1 Samuel 5

1Sa 5:1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.

And the Philistines took the ark of God - Which fell into their hands, Israel being beaten, and caused to flee, and the priests that had the care of the ark slain; and when possessed of it, they did not destroy it, nor take out of it what was in it, only took it up:

and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod - Ebenezer was the place where the camp of Israel was pitched, 1 Samuel 4:1 And the word of Samuel was revealed to all Israel. And Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer. And the Philistines pitched in Aphek and near to which the battle was fought. Ashdod was one of the five principalities of the Philistines, the same with Azotus, Acts 8:40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached the gospel in all the cities until he came to Caesarea.

1Sa 5:2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

the house of Dagon--Stately temples were erected in honor of this idol, which was the principal deity of the Philistines, but whose worship extended over all Syria, as well as Mesopotamia and Chaldea; its name being found among the Assyrian gods on the cuneiform inscriptions. It was represented under a monstrous combination of a human head, breast, and arms, joined to the belly and tail of a fish. The captured ark was placed in the temple of Dagon, right before this image of the idol.

and set it by Dagon - by the side of him, as a trophy of victory, and as a spoil taken from their enemies, and which they dedicated to their; the word here used signifies servitude, as in Genesis 33:15 and that the ark was set here to minister to, or serve their god Dagon.

The motive which induced the Philistines to set up the ark in the temple of Dagon, may be easily ascertained. It was customary, in all nations, to dedicate the spoils taken from an enemy to their gods:
1. As a gratitude-offering for the help which they supposed them to have furnished; and,
2. As a proof that their gods, i.e., the gods of the conquerors, were more powerful than those of the conquered.

It was, no doubt, to insult the God of Israel, and to insult and terrify his people, that they placed his ark in the temple of Dagon. When the Philistines had conquered Saul, they hung up his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, 1Samuel 31:10 And they put his armor in the house of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. And when David slew Goliath, he laid up his sword in the tabernacle of the Lord, 1Samuel 21:8-9 And David said to Ahimelech, And is there not here under your hand spear or sword? For I have not brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business needed haste. And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth under the ephod, if you will take, take it for yourself, for there is no other here except that one. And David said, There is none like that. Give it to me.

1Sa 5:3 And 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.

behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord - as if he was subject to it, and giving adoration to it, and owning it was above him, and had superior power over him:

Set him in his place again - Supposing his fall might have been merely accidental.

1Sa 5:4 And 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.

Cut off upon the threshold - The head is the seat of wisdom; the hands the instruments of action: possibly both were cut off to show that he had neither wisdom nor strength to defend himself or his worshippers.

Only the stump of Dagon was left - Literally, Only dagon (i.e., the little fish) was left. It has already been remarked that Dagon had the head, arms and hands of a man or woman, and that the rest of the idol was in the form of a fish, All that was human in his form was broken off from what resembled a fish. Here was a proof that the affair was not accidental; and these proofs of God’s power and authority prepared the way for his judgments.

1Sa 5:5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house - Neither the priests that continually attended the worship and service of Dagon, nor the people that came there to pay their devotions to him:

Tread on the threshold - Because the arms, etc., of Dagon were broken off by his fall on the threshold, the threshold became sacred, and neither his priests nor worshippers ever tread on the threshold. Thus it was ordered, in the Divine providence, that, by a religious custom of their own, they should perpetuate their disgrace, the insufficiency of their worship, and the superiority of the God of Israel.

tread on the threshold of Dagon--A superstitious ceremony crept in, and in the providence of God was continued, by which the Philistines contributed to publish this proof of the helplessness of their god. It is supposed that the idolatrous Israelites, in the time of Zephaniah, had adopted the worship of Dagon: and that in this sense Zephaniah 1:9 And I will punish all those who leap on the threshold in that day, who fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit is to be understood: In order to go into such temples, and not tread on the threshold, the people must step or leap over them; and in this way the above passage may be understood. Indeed, the thresholds of the temples in various places were deemed so sacred that the people were accustomed to fall down and kiss them.

