I ntroduction: This is going to be a very unusual chapter. We are going to follow the Ark of God through the

Transcription

1 1Samul 5 1Samul 5:1 12 God Wraks Havoc on th Philistins Outlin of Chaptr 5: vv. 1 7 Th Ark of God Is Placd Nxt to th Idol Dagon in Dagon s Tmpl vv. 8 9 Th Ark of God in Gath vv Th Ark of God in Ekron Charts and Maps: Introduction Movmnt of th Ark v. 6 What Can W Say for Crtain about 1Samul 5:6? v. 10 Th Contmporary English Vrsion of 1Sam. 5:8 10 Doctrins Cov in 1Samul 5 Th City of Ashdod Th Pagan God Dagon Th City of Gath Th City of Ekron I ntroduction: This is going to b a vry unusual chaptr. W ar going to follow th Ark of God through th citis inhabitd by th Philistins, and as th Ark movs, grat disastr coms upon ach city that it is transfr to. What is so unusual about this chaptr is th fact that all of it taks plac in Philistin citis apart from any rfrnc to any blivr. In othr wos, it dos not appar, at first, that this was writtn by an 1 ywitnss/blivr, which is most oftn th cas with Scriptur (by th way, th ida that Scriptur was handd down vrbally for thousands of yars and thn writtn down is an highly unlikly thory). Thr ar many placs throughout Scriptur whr is sms apparnt that th writr was also an ywitnss, or that h copid from th manuscript of an ywitnss. My favorit illustration is Jacob w hav incidnts in Jacob s lif that only h would know such as his wrstling match with Jsus Christ (Gn. 32:24 32) or his dram (Gn. 28:10 16); ths wr things mor likly to b rcod by Jacob rathr than storis to b passd down. Howvr, th clinchr is his flings about Rachl, his wif. H had an agrmnt with Rachl s fathr, his Uncl Laban, that h would work for Laban for svn yars and thn b givn Rachl s hand in marriag. Jacob sums up thos svn yars with: So Jacob srvd svn yars for Rachl and thy smd to him but a fw days bcaus of his lov for hr (Gn. 29:20). That was simply writtn by a man in lov. Givn Jacob s lss than xmplary lif combind with th dtails of said lif, indicats furthr that this was all rcod by Jacob (or, at last by on of his sons to whom Jacob confidd). That tnds to b th cas with Scriptur a blivr who is also an ywitnss to th vnts rcod is th most likly prson to writ th information down that w find in Scriptur. So, what happnd hr? Who is th bliv/ywitnss who autho th rco of th vnts of this chaptr? I want you to kp that qustion in th back of your mind as w xamin th nxt chaptr and a half. This qustion hlps to xplain why God allowd th Ark to b captu and takn. Rcall from th prvious chaptr that th Philistins wr campd in Ebnzr prior to thir succssfully confrontation with Isral. Edrshim xplains God s plan to us at this point: Although such havy judgmnt had com upon Isral, it was not intndd that Philistia should triumph. Mor than that, in th hour of thir victory th hathn must larn that thir gods wr not only wholly powrlss bfor Jhovah, but mrly idols, th work of 2 mn s hands. 1 In fact, I cannot com up with a singl instanc whr Scriptur was vr writtn by an unblivr. 2 Alf Edrshim, Bibl History Old Tstamnt; 1995 by Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; p. 421.

2 1Samul Chaptr This is a prfct xampl of God taking that which is msstup and making good of it. W hav th army of Isral and thir spiritual ladrs Hophni and Phinhas, th sons of Eli, going into battl against th Philistins baring th Ark of God as som kind of good luck charm. Givn th fact that Eli s sons wr not vn blivrs and that th Ark of God was not simply to b takn along on any xcursion as good luck, mans that w ar bginning with a situation that is msstup. W might think, this is th Ark of God, th most sac objct in all of Isral God cannot allow its captur, no mattr what th circumstanc. Wrong; and th ky is th quot from Edrshim. Th Philistins will first bring th Ark of God to Ashdod and plac it nxt to thir god, Dagon (who is a statu, by th way). Whn thy awak th nxt day, thr ar problms with Dagon. Th first day, h is falln ovr. On th nxt, th Philistins awok to find his had and hands wr cut off. God rvals to th Philistins that thir pagan god Dagon is simply a maninglss statu which is compltly vulnrabl to attack. So, vn though th lmnts in this vnt all would sm to add up to a bad rsult, God took ths vnts and, in His graciousnss, showd th Philistins that thir idol was powrlss bfor th God of Isral. Th nd rsult of all this is twofold: (1) th Philistins will rmov a cancrous lmnt in Isral s population and (2) th Philistins will b compltly convincd of God s grat powr apart from any dirct association with Isral. In addition, w may rasonably assrt that God rmovd a cancrous lmnt in th Philistin population as wll. Simultanous to this dmonstration, th inhabitants of Ashdod wr struck with svr skin disass. Aftr th Philistin ladrs from throughout th Philistin rgion mt, thy dcid to mov th Ark to Gath, anothr Philistin city. In Gath, th popl wr struck with confusion, and tumors again bcam prominnt on th inhabitants of Gath. Thn th Ark was movd to Ekron, whos popl protstd against this still, whn it was lft thr, thy xprincd what thir nighbors in Gath had xprincd grat confusion and a quick sprading of dadly tumors. W stop in th middl of this and mov to th nxt chaptr from hr. Th movmnt of th Ark might b of som intrst. Th trritory of th Philistins includd four citis nar th coast, in th trritoris of Judah and Dan. Starting in th south and working to th north, w hav Gaza, Ashklon, Ashdod and Joppa, Joppa bing th only city in Dan. Joppa also changd hands svral tims, so it was not always a city of th Philistins. Gnrally spaking, whn rfrring to th fiv citis of th Philistins, Joppa is not on that list. Du wst of Ashklon was Gath, a Philistin city about a thi of th way into Judah. North of Gath and northast of Ashdod was Ekron, a Philistin city which was nar th bor btwn Dan and Judah. Th Ark was takn in Shiloh, which is northast of th cntral portion of Ephraim. Th Ark would hav bn takn a littl ovr forty mils southwst (as th crow flis) to Ashdod, which is not on th coast, but vry nar th coast of th Mditrranan. Givn th ancint world and its lack of roads, thr was no doubt a circuitous rout which was travld. Thn th Ark was takn to Gath, which is about 20 mils southast of Ashdod (so w ar moving mor inland again). From Gath, th Ark was takn about 30 mils du north to Ekron. Although ths ar th only thr citis mntiond with rgas to th Ark, this dos not man that ths wr th only citis that th Ark was This map givs you a rough ida as to th movmnt of th Ark of God throughout Isral and Philistia. takn to. Taking its final Philistin rst at Ekron dos mak a grat dal of sns. Th Ark is closr to Isral trritory in Ekron than anywhr ls (which thy may hav assumd would placat th God of Isral) and Ekron is vry nar Bth-shmsh, th Isral city to whr th Ark will b shuttld in th nxt chaptr. Som of us do not undrstand th will and purpos of God bcaus w do not rcogniz th carful tightrop that H walks. W hav, in th prvious chaptr, Isralits who trat th Ark as if it wr an idol or a hostag. God was not going to blss thir ndavors bcaus thy had th Ark with thm in battl, trating it as an idol or a good luck charm. This is not th kind of prcdnt which God nds to st. Howvr, on th othr hand, thir nmis

