1 Samuel 5:8

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6 But the ^ahand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ^bravaged them and struck them with ^ctumors, both Ashdod and its ^dterritory.

7 And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the ^aGod of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.”

8 Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the ^alords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to ^bGath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away.

9 So it was, after they had carried it away, that ^athe hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great,¹ and tumors broke out on them.

10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!”

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 back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

12 And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the ^acry of the city went up to heaven.

Commentaries:

Adam Clarke

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1 Samuel 5:8

The lords of the Philistines - The word sarney , which we translate lords, is rendered by the Chaldee tureney , tyrants. The Syriac is the same. By the Vulgate and Septuagint, satrapae , satraps. Palestine was divided into five satrapies: Ashdod, Ekron, Askelon, Gath, and Gaza. See Joshua 13:8. But these were all federates and acted under one general government, for which they assembled in council.

Let the ark - be carried about - They probably thought that their affliction rose from some natural cause; and therefore they wished the ark to be carried about from place to place, to see what the effects might be. If they found the same evil produced wherever it came, then they must conclude that it was a judgment from the God of Israel.

**Other Adam Clarke entries containing 1 Samuel 5:8:**

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