1 Samuel 4:12--8:22
Konteks4:12 On that day 1 a Benjaminite ran from the battle lines and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn and dirt was on his head. 4:13 When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair watching by the side of 2 the road, for he was very worried 3 about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, 4 the whole city cried out.
4:14 When Eli heard the outcry, 5 he said, “What is this commotion?” 6 The man quickly came and told Eli. 4:15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes looked straight ahead; 7 he was unable to see.
4:16 The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle lines! Just today I fled from the battle lines!” Eli 8 asked, “How did things go, my son?” 4:17 The messenger replied, “Israel has fled from 9 the Philistines! The army has suffered a great defeat! Your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead! The ark of God has been captured!”
4:18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli 10 fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he 11 was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.
4:19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she doubled over and gave birth. But her labor pains were too much for her. 4:20 As she was dying, the women who were there with her said, “Don’t be afraid! You have given birth to a son!” But she did not reply or pay any attention. 12
4:21 She named the boy Ichabod, 13 saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 4:22 She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured.”
5:1 Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 5:2 The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon. 5:3 When the residents of Ashdod got up early the next day, 14 Dagon was lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him back in his place. 5:4 But when they got up early the following day, Dagon was again lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and his two hands were sheared off and were lying at the threshold. Only Dagon’s body was left intact. 15 5:5 (For this reason, to this very day, neither Dagon’s priests nor anyone else who enters Dagon’s temple step on Dagon’s threshold in Ashdod.)
5:6 The Lord attacked 16 the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of 17 both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores. 18 5:7 When the people 19 of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked 20 both us and our god Dagon!”
5:8 So they assembled 21 all the leaders of the Philistines and asked, “What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They replied, “The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
5:9 But after it had been moved the Lord attacked 22 that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city 23 with sores. 24 5:10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.
But when the ark of God arrived at Ekron, the residents of Ekron cried out saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here 25 to kill our 26 people!” 5:11 So they assembled 27 all the leaders of the Philistines and said, “Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won’t kill us 28 and our 29 people!” The terror 30 of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there. 31 5:12 The people 32 who did not die were struck with sores; the city’s cry for help went all the way up to heaven.
6:1 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land 33 of the Philistines for seven months, 34 6:2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.”
6:3 They replied, “If you are going to send the ark of 35 the God of Israel back, don’t send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand is not removed from you.” 6:4 They inquired, “What is the guilt offering that we should send to him?”
They replied, “The Philistine leaders number five. So send five gold sores and five gold mice, for it is the same plague that has afflicted both you and your leaders. 6:5 You should make images of the sores and images of the mice 36 that are destroying the land. You should honor the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his grip on you, your gods, and your land. 37 6:6 Why harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? 38 When God 39 treated them harshly, didn’t the Egyptians send the Israelites on their way? 40 6:7 So now go and make a new cart. Get two cows that have calves and that have never had a yoke placed on them. Harness the cows to the cart and take their calves from them back to their stalls. 6:8 Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a chest beside it the gold objects you are sending to him as a guilt offering. You should then send it on its way. 6:9 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.”
6:10 So the men did as instructed. 41 They took two cows that had calves and harnessed them to a cart; they also removed their calves to their stalls. 6:11 They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the chest, the gold mice, and the images of the sores. 6:12 Then the cows went directly on the road to Beth Shemesh. They went along, mooing as they went; they turned neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the Philistines were walking along behind them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh.
6:13 Now the residents of Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they were pleased at the sight. 6:14 The cart was coming to the field of Joshua, who was from Beth Shemesh. It paused there near a big stone. Then they cut up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 6:15 The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it, which contained the gold objects. They placed them near the big stone. At that time the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 6:16 The five leaders of the Philistines watched what was happening and then returned to Ekron on the same day.
6:17 These are the gold sores that the Philistines brought as a guilt offering to the Lord – one for each of the following cities: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 6:18 The gold mice corresponded in number to all the Philistine cities of the five leaders, from the fortified cities to hamlet villages, to greater Abel, 42 where they positioned the ark of the Lord until this very day in the field of Joshua who was from Beth Shemesh.
6:19 But the Lord 43 struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; he struck down 50,070 44 of the men. The people grieved because the Lord had struck the people with a hard blow. 6:20 The residents of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark 45 go up from here?”
6:21 So they sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down here and take it back home with you.”
7:1 Then the people 46 of Kiriath Jearim came and took the ark of the Lord; they brought it to the house of Abinadab located on the hill. They consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord.
7:2 It was quite a long time – some twenty years in all – that the ark stayed at Kiriath Jearim. All the people 47 of Israel longed for 48 the Lord. 7:3 Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you are really turning to the Lord with all your hearts, remove from among you the foreign gods and the images of Ashtoreth. 49 Give your hearts to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will deliver you 50 from the hand of the Philistines.” 7:4 So the Israelites 51 removed the Baals and images of Ashtoreth. They served only the Lord.