3 629 Th Book of Samul ar a nation of (mostly) godlss hathn (thr wr xcptions, as w will s). God cannot condon Isral s crass bhavior nor can H blss th Philistins for attacking His popl. Furthrmor, sinc thr is som positiv volition in Philistia, God must rspond to thm as wll. Baring ths things in mind, what God allowd with rspct to th Ark maks a grat dal of sns. From th standpoint of th Hbrw, for th first half of this chaptr, w hav no nw vocabulary wos whatsovr. Evry wo usd is found lswhr in th prvious four chaptrs of 1Samul. Although th sntnc structur is not quit as simpl as it was in th first chaptr, it is still rlativly simpl. Now, part way through, w do introduc som nw wos and th sntnc structur bcoms a littl mor complx. To hlp st us up for this chaptr: in th prvious chaptr, th Isralits wnt to battl against th Philistins and thy wr soundly dfatd. Th Isralit army rtratd, grabbd th Ark of God for good luck, and r-ngagd. Not only did th Philistins dfat thm a scond tim, but th Philistins captu th Ark of God. That is whr w pick up our narrativ. Rturn to Chaptr Outlin Rturn to th Chart and Map Indx Th Ark of God Is Placd Nxt to th Idol Dagon in Dagon s Tmpl Slavishly litral: And Philistins took an Ark of th Elohim and so thy carrid him from th Ebnzr Ashdod-wa 1Samul 5:1 Modratly litral: Th Philistins sizd th Ark of God and carrid it from Ebnzr to Ashdod. Th Philistins thn took th Ark of God and carrid it from thir camp at Ebnzr to Ashdod. First, hr ar how othrs handld this vrs: Ancint txts: Masortic Txt Sptuagint Significant diffrncs: And Philistins took an Ark of th Elohim and so thy carrid him from th Ebnzr Ashdod-wa. And th Philistins took th Ark of God and brought it from Ebnzr to Azotus. Non. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): JPS (Tanakh) Whn th Philistins captu th Ark of God, thy brought it from Ebn-zr to Ashdod. Litral, almost wo-for-wo, rndrings: NASB Young's Updatd LT Now th Philistins took th ark of God and brought it from Ebnzr to Ashdod. And th Philistins hav takn th ark of God, and bring it in from Ebn-Ezr to Ashdod,... What is th gist of this vrs? Th Philistins sizd th Ark and took it to Ashdod, a Philistin city.

4 1Samul Chaptr Samul 5:1a w (or v ) ( ) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 P lish tîy (. ) [pronouncd p -lish-tee] translitratd Philistins masculin plural gntilic adjctiv (acts lik a propr noun) Strong s #6430 BDB #814 lâqach ( ) [pronouncd law- KAHKH] to tak, to tak from, to tak away, to tak in marriag; to siz, to tak possssion of; to snd aftr, to ftch, to bring; to rciv 3 prson plural, Qal prfct Strong s #3947 BDB #542 rôwn ( ) [pronouncd uh-rohn] ark, chst; Ark masculin singular Strong s #727 BDB #75 lôhîym ( ) [pronouncd l-o-heem] gods, forign gods, god; God; rulrs, judgs; suprhuman ons, angls translitratd Elohim masculin plural noun with th dfinit articl Strong's #430 BDB #43 Translation: Th Philistins sizd th Ark of God... In th prvious chaptr, w saw this from th sid of Isral. That is, th mssngr cam to Shiloh and told Eli and th rsidnts thr that Isral had bn batn and th Ark had bn takn. In this chaptr, w will s this from th viwpoint of th Philistins. 1Samul 5:1b wa (or va) ( ) [pronouncd wah] and so, thn wâw conscutiv BDB #253 bôw ( ) [pronouncd boh] to tak in, to bring, to com in with, to carry 3 prson plural, Hiphil imprfct; with th 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong s #935 BDB #97 min ( ) [pronouncd min] from, away from, out from, out of from, off, on account of, sinc, abov, than, so that not, abov, byond, mor than prposition of sparation Strong's #4480 BDB #577 Ebn ( ) B [pronouncd EH -vn] ston and is translitratd Ebn propr masculin noun in form, accoing to BDB Strong's #68 BDB #6 êzr ( ) [pronouncd AY-zr] hlp and is translitratd Ezr propr masculin noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #72 BDB #7

5 631 Th Book of Samul 1Samul 5:1b Togthr, ths ar translitratd ithr Ebnzr or Ebn-zr. Th dfinit articls ar igno in th translitration. ash dôwd ( ) - [pronouncd ash-dohd] fortrss, castl (accoing to Barns) and translitratd Ashdod propr noun; location; with th dirctional hê Strong s #795 BDB #78 Translation:...and carrid it from Ebnzr to Ashdod. Thn w hav th min prposition followd by th 3 Ebnzr, which mans Ston of Hlp. This was simply whr th Isralits wr ncampd prior to th battls with th Philistins (1Sam. 4:1). Th Philistins apparntly captu th Ark of God in th camp of th Isralits 4 and thn took it to Ashdod. Affixd to Ashdod is th dirctional hê. Suffic it to say that Ashdod is on of th fiv main Philistin citis. In fact, w should covr th Doctrin of Ashdod at this point. Ashdod is th northrnmost city on th coast of th Philistin citis. Although It is possibl th Ark was hauld thr for no othr rason than many of th soldirs and commanding offics cam from that city and that was to whr thy first rportd whn rturnd from thir dfat of Isral, I think th mor likly rason is that this is whr th tmpl of Dagon was. Th Philistins saw this as a dfat of th God of th Isralits by thir god, Dagon; thrfor, placing th Ark of God in th tmpl of Dagon symbolizd this dfat. And so took Philistins an Ark of th Elohim and so thy brought him [into] a hous of Dagon and so thy st up him bsid Dagon. 1Samul 5:2 So th Philistins took th Ark of God and brought it into th hous of Dagon and st it up bsid Dagon. Th Philistins took th Ark of God and placd it bsid thir god Dagon in th tmpl of Dagon. Don t panic by th us of th wo him in this vrs in th ultra litral portion. Th Hbrw dos not hav a nutr gndr, so th Ark of God is rfr to by a masculin singular gndr (which would b proprly rnd it by th English). Lt s s what othrs hav don: Ancint txts: Masortic Txt Sptuagint Significant diffrncs: And so took Philistins an Ark of th Elohim and so thy brought him [into] a hous of Dagon and so thy st up him bsid Dagon. And th Philistins took th Ark of th Lo and brought it into th hous of Dagon, and st it by Dagon. No significant diffrncs; it is th Ark of Elohim in th Hbrw and th Ark of th Lo in th Grk. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): 3 A fullr xplanation was givn in 1Sam. 4:1. 4 W hav vry fw nw wos introducd in th book of Samul. Throughout most of this chaptr and th nxt, thr will b fw wos which w hav not sn bfor. Th only xcption to this so far is th wo Ashdod.

