1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.
2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 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.
4 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.
5 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.
6 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.
1 And the Philistines H6430 took H3947 the ark H727 of God, H430 and brought H935 it from Ebenezer H72 unto Ashdod. H795
2 When the Philistines H6430 took H3947 the ark H727 of God, H430 they brought H935 it into the house H1004 of Dagon, H1712 and set H3322 it by H681 Dagon. H1712
3 And when they of Ashdod H796 arose early H7925 on the morrow, H4283 behold, Dagon H1712 was fallen H5307 upon his face H6440 to the earth H776 before H6440 the ark H727 of the LORD. H3068 And they took H3947 Dagon, H1712 and set H7725 him in his place H4725 again. H7725
4 And when they arose early H7925 on the morrow H4283 morning, H1242 behold, Dagon H1712 was fallen H5307 upon his face H6440 to the ground H776 before H6440 the ark H727 of the LORD; H3068 and the head H7218 of Dagon H1712 and both H8147 the palms H3709 of his hands H3027 were cut off H3772 upon the threshold; H4670 only the stump of Dagon H1712 was left H7604 to him.
5 Therefore neither the priests H3548 of Dagon, H1712 nor any that come H935 into Dagon's H1712 house, H1004 tread H1869 on the threshold H4670 of Dagon H1712 in Ashdod H795 unto this day. H3117
6 But the hand H3027 of the LORD H3068 was heavy H3513 upon them of Ashdod, H796 and he destroyed H8074 them, and smote H5221 them with emerods, H2914 H6076 even Ashdod H795 and the coasts H1366 thereof.
1 Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod.
2 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands `lay' cut off upon the threshold; only `the stump of' Dagon was left to him.
5 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.
6 But the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with tumors, even Ashdod and the borders thereof.
1 And the Philistines have taken the ark of God, and bring it in from Eben-Ezer to Ashdod,
2 and the Philistines take the ark of God and bring it into the house of Dagon, and set it near Dagon.
3 And the Ashdodites rise early on the morrow, and lo, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the ark of Jehovah; and they take Dagon, and put it back to its place.
4 And they rise early in the morning on the morrow, and lo, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the ark of Jehovah, and the head of Dagon, and the two palms of its hands are cut off at the threshold, only the fishy part hath been left to him;
5 therefore the priests of Dagon, and all those coming into the house of Dagon, tread not on the threshold of Dagon, in Ashdod, till this day.
6 And the hand of Jehovah is heavy on the Ashdodites, and He maketh them desolate, and smiteth them with emerods, Ashdod and its borders.
1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer to Ashdod.
2 And the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 And when they of Ashdod arose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
4 And when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the fish-stump was left to him.
5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any that come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
6 And the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he laid them waste, and smote them with hemorrhoids, -- Ashdod and its borders.
1 Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2 The Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 When they of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. They took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
4 When they arose early on the next day morning, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands [lay] cut off on the threshold; only [the stump of] Dagon was left to him.
5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any who come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.
6 But the hand of Yahweh was heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and the borders of it.
1 Now the Philistines, having taken the ark of God, took it with them from Eben-ezer to Ashdod.
2 They took the ark of God into the house of Dagon and put it by the side of Dagon.
3 And when the people of Ashdod got up early on the morning after, they saw that Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon up and put him in his place again.
4 And when they got up early on the morning after, Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord; and his head and his hands were broken off on the doorstep; only the base was in its place.
5 So to this day no priest of Dagon, or any who come into Dagon's house, will put his foot on the doorstep of the house of Dagon in Ashdod.
6 But the hand of the Lord was hard on the people of Ashdod and he sent disease on them through all the country of Ashdod.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Samuel 5
Commentary on 1 Samuel 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
1Sa 5:1, 2. The Philistines Bring the Ark into the House of Dagon.
1. Ashdod—or Azotus, one of the five Philistine satrapies, and a place of great strength. It was an inland town, thirty-four miles north of Gaza, now called Esdud.
2. the house of Dagon—Stately temples were erected in honor of this idol, which was the principal deity of the Philistines, but whose worship extended over all Syria, as well as Mesopotamia and Chaldea; its name being found among the Assyrian gods on the cuneiform inscriptions [Rawlinson]. It was represented under a monstrous combination of a human head, breast, and arms, joined to the belly and tail of a fish. The captured ark was placed in the temple of Dagon, right before this image of the idol.
1Sa 5:3-5. Dagon Falls Down.
3, 4. they of Ashdod arose early—They were filled with consternation when they found the object of their stupid veneration prostrate before the symbol of the divine presence. Though set up, it fell again, and lay in a state of complete mutilation; its head and arms, severed from the trunk, were lying in distant and separate places, as if violently cast off, and only the fishy part remained. The degradation of their idol, though concealed by the priests on the former occasion, was now more manifest and infamous. It lay in the attitude of a vanquished enemy and a suppliant, and this picture of humiliation significantly declared the superiority of the God of Israel.
5. Therefore neither the priests … nor any … tread on the threshold of Dagon—A superstitious ceremony crept in, and in the providence of God was continued, by which the Philistines contributed to publish this proof of the helplessness of their god.
unto this day—The usage continued in practice at the time when this history was written—probably in the later years of Samuel's life.
1Sa 5:6-12. The Philistines Are Smitten with Emerods.
6. the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod—The presumption of the Ashdodites was punished by a severe judgment that overtook them in the form of a pestilence.
smote them with emerods—bleeding piles, hemorrhoids (Ps 78:66), in a very aggravated form. As the heathens generally regarded diseases affecting the secret parts of the body as punishments from the gods for trespasses committed against themselves, the Ashdodites would be the more ready to look upon the prevailing epidemic as demonstrating the anger of God, already shown against their idol.
7. the ark of God shall not abide with us—It was removed successively to several of the large towns of the country, but the same pestilence broke out in every place and raged so fiercely and fatally that the authorities were forced to send the ark back into the land of Israel [1Sa 5:8-10].
11. they sent—that is, the magistrates of Ekron.
12. the cry of the city went up to heaven—The disease is attended with acute pain, and it is far from being a rare phenomenon in the Philistian plain [Van De Velde].