# 1 Samuel 06 📖: The Ark Returns to Israel [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-1 Samuel Overview]] | [[1 Samuel 05]] | [[1 Samuel 07]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### The Philistines Return the Ark [[#Verse 01.]] When the ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months,  [[#Verse 02.]] the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.” [[#Verse 03.]] They replied, “If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel back, don’t send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand has not been removed from you.” [[#Verse 04.]] They inquired, “What is the guilt offering that we should send to him?” They replied, “The Philistine leaders number five. So send five gold sores and five gold mice, for it is the same plague that has afflicted both you and your leaders.  [[#Verse 05.]] You should make images of the sores and images of the mice that are destroying the land. You should honor the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his grip on you, your gods, and your land.  [[#Verse 06.]] Why harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When God treated them harshly, didn’t the Egyptians send the Israelites on their way? [[#Verse 07.]] So now go and make a new cart. Get two cows that have calves and that have never had a yoke placed on them. Harness the cows to the cart, and take their calves from them back to their stalls. [[#Verse 08.]] Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a chest beside it the gold objects you are sending to him as a guilt offering. You should then send it on its way. [[#Verse 09.]] But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident.” [[#Verse 10.]] So the men did as instructed. They took two cows that had calves and harnessed the cows to a cart; they also removed their calves to their stalls.  [[#Verse 11.]] They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the chest, the gold mice, and the images of the sores.  [[#Verse 12.]] Then the cows went directly on the road to Beth Shemesh. They went along that route, bellowing more and more; they turned neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the Philistines were walking along behind them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh. [[#Verse 13.]] Now the residents of Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they were pleased at the sight.  [[#Verse 14.]] The cart was coming to the field of Joshua, who was from Beth Shemesh. It paused there near a big stone. Then they cut up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.  [[#Verse 15.]] The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it, which contained the gold objects. They placed them near the big stone. At that time the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord.  [[#Verse 16.]] The five leaders of the Philistines watched what was happening and then returned to Ekron on the same day. [[#Verse 17.]] These are the gold sores that the Philistines brought as a guilt offering to the Lord—one for each of the following cities: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.  [[#Verse 18.]] The gold mice corresponded in number to all the Philistine cities of the five leaders, from the fortified cities to hamlet villages, to greater Abel. They positioned the ark of the Lord on a rock until this very day in the field of Joshua who was from Beth Shemesh. [[#Verse 19.]] But the Lord struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; he struck down 50,070 of the men. The people grieved because the Lord had struck the people with a hard blow. [[#Verse 20.]] The residents of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?” [[#Verse 21.]] So they sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down here and take it back home with you.” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. The ark remained in Philistine territory for seven months (6:1). 2. The Philistines sent five gold tumors and five gold rats as a guilt offering, one for each Philistine ruler (6:4, 17). 3. The Philistine priests remembered how God dealt with Pharaoh and Egypt (6:6). 4. Nursing cows that had never been yoked would normally go back to their calves (6:7, 10). Going straight to Israel showed the Lord was behind the plague. 5. Beth-shemesh means "house of the sun." It was one of the cities given to the priests (Joshua 21:16). 6. The people of Beth-shemesh offered the cows as a burnt offering, using the wood of the cart (6:14). 7. The large stone in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh served as a place to set the ark and was still there when this was written (6:18). 8. Most Hebrew manuscripts say 50,070 men were struck (6:19). Some manuscripts and Josephus have 70, which many modern translations, including the NET, follow. 9. The Law warned that even the Levites who carried the holy things must not look at them, or they would die (Numbers 4:20). 10. The ark was taken next to Kiriath-jearim (6:21), about ten miles from Jerusalem, where it stayed until David brought it to Jerusalem. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One who makes it possible to stand before the holy God. The people asked who could stand before the Lord (6:20), and Jesus' blood gives us confident access into God's presence (Hebrews 10:19-22). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The Philistine priests warned against hardening their hearts like Egypt (6:6). What does a hardened heart look like today? 2. The cows went straight to Beth-shemesh, leaving their calves behind (6:12). How did God show He was in control? 3. The people of Beth-shemesh rejoiced at the ark but then treated it carelessly (6:13, 19). How can joy in God's presence go together with deep reverence? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 6: Do not harden your hearts as Egypt and Pharaoh did. - 📖 verse 12: The cows go straight up the road to Beth-shemesh. - 📖 verse 20: Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Exodus 09#Verse 34.|Exodus 9:34-35]] - Pharaoh hardened his heart. - 🔗 [[Numbers 04#Verse 15.|Numbers 4:15-20]] - The holy things must not be touched or seen. - 🔗 [[2 Samuel 06#Verse 01.|2 Samuel 6:1-11]] - The ark is moved and Uzzah dies. - 🔗 [[Hebrews 10#Verse 19.|Hebrews 10:19-22]] - We have confidence to enter by the blood of Jesus. - 🔗 [[Hebrews 12#Verse 28.|Hebrews 12:28-29]] - Worship God with reverence and awe. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[1 Samuel 06 - SOAP|God Can Do Things We Would Never Expect]] ## 📂 Internal Notes