1 Samuel 5:9

9. Hand of the Lord was against the city In Gath, as in Ashdod, the presence of the ark was the cause of plagues.

A very great destruction Rather, a very great consternation; that is, by reason of the fearful plagues it spread. מהומה is from הום , to agitate, to throw commotion, Septuagint, ταραχος , tumult, commotion; compare השׁם , to amaze, in 1 Samuel 5:6.

In their secret parts These words are adopted from the ancient versions, (Septuagint, Chaldee, Vulgate,) but have nothing to support them in the Hebrew text. Literally the Hebrew, as we render, stands thus: And there broke out on them boils. But what part of the body was thus affected we are not informed. The versions above named, and rabbinical tradition, however, with singular unanimity, represent the disease as affecting the anus. Hence the plausibility of rendering עפלים bleeding piles. This is supposed to receive support from Psalms 78:66, where it is said, in reference to this very judgment, He smote his enemies in the hinder parts. But אחור , translated hinder parts, may more properly be rendered back, or backwards, as is done by De Wette, Lengerke, and Alexander, in their works on the Psalms. There is nothing, therefore, in the Hebrew Scriptures to sustain the reference of this disease to any one particular part of the body. For aught that appears to the contrary, these swellings or boils may have broken out all over the body. It may, perhaps, be worth noticing in this connexion that Herodotus (1,105) mentions a plague, which he calls the female disease, ( θηλειαν νουσον ,) as being inflicted by a goddess of the Philistines upon some Scythians who plundered her ancient temple at Ascalon. According to Hippocrates, this disease came from continual exercise on horseback, and resulted in the loss of virility, whereupon the victims clothed themselves in the attire, and betook themselves to the habits and employments, of women.