1 Samuel: Chapter 5 | New to His Word

The big picture

The Philistines, the people who defeated Israel's army, have captured the ark, the sacred chest linked with Israel's God. They bring it to Ashdod, one of their cities, and place it beside Dagon, the god they worship. Israel's priests have died, and its soldiers have fled. Yet the captors cannot keep the ark as a harmless trophy. Trouble follows it from city to city, forcing their rulers to reconsider their victory.

In this chapter

Dagon Falls Before the Ark 1 Samuel 5:1-5
The captors put the ark inside Dagon's temple at Ashdod.
Suffering Follows the Ark to Gath 1 Samuel 5:6-9
God strikes Ashdod and the surrounding area with painful swellings and destruction.
Ekron Demands the Ark's Removal 1 Samuel 5:10-12
The ark is next sent to Ekron, another Philistine city.

Central truth

The Philistines capture the ark but cannot control Israel's God, whose judgment follows the chest through their cities.

1 Samuel 5: The Captured Ark Brings Trouble

Scripture beside the summary

1 Samuel · King James Version · 12

1 Samuel 5:1-5

Dagon Falls Before the Ark

The captors put the ark inside Dagon's temple at Ashdod. The next morning, Dagon's image lies face down before it. They lift the image back into place. The following morning it has fallen again, this time with its head and hands broken off at the doorway. Only its trunk remains. The account links this event with the local practice of avoiding that threshold. A victory trophy has entered the temple, but the god represented there cannot even keep his own image standing.

In everyday life

A museum curator sets a seized royal banner beside a conqueror's statue. Returning the next morning, she finds the statue toppled while the banner remains upright. Her carefully arranged display now gives visitors the opposite impression. She calls staff to reset it. Dagon's repeated fall is presented as God's act, not a display accident.

Notice

1 Samuel 5:3 The worshippers have to put Dagon back in place. Their god's image depends on human hands while the captured ark remains where it was set.

1 Samuel 5:1-5

King James Version

1And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod.

2When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

3And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

4And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.

1 Samuel 5:6-9

Suffering Follows the Ark to Gath

God strikes Ashdod and the surrounding area with painful swellings and destruction. The residents connect their suffering, and Dagon's fall, with Israel's God. They tell the Philistine rulers that the ark must not stay. The rulers decide to send it to Gath, another city under their control. Moving the chest does not end the trouble. Great distress and disease break out there as well, affecting people of different ages and ranks. The rulers' transfer spreads fear without solving its cause.

In everyday life

One warehouse foreman sends a leaking drum to a second depot after workers become ill. The receiving crew opens the loading door and soon reports the same danger. Moving the load has changed who suffers, not removed the threat. The ark contains no chemical hazard; the account attributes the suffering to God.

Notice

1 Samuel 5:9 People both small and great suffer after the ark reaches Gath. The damage is not limited to rulers or those who first captured it.

1 Samuel 5:6-9

King James Version

6But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.

7And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.

8They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, 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 about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.

9And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.

1 Samuel 5:10-12

Ekron Demands the Ark's Removal

The ark is next sent to Ekron, another Philistine city. Its people cry out that the chest has been brought to kill them. They gather the rulers and demand that it return to its own place. Death has struck the city, and those who survive suffer painful swellings. Their cries reach heaven. What began as a prized capture has become something no city wants to hold. The people now ask for the ark's removal from their land, not another local transfer.

In everyday life

An ambulance dispatcher answers call after call from a flooded care district. Families hear that more stranded residents are being sent into their already failing shelter. They plead for evacuation to safe ground rather than another transfer within the flood zone. Their cries reflect shared danger. Ekron's crisis is God's judgment surrounding the ark.

Notice

1 Samuel 5:12 The survivors are still suffering, so survival does not mean safety. The cry reaching heaven conveys the scale of distress across the city.

1 Samuel 5:10-12

King James Version

10Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.

11So 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 again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

12And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Details worth noticing

12verses in this reading

3major movements

3verses with speech

1questions in the KJV text

The opening image

1 Samuel 5:1 begins with “And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod.”

Where the chapter turns

1 Samuel 5:6 forms a natural hinge: “But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.”

The final note

1 Samuel 5:12 leaves the reader with “And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.”

A word trail through the chapter

The words Dagon, Ashdod, Israel, city, hand, LORD help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.

KJV words made clear

emerods: Painful swellings or tumours; the exact disease described here is uncertain.

Music and video connected to the passage

Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.