6 1Samul Chaptr Litral, almost wo-for-wo, rndrings: Kil and Dlitzsch (rvisd) NASB Young's Updatd LT Th Philistins took th Ark of God and brought it into th tmpl of Dagon and thy st it up bsid Dagon. Thn th Philistins took th ark of God and brought it to th hous of Dagon, and st it by Dagon....and th Philistins tak th ark of God and bring it into th hous of Dagon, and st it nar Dagon. What is th gist of this vrs? Th Philistins st up th Ark of God in th Tmpl of Dagon, and placd it nar thir idol Dagon. 1Samul 5:2a wa (or va) ( ) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and wâw conscutiv BDB #253 lâqach ( ) [pronouncd law- KAHKH] to tak, to tak away, to tak in marriag; to siz 3 prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct Strong s #3947 BDB #542 P lish tîy (. ) [pronouncd p -lish-tee] translitratd Philistins masculin plural gntilic adjctiv (acts lik a propr noun) Strong s #6430 BDB #814 êth ( ) [pronouncd ayth] gnrally untranslatd; occasionally to, towa indicats that th following substantiv is a dirct objct Strong's #853 BDB #84 rôwn ( ) [pronouncd uh-rohn] ark, chst; Ark masculin singular Strong s #727 BDB #75 lôhîym ( ) [pronouncd l-o-heem] gods or God; translitratd Elohim masculin plural noun with th dfinit articl Strong's #430 BDB #43 Translation: So th Philistins took th Ark of God... Th vocabulary in this scond vrs is almost idntical to th vocabulary from th first. And so [th] Philistins siz [Qal imprfct] th Ark of Elohim and bring [Hiphil imprfct]... It is vry simpl and rptitiv Hbrw. 1Samul 5:2b wa (or va) ( ) [pronouncd wah] and so, thn wâw conscutiv BDB #253 bôw ( ) [pronouncd boh] to tak in, to bring, to com in with, to carry 3 prson masculin plural, Hiphil imprfct; with th 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong s #935 BDB #97

7 633 Th Book of Samul 1Samul 5:2b êth ( ) [pronouncd ayth] untranslatd mark of a dirct objct; occasionally to, towa affixd to a 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong's #853 BDB #84 bayith ( ) [pronouncd BAH-yith] hous, houshold, habitation as wll as inwa masculin singular Strong's #1004 BDB #108 Dâgôwn ( ) [pronouncd daw- GOHN] corn, grain; his fish [or is simply a translitration] and is translitratd Dagan, Dakan masculin singular propr noun Strong s #1712 BDB #186 Translation:...and brought it into th hous of Dagon... Thn w hav th first nw wo of ths two vrss, th sign of th dirct objct with a masculin singular suffix (litrally, him, but mor rasonably it). Thn w hav a hous of Dagon, which rfr to th tmpl of thir god Dagon. W brifly mntiond Dagon in Judgs 16:31, and w will xamin Th Doctrin of th Pagan God Dagon at th nd of this sction. Howvr, it is of som intrst that th gods of th Philistins Dagon, Ashtorth and Baal-zbub ar all Smitic gods whos origins 5 ar not found with th Philistin popl. Th rason this is of som intrst is that th Philistins and th Isralits movd into th Land of Promis at roughly th sam tim. Th Philistins wr apparntly not pisposd to thir own gods and rligion, and could hav placd thir faith in th God of th Univrs just as asily as thy could hav adoptd th gods of th surrounding hathn. Th ky diffrnc was positiv volition. Whn a prson is ngativ towa God, this dos not man that thy ar ngativ towa rligion. Th rligious unblivr will oftn try on svral diffrnt rligions and choos th on that sms to fit th bst. 1Samul 5:2c wa (or va) ( ) [pronouncd wah] and so, thn wâw conscutiv BDB #253 yâtsag ( - ) [pronouncd yaw- TSAHG] to mak to stand, to st, to station, to plac, to lav, to stablish, to lt stay 3 prson masculin plural, Hiphil imprfct Strong s #3322 BDB #426 êth ( ) [pronouncd ayth] untranslatd mark of a dirct objct; occasionally to, towa affixd to a 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong's #853 BDB #84 êtsl ( ) [pronouncd AY-tsl] a sid; nar, by, bsid Prposition/substantiv Strong s #681 BDB #69 Dâgôwn ( ) [pronouncd daw- GOHN] corn, grain; his fish [or is simply a translitration] and is translitratd Dagan, Dakan masculin singular propr noun Strong s #1712 BDB #186 Translation:...and st it up bsid Dagon. This givs us: Thn th Philistins took th Ark of Elohim and brought it [into] th hous of Dagan and st it up bsid Dagon. Th whol ida hr is that thir god Dagon just dfatd th vnratd God of Isral in battl, and bringing th Ark into thir tmpl of Dagon was thir way of gloating. Accoing to Goon, it was common practic in th nar ast for victorious armis to carry off nmy idols and 5 Robrt Goon, I & 2Samul A Commntary; Zondrvan Publishing Hous, Grand Rapids, MI; 1986; p. 98.