7:5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.” 7:6 After they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted on that day, and they confessed 52 there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” So Samuel led 53 the people of Israel at Mizpah.
7:7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the leaders of the Philistines went up against Israel. When the Israelites heard about this, they were afraid of the Philistines. 7:8 The Israelites said to Samuel, “Keep 54 crying out to the Lord our 55 God so that he may save us 56 from the hand of the Philistines!” 7:9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb 57 and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
7:10 As Samuel was offering burnt offerings, the Philistines approached to do battle with Israel. 58 But on that day the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines. He caused them to panic, and they were defeated by 59 Israel. 7:11 Then the men of Israel left Mizpah and chased the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth Car.
7:12 Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen. 60 He named it Ebenezer, 61 saying, “Up to here the Lord has helped us.” 7:13 So the Philistines were defeated; they did not invade Israel again. The hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
7:14 The cities that the Philistines had captured from Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron to Gath. Israel also delivered their territory from the control 62 of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. 7:15 So Samuel led 63 Israel all the days of his life. 7:16 Year after year he used to travel the circuit of Bethel, 64 Gilgal, and Mizpah; he used to judge Israel in all of these places. 7:17 Then he would return to Ramah, because his home was there. He also judged 65 Israel there and built an altar to the Lord there.
8:1 In his old age Samuel appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 8:2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beer Sheba. 8:3 But his sons did not follow 66 his ways. Instead, they made money dishonestly, accepted bribes, and perverted justice. 67
8:4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and approached Samuel at Ramah. 8:5 They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons don’t follow your ways. So now appoint over us a king to lead 68 us, just like all the other nations have.”
8:6 But this request displeased Samuel, for 69 they said, “Give us a king to lead us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. 8:7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do everything the people request of you. 70 For it is not you that they have rejected, but it is me that they have rejected as their king. 8:8 Just as they have done 71 from the day that I brought them up from Egypt until this very day, they have rejected me and have served other gods. This is what they are also doing to you. 8:9 So now do as they say. 72 But seriously warn 73 them and make them aware of the policies of the king who will rule over them.” 74
8:10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 8:11 He said, “Here are the policies of the king who will rule over you: He will conscript your sons and put them in his chariot forces and in his cavalry; they will run in front of his chariot. 8:12 He will appoint for himself leaders of thousands and leaders of fifties, 75 as well as those who plow his ground, reap his harvest, and make his weapons of war and his chariot equipment. 8:13 He will take your daughters to be ointment makers, cooks, and bakers. 8:14 He will take your best fields and vineyards and give them to his own servants. 8:15 He will demand a tenth of your seed and of the produce of your vineyards and give it to his administrators 76 and his servants. 8:16 He will take your male and female servants, as well as your best cattle and your donkeys, and assign them for his own use. 8:17 He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will be his servants. 8:18 In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you in that day.” 77
8:19 But the people refused to heed Samuel’s warning. 78 Instead they said, “No! There will be a king over us! 8:20 We will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us 79 and fight our battles.”
8:21 So Samuel listened to everything the people said and then reported it to the Lord. 80 8:22 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do as they say 81 and install a king over them.” Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Each of you go back to his own city.”
[4:12] 1 tn Or perhaps, “the same day.” On this use of the demonstrative pronoun see Joüon 2:532 §143.f.
[4:13] 2 tc Read with many medieval Hebrew
[4:13] 3 tn Heb “his heart was trembling.”
[4:13] 4 tn Heb “and the man came to report in the city.”
[4:14] 5 tn Heb “the sound of the cry.”
[4:14] 6 tn Heb “the sound of this commotion.”
[4:15] 7 tn Heb “were set” or “were fixed,” i.e., without vision.
[4:16] 8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:18] 10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:20] 12 tn Heb “and she did not set her heart.”
[4:21] 13 sn The name Ichabod (אִי־כָבוֹד) may mean, “Where is the glory?”
[5:3] 14 tc The LXX adds “they entered the temple of Dagon and saw.”
[5:4] 15 tc Heb “only Dagon was left.” We should probably read the word גֵּו (gev, “back”) before Dagon, understanding it to have the sense of the similar word גְּוִיָּה (gÿviyyah, “body”). This variant is supported by the following evidence: The LXX has ἡ ῥάχις (Jh rJacis, “the back” or “trunk”); the Syriac Peshitta has wegusmeh (“and the body of”); the Targum has gupyeh (“the body of”); the Vulgate has truncus (“the trunk of,” cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT). On the strength of this evidence the present translation employs the phrase “Dagon’s body.”
