They clave the wood of the cart - Both the cart and the cattle having been thus employed, could no longer be devoted to any secular services; therefore the cattle were sacrificed, and the cart was broken up for fuel to consume the sacrifice. read more
The Levites took down - It appears there were some of the tribe of Levi among the people of Beth-shemesh: to them appertained the service of the tabernacle. read more
These are the golden emerods - Each of these cities, in what may be called its corporate capacity, sent a golden emerod. read more
And the golden mice - The desolation that had been made through the land by these animals had excited a general concern; and it appears from the text, that all the cities of the Philistines, as well fended as without walls, sent a golden mouse as a trespass-offering. Remaineth unto this day - Some think the ark is intended, which continued on the stone of Abel for some considerable time after it was placed there; and that the memoranda from which this book was afterwards... read more
He smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men - The present Hebrew text of this most extraordinary reading stands thus: בית־שמש באנשי ויך - איש אלף חמשים איש שבעים בעם ויך vaiyach beanshey Beith - shemesh - vaiyach baam shibim ish , chamishshim eleph ish ; "And he smote among the men of Beth-shemesh, (because they looked into the ark of Jehovah), and he smote among the people Seventy men, Fifty Thousand men." From the manner in which the... read more
Who is able to stand - Why this exclamation? They knew that God had forbidden any to touch his ark but the priests and Levites; but they endeavored to throw that blame on God, as a Being hard to be pleased, which belonged solely to themselves. read more
To the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim - They wished the ark away out of their village, but why they sent to this city instead of sending to Shiloh, does not appear: probably Shiloh had been destroyed by the Philistines, after the late defeat of Israel. This is most likely, as the ark was never more taken back to that place. It was a very ancient usage, when a plague or other calamity infested a country, city, etc. for the magicians to form an image of the destroyer, or of the things... read more
Restored blessings. The facts are— 1 . The kine bearing the ark, contrary to their instincts, go away from their home to Beth-shemesh. 2 . The men of Beth-shemesh, seeing the returning ark, leave their occupations, and express their joy in sacrificial worship. 3 . The Levites, exceeding their privileges, open the ark and examine its sacred contents. 4 . The representatives of the Philistines observe the issue of their experiment and return. The rapid succession of incidents... read more
And they of Beth-shemesh. More exactly, "And Beth-shemesh was reaping its wheat harvest," the whole population being in the fields. Though a priestly city, we find in 1 Samuel 6:15 the Levites distinguished from the ordinary inhabitants, as though they and the priests formed only the ruling class. In the valley. Now called the Wady Surar, branching off into another valley on the south. Robinson speaks of the site of Beth-shemesh as a very noble one, being "a low plateau at the junction... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 6:21
And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim ,.... Which was a city further on in the tribe of Judah, and lay among some woods, from whence it had its name, and was formerly called Kirjathbaal, from Baal's being worshipped there; of which see Joshua 15:9 , they might choose to send hither to fetch the ark from them, because it was at a greater distance from the Philistines, their city Bethshemesh being on the borders of them; and because it might be a place of greater... read more