8 1Samul Chaptr install thm in th tmpl of thir chif god in symbol of th lattr s sovrignty ovr th subjct popl and its 6 gods. No doubt, th Ark was st in som plac of subjugation to th idol Dagon. And so ris arly Ashdodits from th nxt day and, bhold, Dagon falling to his facs groundwa to facs of an Ark of Y howah. And so thy tak Dagon and so thy causd to rturn him to his plac. 1Samul 5:3 Th Ashdodits aros arly on th nxt day and, obsrv, Dagon had falln on his fac on th ground bfor th Ark of Y howah. Thn thy took Dagon and causd him to rturn to his plac. Howvr, th nxt morning, th Ashdodits aros arly and found that thir statu of Dagon had falln ovr on its fac bfor th Ark of Y howah. Thy thrfor liftd thir idol up and rturnd him to an upright position. First, what othrs hav don: Ancint txts: Sptuagint And th popl of Azotus ros arly, and nt into th hous of Dagon and lookd, and bhold, Dagon had falln on his fac bfor th ark of th Lo; and thy liftd Dagon up and st him in his plac. Significant diffrncs: Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): JPS (Tanakh) Early th nxt day, th Ashdodits found Dagon lying fac down on th ground in front of th Ark of th LORD. Thy pickd Dagon up and put him back in his plac;... Litral, almost wo-for-wo, rndrings: Th Emphasizd Bibl NASB Young's Updatd LT And <whn thy of Ashdod ros arly on th morrow and nt into th hous of Dagon> thy lookd and lo! 5Dagon5 was lying prostrat on his fac to th arth, bfor th ark of Yahwh, so thy took Dagon and rsto him to his plac. Whn th Ashdodits aros arly th nxt morning, bhold, Dagon had falln on his fac to th ground bfor th ark of th LORD. So thy took Dagon and st him in his plac again. Now th Ashdodits ris arly on th morrow, and lo, Dagon is falln on its fac to th arth, bfor th ark of Jhovah; and thy tak Dagon, and put it back to its plac. What is th gist of this vrs? Th Ashdodits opn thir tmpl arly in th morning and thy find th statu of Dagon laying fac down. Thy right th idol. 6 Robrt Goon, I & 2Samul A Commntary; Zondrvan Publishing Hous, Grand Rapids, MI; 1986; p. 98. H apparntly taks this from Campbll, th ark, pp. 187ff.; P. D. Millr and J. J. M. Robrts, Th Hand of th Lo, A Rassssmnt of th Ark Narrativ of 1Samul; Baltimor/London, 1977; pp

9 635 Th Book of Samul 1Samul 5:3a wa (or va) ( ) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and wâw conscutiv BDB #253 shâkam ( ) [pronouncd shaw- KAHM] to start, to ris, to ris arly, to mak an arly start; morning (in th Hiphil infinitiv absolut) 3 prson masculin plural, Hiphil imprfct Strong s #7925 BDB #1014 ash dôwdîym (. ) [pronouncd - ash-dohd-deem] fortrss, castl (accoing to Barns); or of Ashdod, which is translitratd Ashdodits or popl of Ashdod gntilic adjctiv Strong s #796 BDB #78 mâch râth ( ) [pronouncd maw-chuh- RAWTH] th morrow (th day following a past day), th nxt day, th following day fminin singular noun/advrb Strong s #4283 BDB #564 With th min prposition, mâch râth mans on th morrow, on th nxt day. Translation: Th Ashdodits aros arly on th nxt day... Th Ashdodits opn up thir tmpl arly in th morning, probably with th rising of th sun. Thy opn up thir tmpl and go insid. 1Samul 5:3b w (or v ) ( ) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 hinnêh ( ) [pronouncd hin-nay] lo, bhold, or mor frly, obsrv, look hr, look, listn, pay attntion, gt this, chck this out intrjction, dmonstrativ particl Strong s #2009 (and #518, 2006) BDB #243 Dâgôwn ( ) [pronouncd daw- GOHN] corn, grain; his fish [or is simply a translitration] and is translitratd Dagan, Dakan masculin singular propr noun Strong s #1712 BDB #186 nâphal ( ) [pronouncd naw-fahl] to fall, to li, to di a violnt dath, to b brought down, to sttl, to slp dply Qal activ participl Strong's #5307 BDB #656 lâmd ( ) (pronouncd l ) to, for, towas, in rgas to dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 pânîym ( ) [pronouncd paw- NEEM] fac, facs, countnanc; prsnc masculin plural noun (plural acts lik English singular); with th 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong s #6440 BDB #815

10 1Samul Chaptr Samul 5:3b Togthr, thy man upon th fac of, bfor, bfor th fac of, in th prsnc of, in th sight of, in front of. Whn usd with God, it can tak on th mor figurativ maning in th judgmnt of. rts ( ) [pronouncd EH-rts] arth (all or a portion throf), land fminin singular noun with th dirctional hê Strong's #776 BDB #75 lâmd ( ) (pronouncd l ) to, for, towas, in rgas to dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 pânîym ( ) [pronouncd paw- NEEM] fac, facs, countnanc; prsnc masculin plural (plural acts lik English singular) Strong s #6440 BDB #815 Togthr, thy man upon th fac of, bfor, bfor th fac of, in th prsnc of, in th sight of, in front of. Whn usd with God, it can tak on th mor figurativ maning in th judgmnt of. rôwn ( ) [pronouncd uh-rohn] ark, chst; Ark masculin singular Strong s #727 BDB #75 YHWH ( ) [pronunciation is possibly yhoh-wah] translitratd variously as Jhovah, Yahwh, Y howah propr noun Strong s #3068 BDB #217 Translation:...and, obsrv, Dagon had falln on his fac on th ground bfor th Ark of Y howah. This givs us: And th Ashdodits aros arly on th following day and, bhold, Dagon falling to his fac to th ground bfor th fac of th Ark of Y howah. You will not that in th Sptuagint, thy insrt that th Ashdodits ntr into th Hous of Dagon and look; th rading which Rothrham prfrs. Thr is som significanc to rfrring to th Ark as th Ark of Jhovah hr (and in v. 4), but I won t discuss that furthr until 1Sam. 6:8. In any cas, th Philistins go into thir tmpl first thing in th morning and th idol statu of Dagon is laying fac first on th ground, which is obviously unusual. 1Samul 5:3c wa (or va) ( ) [pronouncd wah] and so, thn wâw conscutiv BDB #253 lâqach ( ) [pronouncd law- KAHKH] to tak, to tak away, to tak in marriag; to siz 3 prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct Strong s #3947 BDB #542 êth ( ) [pronouncd ayth] gnrally untranslatd; occasionally to, towa indicats that th following substantiv is a dirct objct Strong's #853 BDB #84 Dâgôwn ( ) [pronouncd daw- GOHN] corn, grain; his fish [or is simply a translitration] and is translitratd Dagan, Dakan masculin singular propr noun Strong s #1712 BDB #186

