1 Samuel 6: The Ark Comes Home
Desperate to be rid of God's heavy hand, the Philistines send the ark back with offerings, and joy turns to dread at Beth Shemesh.
1 Samuel 6 (WEB)
1 Yahweh’s ark was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
2 The Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with Yahweh’s ark? Show us with which we shall send it to its place.”
3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, don’t send it empty; but by all means return him a trespass offering: then you shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.”
4 Then they said, “What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him?” They said, “Five golden tumors, and five golden mice, for the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.
5 Therefore you shall make images of your tumors, and images of your mice that mar the land; and you shall give glory to the God of Israel: perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
6 Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had worked wonderfully among them, didn’t they let the people go, and they departed?
7 “Now therefore take and prepare yourselves a new cart, and two milk cows, on which there has come no yoke; and tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home from them;
8 and take Yahweh’s ark, and lay it on the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which you return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by its side; and send it away, that it may go.
9 Behold; if it goes up by the way of its own border 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 was a chance that happened to us.”
10 The men did so, and took two milk cows, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home;
11 and they put Yahweh’s ark on the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors.
12 The cows took the straight way by the way to Beth Shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and didn’t turn aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 They of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they split the wood of the cart, and offered up the cows for a burnt offering to Yahweh.
15 The Levites took down Yahweh’s ark, and the coffer that was with it, in which the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to Yahweh.
16 When the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
17 These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering to Yahweh: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;
18 and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great stone, whereon they set down Yahweh’s ark. That stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
19 He struck of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into Yahweh’s ark, he struck of the people fifty thousand seventy men; and the people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter.
20 The men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? To whom shall he go up from us?”
21 They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back Yahweh’s ark. Come down, and bring it up to yourselves.”
1 Samuel 6 (KJV)
1 And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.
3 And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
4 Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.
5 Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
6 Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?
7 Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:
8 And take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go.
9 And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast 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.
10 And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home:
11 And they laid the ark of the Lord upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods.
12 And the kine took the straight way to the way of Beth–shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth–shemesh.
13 And they of Beth–shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Beth–shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the Lord.
15 And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth–shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the Lord.
16 And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
17 And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the Lord; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;
18 And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the Lord: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Beth–shemite.
19 And he smote the men of Beth–shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
20 And the men of Beth–shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? and to whom shall he go up from us?
21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath–jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.
1 Samuel 6 (ASV)
1 And the ark of Jehovah was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with the ark of Jehovah? show us wherewith we shall send it to its place.
3 And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but by all means return him a trespass-offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
4 Then said they, What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden tumors, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.
5 Wherefore ye shall make images of your tumors, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
6 Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?
7 Now therefore take and prepare you a new cart, and two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke; and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them;
8 and take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass-offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go.
9 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.
10 And the men did so, and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home;
11 and they put the ark of Jehovah upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors.
12 And the kine took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh.
13 And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine for a burnt-offering unto Jehovah.
15 And the Levites took down the ark of Jehovah, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto Jehovah.
16 And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
17 And these are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass-offering unto Jehovah: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;
18 and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even unto the great stone, whereon they set down the ark of Jehovah, which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.
19 And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, he smote of the people seventy men, andfifty thousand men; and the people mourned, because Jehovah had smitten the people with a great slaughter.
20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us?
21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought back the ark of Jehovah; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.
Summary
After the ark has been in Philistine country for seven months, the lords call their priests and diviners to ask how to send it back. They are advised not to send it empty but with a trespass offering of five golden tumors and five golden mice, one for each Philistine ruler, to give glory to the God of Israel and perhaps lighten his hand. They are warned not to harden their hearts as Pharaoh and the Egyptians did. To test whether the plagues truly came from the Lord, they place the ark on a new cart drawn by two milk cows whose calves are kept at home; if the cows go straight to Israelite territory against their natural instinct, it will prove God's hand was behind it all. The cows go straight up the road to Beth Shemesh, lowing as they go, never turning aside, while the Philistine lords follow to the border. The men of Beth Shemesh, reaping their wheat harvest, rejoice to see the ark and offer the cows as a burnt offering. But when some look into the ark of the Lord, God strikes them, and the people mourn the great slaughter, asking who is able to stand before this holy God. They send word to Kiriath Jearim to come and take the ark away. The chapter shows even pagans recognizing they must give glory to God, and reminds his own people that his holiness is not to be handled carelessly.
Main Characters
- The Philistine lords — The rulers who, weary of God's heavy hand, seek their priests' counsel and send the ark back with golden offerings.
- The Philistine priests and diviners — Advisers who counsel a guilt offering and devise a test to confirm whether Israel's God caused the plagues.
- The men of Beth Shemesh — Israelite harvesters who rejoice to receive the ark but suffer judgment for looking irreverently into it.
- Yahweh (the LORD) — The holy God who guides the cows home, accepts the offerings of the nations, and is not to be treated carelessly by his own people.
Key Verse
1 Samuel 6:20 (WEB)
The men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? To whom shall he go up from us?”
Lessons Learned
- Even those outside the covenant can be moved to give glory to the true God.
- God overrules nature and circumstance to accomplish exactly what he intends.
- Hardening our hearts against God, as Pharaoh did, only deepens our trouble.
- God's holiness must be approached with reverence, never with careless familiarity.
- Give glory to the God of Israel. The Philistine counselors urge, “you shall give glory to the God of Israel” (1 Samuel 6:5, WEB). Even enemies sense that God must be honored.
- Do not harden your heart. They are warned not to act “as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts” (1 Samuel 6:6, WEB). Stubbornness before God multiplies our suffering.
- God directs even the cattle. Against nature, the cows go “straight… to Beth Shemesh” (1 Samuel 6:12, WEB). The Lord governs creation to confirm his purposes.
- Reverence the holiness of God. “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God?” (1 Samuel 6:20, WEB). His presence is a gift to be received with awe, not handled lightly.
- Why do the Philistine priests insist the ark not be sent back empty?
- How does the test with the milk cows confirm that the plagues were from the Lord?
- Why are the men of Beth Shemesh struck after rejoicing to see the ark?
- What does the question, “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God?” reveal about God's character?
- How can we hold together both joyful nearness to God and reverent fear of his holiness?
- Sending the ark back with a guilt offering acknowledged that God had a claim against them and deserved tribute (6:3-5). Even pagans understood that one does not approach an offended deity empty-handed; they sought to give him glory.
- Cows separated from their calves would naturally turn back; instead they go straight to Israel, lowing all the way (6:7-12). This unnatural behavior proves the plagues were no chance event but the hand of the Lord.
- They look irreverently into the ark, treating the holy as common (6:19). The judgment underscores that God's own people must approach him with reverence; familiarity must never slide into contempt for his holiness.
- The question confesses that God is awesomely holy and cannot be approached on our own terms (6:20). It reveals a God who is glorious and pure, before whom sinful people cannot casually stand without a mediator.
- This is a personal-application question. Invite members to reflect on how the gospel lets us draw near to a holy God with confidence through Christ, while never losing reverence. As leader, hold both intimacy and awe together.