five · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
lords
סַרְנֵֽיsar.nei-
H5633
an axle · noun, common masculine plural construct
Philistines
פְלִשְׁתִּ֖יםfe.lish.Tim
H6430
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
seen
רָא֑וּra.'U
H7200
to see · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
returned
וַיָּשֻׁ֥בוּvai.ya.Shu.vu
H7725
to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Ekron
עֶקְר֖וֹןek.Ron
H6138
Ekron · proper noun, a place name
day
בַּיּ֥וֹםbai.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Joshua 13:3 From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistine…
Judges 3:3 Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Ba…
1 Samuel 6:4 Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice,…
Judges 16:5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what mean…
Judges 16:23-30 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said,…
1 Samuel 5:10 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, The…
1 Samuel 6:12 And the kine took the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 6:10-18
We are here told,
I. How the Philistines dismissed the ark, Sa1 6:10, Sa1 6:11. 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 Egypt was glad when they departed, Psa 105:38. 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 (Isa 45:13), He shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward. 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…
and they clave--that is, the Beth-shemites, in an irrepressible outburst of joy.
offered the kine--Though contrary to the requirements of the law (Lev 1:3; Lev 22:19), these animals might properly be offered, as consecrated by God Himself; and though not beside the tabernacle, there were many instances of sacrifices offered by prophets and holy men on extraordinary occasions in other places.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 6:15
The Levites took down - It appears there were some of the tribe of Levi among the people of Beth-shemesh: to them appertained the service of the tabernacle.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 6:16
And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it,.... Observed all that was done, how the kine performed their journey, drew the cart in which the ark was straight to Bethshemesh, stopped in a field near it, where it was received joyfully by the people, and sacrifices offered on account of it:
they returned to Ekron the same day; as they might very well, since it was but twelve miles from Bethshemesh.
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 6:15-18
The Church Fathers
And the five lords of the Philistines saw, etc. All who have preceded in Christ, so long contemplate the faith and deeds of those succeeding them in Him as in a mirror, until they recognize them also as firm in faith and progressing well; and thus, becoming more assured of their salvation, they return to the homes of their own conversation to be cared for. It can also be understood of hypocrites, who, although they seem for a time to imitate the way of life, yet do not merit to enter the gates of Beth-shemesh, that is, of the Sun of righteousness, because of the instability of their left-leaning mind.
28. The satraps of the Philistines, as I have already said above, are chosen as preachers of the Gentiles. They are indeed contained in the number five, because they preside over those who are either still unlearned in the faith or are carnal, in order to restrain the five senses of the body. They indeed accompany the cart with the ark of God, because, passing over to the pursuit of the spiritual life, they follow their already instructed disciples with the care of their solicitude. But when the cart arrived in the field of Joshua and the cows were sacrificed, they returned to Ekron: because when they have already considered the perfection of those disciples, they no longer investigate the paths of their way of life any further. They return to Ekron because they turn themselves to converting others. For Ekron in our language means "barren." Barren also are those who either lack faith or a good way of life. And fittingly, when the princes are said to have returned, it was added: "On that day" — because unless they had recognized in them the brightness of so great a perfection, they would not have returned from their solicitude with the certainty of security.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Ark Of The Covenant · Miracles connected with: Manner of its restoration — Miracles connected with: Manner of its restoration
Music · Physi — Physi
Philistines · Country of: Divided into five sates of lordships — Country of: Divided into five sates of lordships
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Sa1 6:15 contains a supplementary remark, therefore הורידוּ is to be translated as a pluperfect. After sacrificing the cart, with the cows, as a burnt-offering to the Lord, the inhabitants of Bethshemesh gave a further practical expression to their joy at the return of the ark, by offering burnt-offerings and slain-offerings in praise of God. In the burnt-offerings they consecrated themselves afresh, with all their members, to the service of the Lord; and in the slain-offerings, which culminated in the sacrificial meals, they sealed anew their living fellowship with the Lord. The offering of these sacrifices at Bethshemesh was no offence against the commandment, to sacrifice to the Lord at t…
Providentially, the Ark had arrived in Beth-shemesh (6:13), which was a Levite city (Josh 21:13-16). The men of the tribe of Levi who lived there could safely move the Ark (see Num 4:15).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 6:13
And they rejoiced to see. They were going to see how it came alone, and out of their joy, they behaved with levity, for they did not gaze at it with awe and respect.6They violated the commandment “and they shall not come in to see when the holy is being covered and [they will not] die,” in Bamidbar 4:20.