11 637 Th Book of Samul 1Samul 5:3c wa (or va) ( ) [pronouncd wah] and so, thn wâw conscutiv BDB #253 shûwb ( ) b [pronouncd shoo v] to caus to rturn, to bring, to b causd to turn back mntally, rminisc, to rturn somthing, to rstor, to bring back, to snd back, to rgain, to rcovr, to mak rstitution, rconsidr, think again, to b causd to rturn 3 prson masculin plural, Hiphil imprfct Strong's #7725 BDB #996 êth ( ) [pronouncd ayth] untranslatd mark of a dirct objct; occasionally to, towa affixd to a 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong's #853 BDB #84 lâmd ( ) (pronouncd l ) to, for, towas, in rgas to dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 mâqôwm ( ) [pronouncd maw- KOHM] plac, situatd; for a soldir, it may man whr h is stationd; for popl in gnral, it would b thir plac of abod (which could b thir hous or thir town) masculin singular noun with th 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong s #4725 BDB #879 Translation: Thn thy took Dagon and causd him to rturn to his plac. Th vrb is th 3 prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct of to tak, to tak from, to tak in marriag, to siz. W hav thn th dirct objct notation followd by Dagon. Thn thy took Dagon... This mans that thy grab a hold of him. W do not know th siz of this idol, but it must b larg, as this is a masculin plural vrb, indicating that mor than on prson grabbd th idol. W thn hav th wâw conscutiv and th 3 prson masculin plural, Hiphil imprfct of to b causd to rturn, to bring, to b causd to turn back mntally, rminisc, to rturn somthing, to rstor, to bring back, to rgain, to rcovr, to mak rstitution, rconsidr, think again, or to b causd to rturn. Th scond half of this portion rads:...so thy causd to rturn him to his plac. Th Bibl always njoys poking fun at idols. This is th god of th Philistins, th god that thy worship and do obisanc to, and now thy (plural) ar lifting him up and stting him upright. From th languag, it appars that Dagon did mor than simply fall ovr. It sounds as though th idol had bn movd and knockd ovr bcaus thr is a wo in th Hbrw maning to st upright and it is not usd hr. Hr, it appars as though Dagon had bn knockd ovr and movd, and thrfor, thy had to tak him and rturn him to his propr plac. Th NIV Study Bibl: Th ark was placd nxt to th imag of Dagon by th Philistins in or to dmonstrat Dagon s supriority ovr th God of Isral, but th symbolism was rvrsd whn Dagon 7 was toppld to a position of homag bfor th ark of th Lo. In Isaiah, chaptr 46 is dvotd to th hathn idols, and v. 7 rads: Thy lift it [th idol] upon th shouldr and carry it; thy st it in its plac that it may stand. It dos not mov from its plac. Though on may cry to it, it cannot answr; it cannot dlivr him from his distrss. 7 Th NIV Study Bibl; 1995 by Th Zondrvan Corporation; p. 379.

12 1Samul Chaptr And so thy aris arly in th morning from a nxt day and, bhold, Dagon falling to his facs ground-wa to facs of an Ark of Y howah; and a had of Dagon and two of [th] palms of his hands cut off towa th thrshold; only his trunk [or, only Dagon] [or, only th trunk of Dagon] rmaind to him. 1Samul 5:4 And thy aros arly in th morning th nxt day and, obsrv, Dagon had falln on his fac on th ground bfor th Ark of Y howah. Furthrmor [lit., and so], th had and two of th hands of Dagon [lit., two of th palms of th hands of Dagon] had bn cut off nar th thrshold; only his trunk rmaind to him. Whn thy awok th nxt morning and wnt into th Tmpl of Dagon, thy saw that Dagon again on th ground front-down in front of th Ark of Jhovah. Furthrmor, Dagon s had and hands had bn cut off and lay nar th thrshold; only his trunk rmaind intact. First, what othrs hav don. Ancint txts: Masortic Txt Sptuagint Significant diffrncs: And so thy aris arly in th morning from a nxt day and, bhold, Dagon falling to his facs ground-wa to facs of an Ark of Y howah; and a had of Dagon and two of [th] palms of his hands cut off towa th thrshold; only his trunk [or, only Dagon] [or, only th trunk of Dagon] rmaind to him. And it cam to pass whn thy ros arly in th morning, bhold, Dagon had falln on his fac bfor th ark of th covnant of th Lo; and th had of Dagon and both th palms of his hands wr cut off ach bfor th thrshold, and both th wrists of his hands had falln on th floor of th porch; only th stump of Dagon was lft. No significant diffrncs. Th final phras is uncrtain, although th Grk, th Latin and th Syriac tll us that only th torso or stump of Dagon rmaind. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: NAB NJB NLT TEV But th nxt morning arly, whn thy aros, Dagon lay pron n th ground bfor th ark of th LORD, his had and hands brokn off and lying on th thrshold, his trunk alon intact. But whn thy got up on th following morning, thr lay Dagon fac down on th ground bfor th ark of Yahwh, and Dagon s had and two hands lay sv on th thrshold; only th trunk of Dagon was lft in its plac. But th nxt morning th sam thing happnd th idol had falln fac down bfor th Ark of th LORD again. This tim his had and hands had brokn off and wr lying in th doorway. Only th trunk of his body was lft intact. Early th following morning thy saw that th statu had again falln down in front of th Covnant Box. This tim its had and both its arms wr brokn off and wr lying in th doorway; only th body was lft. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): God s Wo JPS (Tanakh) But th nxt morning thy saw that Dagon had [again] falln forwa on th ground in front of th LORD s ark. Dagon s had and his two hands wr cut off [and wr lying] on th tmpl s thrshold. Th rst of Dagon s body was intact....but arly th nxt morning, Dagon was again lying pron on th ground in front of th Ark of th. Th had and both hands of Dagon wr cut off, lying on th thrshold; only Dagon s trunk was lft intact. [Th maning of th Hbrw for that last phras is uncrtain].