[5:6] 16 tn Heb “the hand of the
[5:6] 17 tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[5:6] 18 tc The LXX and Vulgate add the following: “And mice multiplied in their land, and the terror of death was throughout the entire city.”
[5:6] tn Or “tumors” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “growths on their skin”; KJV “emerods”; NAB “hemorrhoids.”
[5:7] 20 tn Heb “for his hand is severe upon.”
[5:8] 21 tn Heb “and they sent and gathered.”
[5:9] 22 tn Heb “the hand of the
[5:9] 23 tn Heb “and he struck the men of the city from small and to great.”
[5:9] 24 tn See the note on this term in v. 6. Cf. KJV “and they had emerods in their secret parts.”
[5:11] 27 tn Heb “and they sent and gathered.”
[5:11] 31 tn Heb “the hand of God was very heavy there.”
[6:1] 34 tc The LXX adds “and their land swarmed with mice.”
[6:3] 35 tc The LXX and a Qumran
[6:5] 36 tn Heb “your mice.” A Qumran
[6:5] 37 tn Heb “Perhaps he will lighten his hand from upon you and from upon your gods and from upon your land.”
[6:6] 38 tn Heb “like Egypt and Pharaoh hardened their heart.”
[6:6] 39 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:6] 40 tn Heb “and they sent them away and they went.”
[6:10] 41 tn Heb “and the men did so.”
[6:18] 42 tc A few Hebrew
[6:19] 43 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[6:19] 44 tc The number 50,070 is surprisingly large, although it finds almost unanimous textual support in the MT and in the ancient versions. Only a few medieval Hebrew
[6:20] 45 tn Heb “he” or “it”; the referent here (the ark) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. also NIV, CEV, NLT). Others, however, take the referent to be the
[7:2] 47 tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).
[7:2] 48 tn Heb “mourned after”; NIV “mourned and sought after”; KJV, NRSV “lamented after”; NAB “turned to”; NCV “began to follow…again.”
[7:3] 49 tn Heb “the Ashtarot” (plural; also in the following verse). The words “images of” are supplied for clarity.
[7:3] sn The Semitic goddess Astarte was associated with love and war in the ancient Near East. The presence of Ashtarot in Israel is a sign of pervasive pagan and idolatrous influences; hence Samuel calls for their removal. See 1 Sam 31:10, where the Philistines deposit the armor of the deceased Saul in the temple of the Ashtarot, and 1 Kgs 11:5, 33; 2 Kgs 23:13, where Solomon is faulted for worshiping the Ashtarot.
[7:3] 50 tn Following imperatives, the jussive verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.
[7:4] 51 tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”
[7:6] 53 tn Heb “judged”; NAB “began to judge”; TEV “settled disputes among.”
[7:8] 55 tc The LXX reads “your God” rather than the MT’s “our God.”
[7:8] 56 tn After the negated jussive, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.
[7:9] 57 tn Heb “a lamb of milk”; NAB “an unweaned lamb”; NIV “a suckling lamb”; NCV “a baby lamb.”
[7:10] 58 tn Heb “approached for battle against Israel.”
[7:12] 60 tn Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “Jeshanah.”
[7:12] 61 sn The name Ebenezer (אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר) means “stone of help” in Hebrew (cf. TEV); NLT adds the meaning parenthetically after the name.
[7:15] 63 tn Heb “judged” (also in v. 17).
[7:16] 64 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[7:17] 65 tn Or perhaps “settled disputes for” (cf. NLT “would hear cases there”; NRSV “administered justice there”).
[8:3] 66 tn Heb “walk in” (also in v. 5).
[8:3] 67 tn Heb “and they turned aside after unjust gain and took bribes and perverted justice.”
[8:5] 68 tn Heb “judge” (also in v. 6).
[8:7] 70 tn Heb “Listen to the voice of the people, to all which they say to you.”
[8:8] 71 tn Heb “according to all the deeds which they have done.”
[8:9] 72 tn Heb “and now, listen to their voice.”
[8:9] 73 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the imperative for emphasis.
[8:9] 74 tn Heb “and tell them the manner of the king who will rule over them.”
[8:12] 75 tc The numbers of v. 12 are confused in the Greek and Syriac versions. For “fifties” the LXX has “hundreds.” The Syriac Peshitta has “heads of thousands and heads of hundreds and heads of fifties and heads of tens,” perhaps reflecting influence from Deut 1:15.
[8:15] 76 tn Or “eunuchs” (so NAB); NIV “officials”; KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT “officers.”
[8:18] 77 tc The LXX adds “because you have chosen for yourselves a king.”
[8:19] 78 tn Heb “and the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel.”
[8:20] 79 tn Heb “and go out before us.”
[8:21] 80 tn Heb “and Samuel heard all the words of the people and he spoke them into the ears of the
