passage="Jos 21:16">Josh. xxi.
16</scripRef>. Whither should the ark go but to a priests' city?
And it was well they had those of that sacred order ready (for
though they are here called <i>Levites,</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.10" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.15" parsed="|1Sam|6|15|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>, yet it should seem they were
priests) both to take down the ark and to offer the sacrifices. 5.
The lords of the Philistines returned to Ekron, much affected, we
may suppose, with what they had seen of the glory of God and the
zeal of the Israelites, and yet not reclaimed from the worship of
Dagon; for how seldom <i>has a nation changed its gods, though they
were no gods!</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.11" parsed="|Jer|2|11|0|0" passage="Jer 2:11">Jer. ii.
11</scripRef>. Though they cannot but think the God of Israel
<i>glorious in holiness and fearful in praises,</i> yet they are
resolved they will think Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, at least as
good as he, and to him they will cleave because he is theirs. 6.
Notice is taken of the continuance of the great stone in the same
place; there it is <i>unto this day</i> (<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p10.12" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.18" parsed="|1Sam|6|18|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>), because it remained a lasting
memorial of this great event, and served to support the traditional
history by which it was transmitted to posterity. The fathers would
say to the children, "This is the stone upon which the ark of God
was set when it came out of the Philistines' hands, a thing never
to be forgotten."</p>
</div><scripCom id="iSam.vii-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.19-1Sam.6.21" parsed="|1Sam|6|19|6|21" passage="1Sa 6:19-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Sam.6.19-1Sam.6.21">
<h4 id="iSam.vii-p10.14">The Ark at Beth-shemesh. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p10.15">b. c.</span> 1119.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iSam.vii-p11">19 And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because
they had looked into the ark of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p11.1">Lord</span>, even he smote of the people fifty thousand
and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p11.2">Lord</span> had smitten <i>many</i> of the
people with a great slaughter.   20 And the men of
Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p11.3">Lord</span> God? and to whom shall he go up from
us?   21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of
Kirjath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark
of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iSam.vii-p11.4">Lord</span>; come ye down,
<i>and</i> fetch it up to you.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iSam.vii-p12">Here is, 1. The sin of the men of
Beth-shemesh: <i>They looked into the ark of the Lord,</i>
<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.19" parsed="|1Sam|6|19|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. Every
Israelite had heard great talk of the ark, and had been possessed
with a profound veneration for it; but they had been told that it
was lodged within a veil, and even the high priest himself might
not look upon it but once a year, and then through a cloud of
incense. Perhaps this made many say (as we are apt to covet that
which is forbidden) what a great deal they would give for a sight
of it. Some of these Beth-shemites, we may suppose, for that
reason, <i>rejoiced to see the ark</i> (<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.13" parsed="|1Sam|6|13|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>) more than for the sake of the
public. Yet this did not content them; they might see it, but they
would go further, they would take off the covering, which it is
likely was nailed or screwed on, and look into it, under pretence
of seeing whether the Philistines had not taken the two tables out
of it or some way damaged them, but really to gratify a sinful
curiosity of their own, which intruded into those things that God
had thought fit to conceal from them. Note, It is a great affront
to God for vain men to pry into and meddle with the secret things
which belong not to them, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.29.29 Bible:Col.2.18" parsed="|Deut|29|29|0|0;|Col|2|18|0|0" passage="De 29:29,Col 2:18">Deut. xxix. 29; Col. ii. 18</scripRef>. We were
all ruined by an ambition of forbidden knowledge. That which made
this looking into the ark a great sin was that it proceeded from a
very low and mean opinion of the ark. The familiarity they had with
it upon this occasion bred contempt and irreverence. Perhaps they
presumed upon their being priests; but the dignity of the
ministerial office will be so far from excusing that it will
aggravate a careless and irreverent treatment of holy things. They
should, by their example, have taught others to keep their distance
and look upon the ark with a holy awe. Perhaps they presumed upon
the kind entertainment they had given the ark, and the sacrifices
they had now offered to welcome it home with, for which they
thought the ark was indebted to them, and they might be allowed to
repay themselves with the satisfaction of looking into it. But let
no man think that his service done for God will justify him in any
instance of disrespect or irreverence towards the things of God. Or
it may be they presumed upon the present mean circumstances the ark
was in, newly come out of captivity, and unsettled; now that it
stood upon a cold stone, they thought they might make free with it;
they should never have such another opportunity of being familiar
with it. It is an offence to God if we think meanly of his
ordinances because of the meanness of the manner of their
administration. Had they looked with an understanding eye upon the
ark, and not judged purely by outward appearance, they would have
thought that the ark never shone with greater majesty than it did
now. It had triumphed over the Philistines, and come out of its
house of bondage (like Christ out of the grave) by its own power;
had they considered this, they would not have looked into it thus,
as a common chest. 2. Their punishment for this sin: <i>He smote
the men of Beth-shemesh, many of them, with a great slaughter.</i>
How jealous is God for the honour of his ark! He will not suffer it
to be profaned. <i>Be not deceived, God is not mocked.</i> Those
that will not fear his goodness, and reverently use the tokens of
his grace, shall be made to feel his justice, and sink under the
tokens of his displeasure. Those that pry into what is forbidden,
and come too near to holy fire, will find it is at their peril.