13 639 Th Book of Samul Litral, almost wo-for-wo, rndrings: NASB NKJV Young's Updatd LT But whn thy aros arly th nxt morning, bhold, Dagon had falln on his fac to th ground bfor th ark of th. And th had of Dagon and both th palms of his hands wr cut off on th thrshold; only th trunk of Dagon [so with ancint vrsions; Hb., only Dagon] was lft to him. And whn thy aros arly th nxt morning, thr was Dagon, falln on its fac to th ground bfor th Ark of th LORD. Th had of Dagon and both th palms of his hands wr brokn off on th thrshold; only Dagon s torso was lft of it. [Dagon s torso: so with LXX, Syriac, Targum, Vulgat; MT Dagon]. And thy ris arly in th morning on th morrow, and lo, Dagon is falln on its fac to th arth, bfor th ark of Jhovah, and th had of Dagon, and th two palms of his hands ar cut off at th thrshold, only th fishy part has bn lft to him;... What is th gist of this vrs? Th nxt morning, th tmpl of Dagon is opnd and th idol of Dagon had falln on th floor. Th had and hands had brokn off and apparntly laying on th thrshold (?). 1Samul 5:4a wa (or va) ( ) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and wâw conscutiv BDB #253 shâkam ( ) [pronouncd shaw- KAHM] to start, to ris, to ris arly, to mak an arly start; morning (in th Hiphil infinitiv absolut) 3 prson masculin plural, Hiphil imprfct Strong s #7925 BDB #1014 h b ( ) [pronouncd b ] in, into, through; at, by, nar, on, upon; with, bfor, against; by mans of; among; within a prposition of proximity BDB #88 bôqr ( ) [pronouncd BOH-kr] morning masculin singular noun with a dfinit articl Strong s #1242 BDB #133 min ( ) [pronouncd min] from, away from, out from, out of from, off, on account of, sinc, abov, than, so that not, abov, byond, mor than prposition of sparation Strong's #4480 BDB #577 mâch râth ( ) [pronouncd maw-chuh- RAWTH] th morrow (th day following a past day), th nxt day, th following day fminin singular noun/advrb Strong s #4283 BDB #564 With th min prposition, mâch râth mans on th morrow, on th nxt day. w (or v ) ( ) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 hinnêh ( ) [pronouncd hin-nay] lo, bhold, or mor frly, obsrv, look hr, look, listn, pay attntion, gt this, chck this out intrjction, dmonstrativ particl Strong s #2009 (and #518, 2006) BDB #243

14 1Samul Chaptr Samul 5:4a Dâgôwn ( ) [pronouncd daw- GOHN] corn, grain; his fish [or is simply a translitration] and is translitratd Dagan, Dakan masculin singular propr noun Strong s #1712 BDB #186 nâphal ( ) [pronouncd naw-fahl] to fall, to li, to di a violnt dath, to b brought down, to sttl, to slp dply Qal activ participl Strong's #5307 BDB #656 lâmd ( ) (pronouncd l ) to, for, towas, in rgas to dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 pânîym ( ) [pronouncd paw- NEEM] fac, facs, countnanc; prsnc masculin plural noun (plural acts lik English singular); with th 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong s #6440 BDB #815 Togthr, thy man upon th fac of, bfor, bfor th fac of, in th prsnc of, in th sight of, in front of. Whn usd with God, it can tak on th mor figurativ maning in th judgmnt of. rts ( ) [pronouncd EH-rts] arth (all or a portion throf), land fminin singular noun with th dirctional hê Strong's #776 BDB #75 lâmd ( ) (pronouncd l ) to, for, towas, in rgas to dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 pânîym ( ) [pronouncd paw- NEEM] fac, facs, countnanc; prsnc masculin plural (plural acts lik English singular) Strong s #6440 BDB #815 Togthr, thy man upon th fac of, bfor, bfor th fac of, in th prsnc of, in th sight of, in front of. Whn usd with God, it can tak on th mor figurativ maning in th judgmnt of. rôwn ( ) [pronouncd uh-rohn] ark, chst; Ark masculin singular Strong s #727 BDB #75 YHWH ( ) [pronunciation is possibly yhoh-wah] translitratd variously as Jhovah, Yahwh, Y howah propr noun Strong s #3068 BDB #217 Translation: And thy aros arly in th morning th nxt day and, obsrv, Dagon had falln on his fac on th ground bfor th Ark of Y howah. On th scond day, th tmpl of Dagon is opnd up, and again, th idol had falln on its fac bfor th Ark of Jhovah. 1Samul 5:4b w (or v ) ( ) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251

15 641 Th Book of Samul 1Samul 5:4b rô sh ( ) [pronouncd rohsh] had, top, chif, front, choicst masculin singular Strong's #7218 BDB #910 Dâgôwn ( ) [pronouncd daw- GOHN] corn, grain; his fish [or is simply a translitration] and is translitratd Dagan, Dakan masculin singular propr noun Strong s #1712 BDB #186 w (or v ) ( ) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 sh tayîm ( ) [pronouncd sh TAH- yim] two, two of, a pair of, a duo of fminin numral Strong s #8147 BDB #1040 kaph ( ) [pronouncd kaf] palm, hollow or flat of th hand, sol of th foot; bowl, spoon fminin plural Strong s #3709 BDB #496 yâd ( ) [pronouncd yawd] gnrally translatd hand fminin dual noun with th 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong's #3027 BDB #388 kârath ( ) [pronouncd kaw- RAHTH] to cut off, to cut down; to kill, to dstroy; to mak a covnant fminin plural, Qal passiv participl Strong's #3772 BDB #503 Translation: Furthrmor [lit., and so], th had and two of th hands of Dagon [lit., two of th palms of th hands of Dagon] had bn cut off... If you hav rad much of what I hav writtn, you know that I tnd towa a fairly naturalistic intrprtation of most miracls; and, if you rad carfully, you raliz that such an undrstanding rvals a gratr God than a simpl miracl. Howvr, hr, whr this occurrnc appars to b much lss majstic than, say, th fall of Jricho or th turning of th watr of Egypt into blood; this is probably an out and out miracl. That is, thr is no indication in th woing hr that th statu of Dagon simply fll forwa and brokn into pics, but that God had actually sv th xtrmitis of this idol as a sign against Dagon and against th Philistins. This dos not man that a naturalistic intrprtation can b givn to this. I do hav a problm with th nxt phras, howvr. 1Samul 5:4c l ( ) [pronouncd l] unto, in, into, towa, to, rgaing, against dirctional prposition (rspct or dfrnc may b implid) Strong's #413 BDB #39 Thr ar two basic sts of manings for th wo l:

