Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 5:11
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 people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
11. and gathered together all the lords ] A second council of state was held, but the protest of the Ekronites was not listened to. The league was unwilling to part with the trophy of its victory.
a deadly destruction ] A deadly panic: dismay caused by the fatal character of the disease.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 11. Send away the ark] It appears that it had been received at Ekron, for there was a deadly destruction through the whole city. They therefore concluded that the ark should be sent back to Shiloh.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Throughout all the city, to wit, the city of Ekron, during its short stay there. Or, in every city, to wit, where the ark of God came; for it came also to Gaza and Askelon, and produced the same effects there, as may be gathered from 1Sa 6:4,17, though for brevity sake it be here omitted.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. they sentthat is, themagistrates of Ekron.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines,…. As the men of Ashdod had done before on the same account, 1Sa 5:8
and said, send away the ark of the God of Israel; as these lords were united in their government, and made one common cause of it against Israel, one could not dispose of this capture without the consent of the rest; otherwise the lord of Ekron, with his princes, were clearly in it that it was right and best to send it away out of any of their principalities:
and let it go again to its own place; to the land of Israel and Shiloh there, though to that it never returned more:
that it slay us not, and our people; that is, all of them, for great numbers had been slain already, as follows:
for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; a mortal disease went through the whole city, and swept away a multitude of people:
the hand of God was very heavy there; it seems by the expression to haste been heavier on the inhabitants of this city than upon those of Ashdod and Gath, which made them the more pressing to get rid of the ark.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(11) Send away the ark.The lords of the Philistines were a long time before they could make up their minds to get rid of this deadly trophy of their victory. They had grown up with an undefined awe of the golden chest, which, as they supposed, had so often in the days of the famous Hebrew conqueror, Joshua, led the armies of Israel to victory; and now at last it was their own. It was indeed a sore trouble for them to yield it up to their enemies again; to see the historical sacred treasure of Israel, so long veiled in awful mystery, at the feet of their fish-god idol, was a perpetual renewal for Philistia of the glorious triumph of Aphek, which avenged so many years of bitter humiliation. The plague and misery which afflicted the cities of Philistia in the day when the sacred Ark dwelt an unhonoured guest in their midst suggest many and grave thoughts. Is there not an unseen power ever protecting Gods institutions, His ordinances, and His ritual, the sacred House dedicated to His solemn worship, the vessels of the sanctuary, the very lands and gold consecrated to His service, even though all these things, owing to the faults and errors of His servants, have lost apparently their holy and beneficial influence over the hearts and homes of men?
Does not this old loved story warn rash and careless souls against laying rough hands on any ark of the Lord, though the ark in question seem to be abandoned by God, and destitute of power and dignity?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. A deadly destruction throughout all the city , confusion of death in all the city; that is, consternation caused by many sudden deaths. Ekron, as well as Gath and Ashdod, is smitten with the plague, and many die. Therefore they abandon all hopes of keeping their prize within their borders, and at once resolve to send it away to its own place.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 5:11 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 people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
Ver. 11. Let it go again to his own place. ] Hoc magno mercentur Hebraei. It is reported of the people in the East Indies, in the isle Ceylon; that having an ape’s tooth got from them, which was a consecrated thing by them, they offered an incredible mass of treasure to recover it. But what an ape’s face was the devil a to set Herodotus b the historian a-work, to say that at Ascalon, a city of the Philistines, Venus had a temple, – Dagon is by some thought to be Venus, – which when certain thieves robbed, they were smitten with emerods!
a Satan est Dei Simia.
b Joseph., lib. x. cap. 1.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
us not, and our people: Heb. me not, and my people
a deadly: Isa 13:7-9, Jer 48:42-44
the hand: 1Sa 5:6, 1Sa 5:9
Reciprocal: Gen 20:17 – General Deu 2:15 – the hand of the Rth 1:13 – the hand 1Sa 6:1 – the ark 1Sa 6:3 – known 1Sa 6:5 – lighten 2Sa 6:9 – afraid 1Ch 13:12 – afraid of God Psa 32:4 – hand Psa 38:2 – thy hand Eze 39:21 – and my Act 13:11 – hand
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 5:11-12. There was a deadly destruction through all the city That is, in every city where the ark of God came, some were struck with the pestilence and died, and others lingered under intolerable pains, which made them cry out in an inexpressible manner. The cry of the city went up to heaven A hyperbolical speech; things that are exceeding great, beyond expression, being often said to reach to heaven, Deu 1:28.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5:11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send {e} away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
(e) The wicked when they feel the hand of God, grudge and reject him, where the godly humble themselves, and cry for mercy.