1 Samuel 6:7 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 6:7
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:
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
Numbers 19:2 This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer…
2 Samuel 6:3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of…
1 Chronicles 13:7 And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 6:1-9
The first words of the chapter tell us how long the captivity of the ark continued - it was in the country of the Philistines seven months. In the field of the Philistines (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 (Sa1 6:5), 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 shou…
make a new cart--Their object in making a new one for the purpose seems to have been not only for cleanliness and neatness, but from an impression that there would have been an impropriety in using one that had been applied to meaner or more common services. It appears to have been a covered wagon (see on Sa2 6:3).
two milch kine--Such untrained heifers, wanton and vagrant, would pursue no certain and regular path, like those accustomed to the yoke, and therefore were most unlikely of their own spontaneous motion to prosecute the direct road to the land of Israel.
bring their calves home from them--The strong natural affection of the dams might be supposed to stimulate their return homew…
Make a new cart - It was indecent and improper to employ in any part of the worship of God any thing that had before served for a common purpose. Every thing in the worship of God is said to be sanctified: now the general meaning of that word is, to separate a thing from all earthly and common uses, and devote it solely to the service of God.
When David removed the ark from the house of Abinadab, he put it on a new cart, Sa2 6:3.
Bring their calves home from them - So it appears that their calves had been with them in the fields. This was a complete trial: unless they were supernaturally influenced, they would not leave their calves; unless supernaturally directed, they would not leave their…
The Church Fathers
Now, therefore, seize and make a new cart, etc. Now, they say, hasten, and either in your hearts or in the hearts of your brethren, putting off the old man with his deeds, put on the new one, which is created according to God in righteousness and holiness and truth (Ephes. IV); and this in the unity of Catholic peace, in which it is so beneficial to salvation to perform whatever good one can, and as noble teachers in the twin, that is, the love of God and neighbor, free from the yoke of sin, rejoicing in the offspring of spiritual faithful children, whether for the burden of preaching the faith or bearing the necessity of the brethren, submit. But hold back any little ones and infants still in Christ within the small scope of your counsel until they grow into a perfect man.
9. For what is designated by the name of the cart, if not either the whole holy Church together, or the individual soul of each faithful person? The wheels of this cart are indeed the two Testaments. For while the holy Church, or any chosen mind instructed through the Old and New Testament, presses onward toward eternal life, it is carried aloft to its appointed place as if upon lofty wheels set before it. But the cart is commanded to be made new, so that, namely, whoever desires to arrive at eternal joys may be clothed through the commandment of love with the splendor of the new man. Indeed, the Lord was commanding this cart to be made new when He said: "This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you" (John 15:12). Hence Paul commands, saying: "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who was created according to God" (Ephesians 4:23). Hence, addressing the Romans, he says: "Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in strife and jealousy, not in debauchery and impurity, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 13:13). Therefore, he makes a new cart who both rightly understands each Testament and, clothed with the splendor of holy conduct, stretches himself upward toward heavenly desires. 10. The wheels by which this cart moves can also designate the twofold desire of each elect person: because whoever, with God's help, already regards the present life as a hardship of pilgrimage, desires to reach future blessedness for this reason — that he may become impassible and immortal: so that through one, he may leave behind the misery he dreads; through the other, he may never lose the blessedness he merits. The cows, moreover, are the holy preachers. Because they are both distinguished by the twofold precept of charity and give birth to the souls of the converted in a new way of life, they are rightly designated both by the number two and by the feminine gender. The calves, however, are earthly desires. When therefore the cows pull the cart, they shut the calves up at home: because while they provide guidance to the faithful elect toward the heavenly homeland, they prevent those desires which suggest a reprobate life to them from coming forth into effect. They shut up the calves, indeed, when they crush proud desires at the very beginning of their suggestion, within the conscience, and do not allow them to advance to the…