16 1Samul Chaptr Samul 5:4c (1) l acts as a prposition which signifis, in gnral, to tnd to anything, to vrg to or towas any plac, whthr it is rachd and vn nt or not, whthr it b by motion or turning and dirction of th body or 8 of th mind, turning to anything in thought. Undr this gnral hading, w hav nin uss: Of motion to a plac, or to, towas. Undr this hading, l is also usd as a particl of giving or slling. El is usd for th turning or th dirction to anything, and can b usd of th mind as wll as th body. Th motion or turning can b hostil, and man against. El is usd whn on rachs a trminus or a mark; vn to. Undr this hading, w hav two additional applications (a) th us of l in masur,.g. vn to th lngth of a cubit; (b) vn out of, as bing rmovd out of somthing lik a thorn hdgs which go around a fild (Job 5:5). This prposition is usd whn th limit is nt into, and is rnd in. Whn it is usd of a numbr or multitud into which on ntrs, it may b rnd among. El is usd in adding or supr-adding, and rnd bsids, togthr with, bsids ths. El is usd rgaing anything, having rspct or rga to anything, hnc (a) as to, in rspct to, bcaus of; and (b) concrning (aftr vrbs of spaking, narrating or tlling). Mtaphorically, l can b usd as xprssiv of rul or standa and b rnd accoing to. Finally, whn l is prfixd to prpositions which dnot rst in a plac, it giv thm th signification of motion or dirction to or towas a plac. (2) Th scond st of manings: l is usd of rmaining at, or in a plac to which on tnds. Undr this catgory, w hav thr divisions: at, by or nar; in, among; also, l is placd bfor particls, which 9 imply a rst in a plac, without chang of sns. miph tân ( ) [pronouncd mif-tawn] thrshold masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #4670 BDB #837 Translation:...nar th thrshold;... W hav prposition l ( ) [pronouncd l ], which dnots dirction and mans in, into, towa, unto, to, rgaing, against. This is followd by th masculin singular noun thrshold. This givs us:...towa th thrshold... Our problm is, just what xactly dos this man? Ar th hands and th had of Dagon lying at th thrshold? Ar thy lying against th thrshold? Is th torso on th thrshold? I bliv th ida is, th idol fll, and th hands and had brok off and rolld to th thrshold of th tmpl. Thr ar a coupl of instancs whr prpositions ar ithr lft out or sm to b usd incorrctly in this chaptr and th nxt. This is a rathr small numbr; howvr, I hav noticd that, whn a prson spaks in a languag that is not his own, on ara whr thy ar oftn wak is th us of prpositions. I do not want to unquivocally suggst that this was writtn by a Philistin who wrot ths things in Hbrw; howvr, that is a possibility. 1Samul 5:4d raq ( ) [pronouncd rahk] only, providd, altogthr, surly this advrb carris with it rstrictiv forc advrb Strong s #7534 & #7535 BDB #956 8 Most of this is quotd or paraphrasd from H. W. F. Gsnius, Hbrw-Chald Lxicon to th Old Tstamnt; 1979 by Bakr Books;.p I don t follow this thi us at all, but it, along with th othr two, ar takn from H. W. F. Gsnius, Hbrw-Chald Lxicon to th Old Tstamnt; 1979 by Bakr Books; p. 47.

17 643 Th Book of Samul 1Samul 5:4d Dâgôwn ( ) [pronouncd daw- GOHN] corn, grain; his fish [or is simply a translitration] and is translitratd Dagan, Dakan masculin singular propr noun Strong s #1712 BDB #186 Instad of Dagon, som vrsions hav... gêv ( ) [pronouncd gayv]; also gav ( ) - [pronouncd gahv] back; trunk; midst masculin singular noun with th 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong s #1458, #1459 [Aramaic] & #1460 BDB #156 shâ ar ( ) [pronouncd shaw-ahr] to rmain, to b lft ovr; survivor (as a participl) 3 prson masculin singular, Niphal prfct Strong s #7604 BDB #983 al ( ) [pronouncd ahl ] upon, byond, on, against, abov, ovr, by, bsid prposition of proximity with th 3 prson fminin singular suffix Strong s #5920, #5921 BDB #752 Translation:...only his trunk rmaind to him. At this point, w hav what I bliv to b th biggst problm with th NRSV its all too brif and mislading footnots. Its footnot hr is Hbrw lacks th trunk of. Accoing to Own, that is not ncssarily th cas. In most Hbrw manuscripts, w hav th propr noun Dagon; howvr, in som manuscripts, w hav th masculin singular noun gêv ( ) [pronouncd gayv] instad, which mans back, trunk. In th Grk, Latin and Syriac, w hav both Dagon and his trunk (or, body). Th problm is that th Grk wo I find nxt to Dagon in th Grk is not on from my Grk dictionaris so I hav to go along with Brnton. Thrfor, with th masculin singular suffix, this givs us:...only Dagon... or...only his trunk... or...only th trunk of Dagon... Accoing to th NKJV, trunk of Dagon is found in th Sptuagint, th Vulgat, th Aramaic paraphras and in th Syriac translation. 10 On of th ruls of txtual criticism (th scinc of dtrmining what was actually in th autographs and what was not) is that, whn givn two or mor altrnat radings, on would choos th rading which maks th last 11 sns. Th rason for such a rul, which smd to m at first to b countr-intuitiv, is that, it would b human natur of a copyist to writ what maks th most sns and somtims inadvrtntly (or intntionally) mak a chang from somthing difficult to undrstand to somthing which is asy to undrstand. Th rading hr could vry wll b only Dagon was lft to him, vn though, of all th radings, that sms to mak th last sns. Th ida would b that Dagon is simply a powrlss, maninglss god. Evn if h is rprsntativ of a dmon, still, h has no ral powr, guidanc, or involvmnt apart from what God allows; and th idol has absolutly no powr whatsovr. Dagon is, in fact, nothing mor than a uslss trunk. Th lack of hands and had do not mak him lss powrful, bcaus th idol had no powr to bgin with so rmoving th had and hands, whil symbolic, lavs Dagon with that which is ssntially Dagon a powrlss trunk. In ithr cas, th gnral ida is still convyd. Now, although w ran into som rocky ara in this vrs, and vn into a coupl of wos not found alrady in th book of Samul, still, th ida is clar. Dagon had falln fac forwa, and had possibly bn movd; his had and hands wr cut off as wll not simply brokn off, as that vrb is not usd hr and thy lay upon th thrshold of th tmpl. Now, in cas you do not grasp th symbology hr, it is this: th first tim Dagon fll bfor th Ark, it placd him in an infrior position to th God of Isral, as though h wr worshiping th God of Isral. This was not undrstood by th mn of Ashdod, as thy simply st th idol upright again (th statu would 10 An autograph is a prfct copy of th original. 11 Thr ar xcptions to this; for instanc, whn it is clar that a copyist misplacd a phras or a wo, thn corrct placmnt of that wo or phras taks prcdnc.