To this day - This custom still existed among the worshippers of Dagon so late as the reign of Josiah

1Sa 5:6 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 hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod--The presumption of the Ashdodites was punished by a severe judgment that overtook them in the form of a pestilence. Not only on their idol, but on themselves; it had crushed him to pieces, and now it fell heavy on them to their destruction:

the hand of the Lord – Note that the hands of Dagon were cut off, but the hand of the Lord is very evident on the Phillistines. One is a false impotent god, the other a Living God who can make anything happen.

smote them with emerods--bleeding piles, hemorrhoids in a very aggravated form. Josephus takes it to be the dysentery or bloody flux; it seems to be what we commonly call the piles, and has its name in Hebrew from the height of them, rising up sometimes into high large tumors. As the ancient world generally regarded diseases affecting the secret parts of the body as punishments from the gods for trespasses committed against themselves, the Ashdodites would be the more ready to look upon the prevailing epidemic as demonstrating the anger of God, already shown against their idol. In fact, it was often refered to as coming from the hand of God.

even Ashdod and the coasts thereof - not only the inhabitants of the city were afflicted with this disease, but those of the villages round about.

Emerods - A corruption of “hemorrhoids.” It is mentioned Deu_28:27 among the diseases with which God threatened to punish the Israelites for disobedience. Deuteronomy 28:15 And it shall be, if you will not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, all these curses shall come on you and overtake you ..... Deuteronomy 28:27 Jehovah will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with the hemorrhoids, and with the scab, and with the itch, of which you cannot be healed.

1Sa 5:7 And 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.

the ark of God shall not abide with us--It was removed successively to several of the large towns of the country, but the same pestilence broke out in every place and raged so fiercely and fatally that the authorities were forced to send the ark back into the land of Israel 1Sa 5:8-10.

1Sa 5:8 They 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.

The lords of the Philistines - Palestine was divided into five satrapies: Ashdod, Ekron, Askelon, Gath, and Gaza. But these were all federates and acted under one general government, for which they assembled in council.

Let the ark of God of Israel be carried around to Gath – Possibly to see if their affliction rose from some natural cause they wished the ark to be carried about from place to place, to see what the effects might be. If they found the same evil produced wherever it came, then they must conclude that it was a judgment from the God of Israel.

be carried about unto Gath - which was another of the five principalities of the Philistines, and not far from Ashdod;

1Sa 5:9 And 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.

the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction - greater than that at Ashdod, more persons were destroyed; the distemper sent among them was more epidemic and mortal:

both small and great - high and low, persons of every class, rank, and station, young and old.

and they had emerods in their secret parts - and so had the men of Ashdod; and the design of this expression is, not to point at the place where they were, which it is well known they are always in those parts, but the different nature of them; the emerods or piles of the men of Ashdod were more outward, these more inward, and so more painful, and not so easy to come at, and more difficult of cure; for the words may be rendered. In the inwards of their hinder parts: which is the worst kind of emerods, as all physicians acknowledge, both because its pains are far more sharp than the other; and because the malady is more out of the reach of remedies.

The hand of the Lord was against the city - As it was at Ashdod, so it was at Gath.

1Sa 5:10 Therefore 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.

Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron - Another of the five principalities of the Philistines, about ten miles from Gath, where Baalzebub, or the god of the fly, was worshipped:

1Sa 5:11 So 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.

1Sa 5:12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods - As the inhabitants of Ashdod and Gath had been; this shows that those that died did not die of that disease, but of some other; very likely the pestilence: Some it seems were smitten with instant death; others with the haemorrhoids.

and the cry of the city went up to heaven - not that it was heard and regarded there, but the phrase is used to denote the greatness of it, how exceeding loud and clamorous it was; partly on the account of the death of so many of the inhabitants, their relations and friends; and partly because of the intolerable pain they endured through the emerods.