Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
Smote them with emerods - The word apholim , from aphal , to be elevated, probably means the disease called the bleeding piles, which appears to have been accompanied with dysentery, bloody flux, and ulcerated anus.
The Vulgate says, Et percussit in secretiori parte natium ; "And he smote them in the more secret parts of their posteriors." To this the psalmist is supposed to refer, Psalms 78:66, He smote all his enemies in the Hinder Parts; he put them to a perpetual reproach. Some copies of the Septuagint have , "he inflamed them in their ships:" other copies have ̔ , "in their posteriors." The Syriac is the same. The Arabic enlarges: "He smote them in their posteriors, so that they were affected with a dysenteria." I suppose them to have been affected with enlargements of the haemorrhoidal veins, from which there came frequent discharges of blood.
The Septuagint and Vulgate make a very material addition to this verse: · ; Et ebullierunt villae et agri in medio regionis illius; et nati sunt mures, et facta est confusio mortis magnae in civitate : "And the cities and fields of all that region burst up, and mice were produced, and there was the confusion of a great death in the city." This addition Houbigant contends was originally in the Hebrew text; and this gives us the reason why golden mice were sent, as well as the images of the emerods, (I Samuel 6:4), when the ark was restored.
Other Adam Clarke entries containing 1 Samuel 5:6:
Psalms 78:66
DISCLAIMER: Church of the Great God (CGG) provides these resources to aid the individual in studying the Bible. However, it is up to the individual to "prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). The content of these resources does not necessarily reflect the views of CGG. They are provided for information purposes only.
Start Your Day with Scripture
Begin your day with God's Word — the Berean brings Scripture and commentary every morning.
Join 150,000+ subscribers growing daily in God's Word.
