Summary: After the Philistines take the Ark to their temple and place it beside their god Dagon, the statue mysteriously falls and breaks the following day (v.3). This repeated occurrence demonstrates God’s intervention, standing in sharp contrast to the Philistines’ belief that possessing the Ark would bring them an advantage. This is similar to how the Nazis sought power from the Ark in Indiana Jones (1981). However, God proves that true strength and power come from Him alone, not from the Ark. In response to their defiance, God sends a plague upon the Philistines until they decide to transfer the Ark to another city (v.8). They attempt to pass it from city to city, akin to a hot potato, until they realize they cannot retain it.
(5:1) After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
“Ashdod” was the Philistines headquarters and capital city.[] Ashdod was about 19 miles south of Ebenezer.
(5:2) Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon.
Dagon is a Canaanite name.[] This may have been the chief god of their pantheon. Samson gave his life to destroy one of Dagon’s temples (Judg. 16:23-30).
(5:3) When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.
“Rose early the next day.” The Israelites would give their first act of worship in the early morning (Ex. 29:39, 41; 30:7; Lev. 6:12, 20; 9:17; Num. 28:4, 23).
“Fallen on his face on the ground before the ark.” Dagon was supposed to be their sovereign god, but they needed to give him a hand because he’d fallen over. What kind of god needs our help? Moreover, Dagon was positioned prostrate in front of the ark. It would’ve looked like he was worshipping God!
In the ancient Near East, most people believed in local deities who were confined to their land. By dominating Dagon in Philistine country, God was showing that he is truly transcendent of every place and every people group. In this way, God had “proven his superiority to the regional supreme deity.”[]
(5:4) But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.
In the ancient world, warriors would cut off the head (1 Sam. 29:4) and hands (Judg. 8:6) of their enemies to show their triumph. For instance, the Philistines later show their triumph over Israel by decapitating Saul and displaying his severed head publicly (1 Chron. 10:10). It’s no wonder that God broke off the head and hands of Dagon.
(5:5) That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.
This object-lesson was not lost on the priests of Dagon. They didn’t turn to worship God, but they superstitiously refused to enter Dagon’s temple again.
(5:6) The LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors.
Dagon lost his hands (v.4), but God’s “hand” was still working powerfully.
What are these “tumors”? The Hebrew term “tumors” (‘ŏpālîm) literally means “swellings.”[] The Septuagint translated this term as “groin,” hence these were rendered “tumors in the groin” (see NIV note). The Septuagint adds the words, “And rats appeared in their land, and death and destruction were throughout the city.”[] Rats are mentioned later in the text, when the Philistines return the ark (1 Sam. 6:4), so this gives more clues as to what the plague might’ve been. Youngblood,[] Bergen,[] Tsumura,[] and Baldwin[] believe that this was the bubonic plague, which kills roughly 50% of those who contract it. Apparently, Josephus claimed that the disease was dysentery, but few commentators have followed him in this speculation.
(5:7) When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.”
They realized that the ark was bringing a plague on their city. They begin playing “hot potato” with the Ark, passing it from one city to another…
(5:8) So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?”
They answered, “Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
9 But after they had moved it, the LORD’s hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.
Gath was twelve miles southeast of Ashdod.[] It’s very likely that the people of Gath would’ve heard the rumors of what happened when the Ark came to Ashdod. So, they immediately spun into a “great panic” when God started to bring judgment on Gath.
(5:10) So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.”
Ekron is only six miles north of Gath.[] They must’ve heard the history of the Ark, and they immediately wanted to get rid of it.
(5:11) So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it.
As superstitious people, the Philistines seem to personify the Ark as a magic instrument. All the leaders of the Philistines decided to take the ark and “return to sender.” They don’t specifically state that they are going to send it back to Israel—merely that it should “go back to its own place.”
(5:12) Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
This left the men bleeding with puss-filled tumors all over their bodies.
Both the Philistines and the Israelites made the same error: they thought they could control God’s power through this material device. Youngblood writes, “The lesson of chapters 4 and 5 is clear: Neither Israelites nor Philistines—not even Dagon himself—can control or resist the will of the sovereign Lord, whose Presence, though enthroned between the cherubim surmounting the ark of the covenant, is not limited by that location and therefore cannot be manipulated by the whim of whoever happens to be in possession of it at any particular time.”[]
This chapter is similar to the story from Watchman Nee’s Sit, Walk, Stand, where the local deity was thrown down with a terrible rainstorm. We should have confidence in the fact that God is more powerful than demonic powers, religions, or anything else.
The people switch from saying “the gods” in chapter 4 to “Israel’s God” in chapter 5. The people learned about the reality of God from this event.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 600.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 79.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 98.
David Tsumura, The First Book of Samuel, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007), 208.
Cited in Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 80.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 601.
Bergen states that these were not traditional tumors or “hemorrhoids” (KJV). Rather, they were “buboes… caused by a rodent-borne disease (6:4).” Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 98.
David Tsumura, The First Book of Samuel, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007), 208.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 80.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 601.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 601.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 601.
James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.