<i>He smote</i> 50,070 <i>men.</i> This account of the numbers
smitten is expressed in a very unusual manner in the original,
which, besides the improbability that there should be so many
guilty and so many slain, occasions many learned men to question
whether we take the matter aright. In the original it is, <i>He
smote in</i> (or among) <i>the people three score and ten men,
fifty thousand men.</i> The Syriac and Arabic read it, <i>five
thousand and seventy men.</i> The Chaldee reads it, <i>seventy men
of the elders, and fifty thousand of the common people. Seventy men
as valuable as</i> 50,000, so some, because they were priests. Some
think the seventy men were the Beth-shemites that were slain for
looking into the ark, and the 50,000 were those that were slain by
the ark, in the land of the Philistines. <i>He smote seventy
men,</i> that is, <i>fifty out of a thousand,</i> which was one in
twenty, a half decimation; so some understand it. The Septuagint
read it much as we do, <i>he smote seventy men, and fifty thousand
men.</i> Josephus says only seventy were smitten. 3. The terror
that was struck upon the men of Beth-shemesh by this severe stroke.
They said, as well they might, <i>Who is able to stand before this
holy Lord God?</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.20" parsed="|1Sam|6|20|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>. Some think this expresses their murmuring against
God, as if he had dealt hardly and unjustly with them. Instead of
quarrelling with themselves and their own sins, they quarrelled
with God and his judgments; as <i>David was displeased,</i> in a
case not much dissimilar, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.6.8-2Sam.6.9" parsed="|2Sam|6|8|6|9" passage="2Sa 6:8,9">2 Sam. vi.
8, 9</scripRef>. I rather think it intimates their awful and
reverent adoration of God, as the Lord God, as a holy Lord God, and
as a God before whom none is able to stand. This they infer from
that tremendous judgment, "Who is able to stand before the God of
the ark?" To stand before God to worship him (blessed be his name)
is not impossible; we are through Christ invited, encouraged, and
enabled to do it, but to stand before God to contend with him we
are not able. Who is able to stand before the throne of his
immediate glory, and look full upon it? <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.6.16" parsed="|1Tim|6|16|0|0" passage="1Ti 6:16">1 Tim. vi. 16</scripRef>. Who is able to stand before
the tribunal of his enflexible justice, and make his part good
there? <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.130.3 Bible:Ps.143.2" parsed="|Ps|130|3|0|0;|Ps|143|2|0|0" passage="Ps 130:3,143:2">Ps. cxxx. 3; cxliii.
2</scripRef>. Who is able to stand before the arm of his provoked
power, and either resist or bear the strokes of it? <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.76.7" parsed="|Ps|76|7|0|0" passage="Ps 76:7">Ps. lxxvi. 7</scripRef>. 4. Their desire,
hereupon, to be rid of the ark. They asked, <i>To whom shall he go
up from us?</i> <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.9" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.20" parsed="|1Sam|6|20|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>. They should rather have asked, "How may we make our
peace with him, and recover his favour?" <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.10" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.6-Mic.6.7" parsed="|Mic|6|6|6|7" passage="Mic 6:6,7">Mic. vi. 6, 7</scripRef>. But they begin to be as weary
of the ark as the Philistines had been, whereas, if they had
treated it with due reverence, who knows but it might have taken up
its residence among them, and they had all been blessed for the
ark's sake? But thus, when the word of God works with terror on
sinners' consciences, they, instead of taking the blame and shame
to themselves, quarrel with the word, and put it from them,
<scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.6.10" parsed="|Jer|6|10|0|0" passage="Jer 6:10">Jer. vi. 10</scripRef>. They sent
messengers to the elders of Kirjath-jearim, a strong city further
up in the country, and begged of them to come and fetch the ark up
thither, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.12" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.21" parsed="|1Sam|6|21|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. They
durst not touch it to bring it thither themselves, but stood aloof
from it as a dangerous thing. Thus do foolish men run from one
extreme to the other, from presumptuous boldness to slavish
shyness. Kirjath-jearim, that is, <i>the city of woods,</i>
belonged to Judah, <scripRef id="iSam.vii-p12.13" osisRef="Bible:Josh.15.9 Bible:Josh.15.60" parsed="|Josh|15|9|0|0;|Josh|15|60|0|0" passage="Jos 15:9,60">Josh. xv. 9,
60</scripRef>. It lay in the way from Beth-shemesh to Shiloh, so
that when they sent to them to fetch it, we may suppose, they
intended that the elders of Shiloh should fetch it thence, but God
intended otherwise. Thus was it sent from town to town, and no care
taken of it by the public, a sign that there was no king in
Israel.</p>
</div></div2>