1 Samuel 6:9 - Forerunner Commentary

1 Samuel 6:9

7 Now therefore, make ^aa new cart, take two milk cows ^bwhich have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the cart; and take their calves home, away from them.

8 Then take the ark of the Lord and set it on the cart; and put ^athe articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side. Then send it away, and let it go.

9 And watch: if it goes up the road to its own territory, to ^aBeth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then ^bwe shall know that it is not His hand that struck us—it happened to us by chance.”

10 Then the men did so; they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

11 And they set the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors.

12 Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the ^ahighway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.

13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their ^awheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

14 Then the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there; a large stone was there. So they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.

15 The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the Lord.

16 So when ^athe five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.

17 ^aThese are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for ^bGath, one for Ekron;

18 and the golden rats, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and country villages, even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of the Lord, which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

19 Then ^aHe struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord.¹ He ^bstruck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.

The Ark at Kirjath Jearim

20 And the men of Beth Shemesh said, ^a“Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? And to whom shall it go up from us?”

21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of ^aKirjath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up with you.”

Verse Comparison: 1 Samuel 6:9

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American Standard Version
And see; if it goeth up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.

Amplified® Bible
And watch. If it goes up by the way of its own land to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.

Contemporary English Version
Watch to see if the chest goes on up the road to the Israelite town of Beth-Shemesh. If it goes back to its own country, you will know that it was the LORD who made us suffer so badly. But if the chest doesn't go back to its own country, then the LORD had nothing to do with the disease that hit us--it was simply bad luck.

Darby English Version
And see, if it go up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, it is he who has done us this great evil; if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that touched us; it was a chance [that] happened to us.

Good News Bible
Then watch it go; if it goes toward the town of Beth Shemesh, this means that it is the God of the Israelites who has sent this terrible disaster on us. But if it doesn't, then we will know that he did not send the plague; it was only a matter of chance."

King James Version
And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us.

New American Standard Bible
"Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance."

New International Version
but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance."

New King James Version
And watch: if it goes up the road to its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us—it happened to us by chance.”

N.A.S.B. in E-Prime
"Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that His hand did not strike us; it happened to us by chance."

Revised Standard Version
And watch; if it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-she'mesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm; but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us, it happened to us by chance."

Young's Literal Translation
and ye have seen, if the way of its own border it goeth up to Beth-Shemesh -- He hath done to us this great evil; and if not, then we have known that His hand hath not come against us; an accident it hath been to us.'

New English Translation
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.”

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