(KJV) 1 Samuel 51

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⥃The Ark Afflicts the Philistines

[1] And the Philistines took2 the ark of God, and brought it from Eben–ezer3 unto Ashdod4. [2] When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon5, and set it by Dagon.

[3] [¶]And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon [was6] fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him7 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 head8 of Dagon9 and both the palms of his hands [were] cut off upon the threshold; only [the stump10 of] Dagon was left to him.111213 [5] Therefore neither14 the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread15 on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. [6] But the hand16 of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods17, [even] Ashdod and the coasts thereof18.192021 [7] And when the men of Ashdod saw22 that [it was] so, they said, The ark23 of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god24. [8] They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall25 we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath26. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about [thither]. [9] And it was [so], that, after they had carried it about, the hand27 of the Lord was against the city with a very28 great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods29 in their secret parts.

[10] [¶]Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron30. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people31. [11] So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people32: for there was a deadly33 destruction throughout all the city; the hand34 of God was very heavy there. [12] And the men that died35 not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry36 of the city went up to heaven.

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  1. 1Sam 5:1, The Philistines having brought the ark into Ashdod, set it in the house of Dagon; 1Sam 5:3, Dagon is smitten down and cut in pieces, and they of Ashdod smitten with emerods; 1Sam 5:8, So God deals with them of Gath, when it was brought thither; 1Sam 5:10, and so with them of Ekron, when it was brought thither. ↩

  2. 1Sam 4:11, 1Sam 4:17-18, 1Sam 4:22; Ps 78:61 ↩

  3. 1Sam 4:1, 1Sam 7:12 ↩

  4. Ashdod, called Azotus by the Greeks, was one of the five satrapies of the Philistines, and a place of great strength and consequence. It was situated near the Mediterranean, between Askelon and Jamnia, thirty-four miles north of Gaza, according to Diodorus Siculus, and the Antonine and Jerusalem Itineraries. It is now called Shdood; and Dr. Richardson says they neither saw nor heard of any ruins there. "The ground," he observes, "around Ashdod is beautifully undulating, but not half stocked with cattle. The site of the town is on the summit of a grassy hill; and, if we are to believe historians, was anciently as strong as it was beautiful." Josh 11:22; Acts 8:40, Azotus ↩

  5. Judg 16:23; 1Chr 10:10; Dan 5:2, Dan 5:23; Hab 1:11, Hab 1:16 ↩

  6. Exod 12:12; Ps 97:7; Isa 19:1, Isa 46:1-2; Zeph 2:11; Mark 3:11; Luke 10:18-20; 2Cor 6:14-16 ↩

  7. Isa 19:1, Isa 40:20, Isa 41:7, Isa 44:17-20, Isa 46:1-2, Isa 46:7; Jer 10:8 ↩

  8. Isa 2:18-19, Isa 27:9; Jer 10:11, Jer 50:2; Ezek 6:4-6; Dan 11:8; Mic 1:7 ↩

  9. The name of this idol, Dagon, signifies a fish, and it is supposed to be the Atergatis of the Syrians, corruptly called Derceto by the Greeks, which had the upper part like a woman, and the lower part like a fish; as Lucian informs us: ↩

  10. or, the fishy part ↩

  11. Δερκετους δε ειδος εν Φοινικη εθεησαμην, θεημα ξενον; ημισεη μεν γυνη; το δε οκοσον εκ μηρων ες ακρους ποδας, ιχθυος ουρη αποτεινεται. "In Phoenicia I saw the image of Derceto; a strange sight truly! For she had the half of a woman, but from the thighs downward a fish's tail." ↩

  12. Diodorus (1. ii.) describing the same idol, as represented at Askelon, says, το μεν προσωπον εχει γυναικος, το δἀλλο σωμα παν ιχθυος. "It had the head of a woman, but all the rest of the body a fish's." ↩

  13. Probably Horace alludes to this idol, in De Art. Poet. 4; Desinat in piscem, mulier formosa superne." "The upper part a handsome woman, and the lower part a fish." If such was the form of this idol, then everything that was human was broken off from what resembled a fish. ↩

  14. Ps 115:4-7, Ps 135:15-18 ↩

  15. Josh 5:15; Zeph 1:9 ↩

  16. 1Sam 5:7, 1Sam 5:11; Exod 9:3; Ps 32:4; Acts 13:11 ↩

  17. 1Sam 5:9, 1Sam 5:11, 1Sam 6:5; Deut 28:27; Job 31:3; Ps 78:66 ↩

  18. The LXX and Vulgate add: ↩

  19. Και μεσον της χωρας αυτης ανεφυησαν μυες και εγενετο συγχυσις θανατου μεγαλη εν τη πολει. ↩

  20. (Et ebullierunt ville et agri in medio regionis illius, et nati sunt mures; et facta est confusio mortis magne in civitate). ↩

  21. "And [the cities and fields in Vulg.] the midst of that region produced mice; [Vulg. burst up, and mice were produced;] and there was the confusion of a great death in the city." 1Sam 6:4-5 ↩

  22. 1Sam 4:8; Exod 8:8, Exod 8:28, Exod 9:28, Exod 10:7, Exod 12:33 ↩

  23. 1Sam 6:20; 2Sam 6:9; 1Chr 13:11-13, 1Chr 15:13 ↩

  24. 1Sam 5:3-4; Jer 46:25, Jer 48:7 ↩

  25. Zech 12:3 ↩

  26. 1Sam 17:4; Amos 6:2 ↩

  27. 1Sam 5:6, 1Sam 7:13, 1Sam 12:15; Deut 2:15; Amos 5:19, Amos 9:1-4 ↩

  28. 1Sam 5:11 ↩

  29. 1Sam 5:6, 1Sam 6:4-5, 1Sam 6:11; Ps 78:66 ↩

  30. Josh 15:45; Judg 1:18; 2Kgs 1:2; Amos 1:8 ↩

  31. Heb. me, to slay me and my people ↩

  32. Heb. me not, and my people ↩

  33. Isa 13:7-9; Jer 48:42-44 ↩

  34. 1Sam 5:6, 1Sam 5:9 ↩

  35. 1Kgs 19:17; Amos 5:19 ↩

  36. 1Sam 9:16; Exod 12:30; Isa 15:3-5; Jer 14:2, Jer 25:34, Jer 48:3 ↩