1 Samuel 6:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 6:8
And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go.
to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
jewels
כְּלֵ֣יke.Lei
H3627
something prepared · noun, common masculine plural construct
gold
הַזָּהָ֗בha.za.Hav
H2091
gold · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
return
הֲשֵׁבֹתֶ֥םha.she.vo.Tem
H7725
to turn back (hence · verb, hiphil perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
offering
אָשָׁ֔ם'a.Sham
H817
guilt · noun, common masculine singular absolute
coffer
בָאַרְגַּ֖זva.'ar.Gaz
H712
a box (as a pannier) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
side
מִצִּדּ֑וֹmi.tzi.Do
H6654
a side · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
away
וְשִׁלַּחְתֶּ֥םve.shi.lach.Tem
H7971
to send away · conjunction + verb, piel sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
go
וְהָלָֽךְve.ha.Lakh
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
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
1 Samuel 6:3-5 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 shal…
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…
take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart--This mode of carrying the sacred symbol was forbidden; but the ignorance of the Philistines made the indignity excusable (see on Sa2 6:6).
put the jewels . . . in a coffer by the side thereof--The way of securing treasure in the East is still in a chest, chained to the house wall or some solid part of the furniture.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 6:8
The jewels of gold - The word קלי keley, which our translators so often render jewels, signifies vessels, implements, ornaments, etc. A jewel of gold has an odd sound to those who always attach the idea of a precious stone to the term.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 6:8
And take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart,.... Which was dispensed with in these uncircumcised Philistines, there being no other to do this service:
and put the jewels of gold; or rather "vessels of gold" (p); the five golden emerods, and the five golden mice:
which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; in a basket, as the Syriac version: in a scrip, as the Arabic; in a purse, or bag, as Josephus (q); which latter is probable enough:
and send it away, that it may go; that is, set it a going, without any driver or guide; but leave it to take its course of itself to the land of Israel. Josephus (r) says it was set in a place where three ways me…
The Church Fathers
And you will take the Ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, etc. Place the more secret parts of the heavenly mysteries, imbued with the new commandment of Christ, upon it, and also set forth for all together as an example to be observed and followed, in such a way that the Church, adorned with both the mysteries of faith and examples of virtues, may be sent to seek the remnants of the Israelite people, and never let your mind's eyes turn away from observing its steps.
11. Moreover, it is commanded that the golden vessels, which were rendered to the ark as a guilt offering, be placed at its side. For he calls "golden vessels" what he mentioned above, saying: "You shall make likenesses of your tumors and of your mice." In these vessels, as we had said, the memory of sins and temptations was signified. What does it mean, then, that above he declared them to be likenesses of tumors and mice, but now has called them golden vessels? But there the discussion concerned what had to be paid to the ark for sin, whereas here it concerns the sending away of the ark. What does it mean, then, that these same things are expressed by a more honorable name, except that sins which have not been cleansed by the tears of repentance must be viewed more attentively in their deformity and lamented, while those which have already been washed away by great weeping are not to be gazed upon more attentively or in their deformity, but are to be thought upon from time to time with an estimation of humility? For in the mind of the penitent who grieves bitterly, there is, as it were, a likeness of tumors and mice: when, so that he may mourn more attentively, he sees the accumulated mass of sin which he heaps before the eyes of his mind. But when, already somewhat secure about the remission of his sins through great and prolonged weeping, he has begun to hasten toward the heavenly homeland by the course of a great conversion, he now beholds, as it were, golden vessels: because he sees his sins not as things by which he saw himself bound, but as things which he may devote to the praises of almighty God. And rightly are those same vessels placed in a box at the side of the ark. For if the ark signifies the secret of divine knowledge, the vessels hang at its side because, while the height of divine knowledge elevates the mind, our past weaknesses must be recalled to memory for the sake of the virtue of humility. They are not, therefore, to be placed before the ark, lest, while we gaze upon our weaknesses too immoderately, we become unable to be raised up to heavenly things. It is clear, then, that they hang from the side: so that we may both freely behold heavenly things and, when it is fitting, recall the eyes of our mind to our own weaknesses. 12. But what does it mean that they are commanded: "And let it go, that it may depart"? The ark is let go when…
Dictionary and topics
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…
Coffer — The receptacle or small box placed beside the ark by the Philistines, in which they deposited the golden mice and the emerods as their trespass-offering (1 Sam. 6:8, 11, 15).
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…
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…
Ark Of The Covenant · Miracles connected with: Manner of its restoration — Miracles connected with: Manner of its restoration
Cart · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Coffer · A chest — A chest
Cow · Used for pulling — Used for pulling
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).
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).