Dictionary and topics
Agriculture — Tilling the ground (Gen. 2:15; 4:2, 3, 12) and rearing cattle were the chief employments in ancient times. The Egyptians excelled in agriculture. And after the Israelites entered into the possession…
Cart — A vehicle moving on wheels, and usually drawn by oxen (2 Sam. 6:3). The Hebrew word thus rendered, ’agalah (1 Sam. 6:7, 8), is also rendered “wagon” (Gen. 45:19). It is used also to denote a…
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.…
Ekron — Firm-rooted, the most northerly of the five towns belonging to the lords of the Philistines, about 11 miles north of Gath. It was assigned to Judah (Josh. 13:3), and afterwards to Dan (19:43), but…
Harness — (1.) Heb. ‘asar, “to bind;” hence the act of fastening animals to a cart (1 Sam. 6:7, 10; Jer. 46:4, etc.). (2.) An Old English word for “armour;” Heb. neshek (2 Chr. 9:24). (3.) Heb. shiryan, a coat…
Heifer — Heb. ‘eglah, (Deut. 21:4, 6; Jer. 46:20). Untrained to the yoke (Hos. 10:11); giving milk (Isa. 7:21); ploughing (Judg. 14:18); treading out grain (Jer. 50:11); unsubdued to the yoke an emblem of…
Ox — Heb. bakar, “cattle;” “neat cattle”, (Gen. 12:16; 34:28; Job 1:3, 14; 42:12, etc.); not to be muzzled when treading the corn (Deut. 25:4). Referred to by our Lord in his reproof to the Pharisees…
Wagon — Heb. aghalah; so rendered in Gen. 45:19, 21, 27; 46:5; Num. 7:3, 7, 8, but elsewhere rendered “cart” (1 Sam. 6:7, etc.). This vehicle was used for peaceful purposes. In Ezek. 23:24, however, it is…
Agriculture Or Husbandry · Implements of: The cart — Implements of: The cart
Ark Of The Covenant · Miracles connected with: Manner of its restoration — Miracles connected with: Manner of its restoration
Now therefore make a new cart,.... For there were no Levites, nor priests of the Lord to carry it upon their shoulders, as it was wont to be when carried, and therefore they ordered a cart to be made; and they might know the Levites were allowed wagons to carry some of their sacred things on, Numbers 7:1 and a new one for the honour of the ark, as David afterwards did, 2 Samuel 6:3.
and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke; which also might be designed for the honour of the ark; but there was a further view in it, at least in the providence of God; since two such creatures, who had young, would be apt, if left to themselves, as these were, to return home to them, and not to…
Accordingly they arranged the sending back in such a manner as to manifest the reverence which ought to be shown to the God of Israel was a powerful deity (Sa1 6:7-9). The Philistines were to take a new cart and make it ready (עשׂה), and to yoke two milch cows to the cart upon which no yoke had ever come, and to take away their young ones (calves) from them into the house, i.e., into the stall, and then to put the ark upon the cart, along with the golden things to be presented as a trespass-offering, which were to be in a small chest by the side of the ark, and to send it (i.e., the ark) away, that it might go, viz., without the cows being either driven or guided. From the result of these ar…
shut their calves away: If the cows went against their maternal nature and left their calves to take the Ark to Israel, it would prove that the plague was from Israel’s God (6:9).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 6:7
Nursing cows. Nursing.
Which have not borne a yoke. All this is for the test. Since these cows are not capable of pulling [a load], and furthermore, they will yearn for their young. If the Ark will have the power to enable them to pull it by themselves, we shall know that He brought this upon us.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Cart · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Cow · Used for pulling — Used for pulling
Milk · Of cows — Of cows
Ox, The · Used for: Drawing wagons &c — Used for: Drawing wagons &c
Philistines · Sent back the ark and were healed — Sent back the ark and were healed
Providence Of God, The · Is exercised in: Directing all events — Is exercised in: Directing all events
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).