18 1Samul Chaptr now b towring ovr th Ark). Th scond tim Dagon was prostrat bfor th Ark, it again indicatd obisanc; but, th svring of th hands indicatd that Dagon was absolutly powrlss bfor God. Hands ar indicativ of powr, and Dagon s hands lay upon th thrshold, whr anyon could stp upon thm. His had was off, indicating a lack of influnc. Now, a bit lss symbolically: th first tim that th idol Dagon was found falln bfor th Ark, on might hav thought prhaps th idol had simply falln ovr for som rason an accidnt of sorts. Howvr, th scond tim, with th sv hands laying on th thrshold, could not b an accidnt. No havy wind, no arthquak or any othr accidnt could hav causd that. Furthrmor, th hands and had of on s nmy wr oftn takn in battl to indicat that th nmy had bn compltly dfatd. In 1Sam. 17:54, David brings Goliath s had to 12 Jrusalm (also compar 1Sam. 31:9 10). This givs us a clar contrast btwn th powrlss, sv hands 13 of Dagon and th opprssiv hand of Jhovah as sn in th nxt 8 vrss. In noting this, no doubt at last on Philistin was movd to bliv in Jhovah God of Isral (which would xplain this account which w hav). Rgaing so, do not trad prists of Dagon and all th ntring ons [into] a hous of Dagon upon a thrshold of Dagon in Ashdod as far as th day th this. 1Samul 5:5 Thrfor, th prists of Dagon and all thos ntring th hous of Dagon do not trad on th thrshold of Dagon in Ashdod, vn to this day. Bcaus of this incidnt, th prists of Dagon and all othr visitors do not stp on th thrshold of th tmpl of Dagon in Ashdod, vn until today. First, what othrs hav don: Ancint txts: Latin Vulgat Masortic Txt Sptuagint Significant diffrncs: And only th stump of Dagon rmaind in its plac. For this caus nithr th prists of Dagon, nor any that go into th tmpl, trad on th thrshold of Dagon in Azotus unto this day. Rgaing so, do not trad prists of Dagon and all th ntring ons [into] a hous of Dagon upon a thrshold of Dagon in Ashdod as far as th day th this. Thrfor th prists of Dagon, and vryon that ntrs into th hous of Dagon, do not trad upon th thrshold of th hous of Dagon in Azotus until this day, for thy stp ovr. Th additional txt found in th LXX may hav bn unradabl at som point in tim in th manuscripts which wr usd by th Masorts. Also, this phras is missing from th Syriac and th Latin as wll (as w would xpct). Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: TEV (That is why vn today th prists of Dagon and all his worshiprs in Ashdod stp ovr that plac and do not walk on it.) Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): 12 Thr must b som xtra-biblical xampls of this, as Robrt Goon, I & 2Samul A Commntary; Zondrvan Publishing Hous, Grand Rapids, MI; 1986; pp. 99, 336, cits Campbll, Th Ark, p. 86 and Millr and Robrts Th Hand of th Lo, A Rassssmnt of th Ark Narrativ of 1Samul (Baltimor/London, 1977) p From Robrt Goon, I & 2Samul A Commntary; Zondrvan Publishing Hous, Grand Rapids, MI; 1986; p. 99 who took it from A. F. Campbll, Th Ark Narrativ (SBL Diss. Sris, 16; Missoula, 1975), p. 86.

19 645 Th Book of Samul God s Wo JPS (Tanakh) This is why th prists of Dagon and vryon ls who coms into Dagon s tmpl in Ashdod still don t stp on th tmpl s thrshold. That is why, to this day, th prists of Dagon and all who ntr th tmpl of Dagon do not trad on th thrshold of Dagon in Ashdod. Litral, almost wo-for-wo, rndrings: NASB Young's Updatd LT Thrfor, nithr th prists of Dagon nor all who ntr Dagon s hous trad on th thrshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day....thrfor th prists of Dagon, and all thos coming into th hous of Dagon, trad not on th thrshold of Dagon, in Ashdod, till this day. What is th gist of this vrs? From that point on (at last until th tim that this narrativ was writtn), th prists of Dagon and all of thos who go into Dagon s tmpl do not stp on th thrshold. 1Samul 5:5a al ( ) [pronouncd ahl ] upon, byond, on, against, abov, ovr, by, bsid prposition of proximity Strong s #5921 BDB #752 kên ( ) [pronouncd kan] so or thus advrb Strong's #3651 BDB #485 Togthr, al kên ( - ) man so, upon th ground of such conditions, thrfor, on this account, on account. lô ( or ) [pronouncd low] not, no ngats th wo or action that follows; th absolut ngation Strong s #3808 BDB #518 dârak ( ) [pronouncd daw RAHK ] to march, to trampl, to walk ovr, to walk; to bnd [a bow by stpping on it]; to ntr [a plac by walking] 3 prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct Strong s #1869 BDB #201 kôhên ( ) [pronouncd koh-hane] prist masculin plural Strong's #3548 BDB #463 Dâgôwn ( ) [pronouncd daw- GOHN] corn, grain; his fish [or is simply a translitration] and is translitratd Dagan, Dakan masculin singular propr noun Strong s #1712 BDB #186 w (or v ) ( ) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 kôl ( ) [pronouncd kohl] th whol, all of, th ntirty of, all; can also b rnd any of masculin singular followd by a dfinit articl Strong s #3605 BDB #481 bôw ( ) [pronouncd boh] th on ntring [coming, on going] [in]; h who ntrs [gos, coms (in)] masculin plural, Qal activ participl with th dfinit articl Strong s #935 BDB #97 bayith ( ) [pronouncd BAH-yith] hous, houshold, habitation as wll as inwa masculin singular Strong's #1004 BDB #108

20 1Samul Chaptr Samul 5:5a Dâgôwn ( ) [pronouncd daw- GOHN] corn, grain; his fish [or is simply a translitration] and is translitratd Dagan, Dakan masculin singular propr noun Strong s #1712 BDB #186 al ( ) [pronouncd ahl ] upon, byond, on, against, abov, ovr, by, bsid prposition of proximity Strong s #5921 BDB #752 miph tân ( ) [pronouncd mif-tawn] thrshold masculin singular Strong s #4670 BDB #837 Dâgôwn ( ) [pronouncd daw- GOHN] corn, grain; his fish [or is simply a translitration] and is translitratd Dagan, Dakan masculin singular propr noun Strong s #1712 BDB #186 Translation: Thrfor, th prists of Dagon and all thos ntring th hous of Dagon do not trad on th thrshold of Dagon... This concrnd th Philistins gratly that Dagon s had and hands wr laying on th thrshold of th tmpl; for ths rason, thy would not stp on th thrshold whn ntring into th tmpl. It is somwhat humorous that thy would still go into Dagon s tmpl, and yt avoid th thrshold. This is pur ngativ volition to th truth. 1Samul 5:5b h b ( ) [pronouncd b ] in, into, through; at, by, nar, on, upon; with, bfor, against; by mans of; among; within a prposition of proximity BDB #88 Ash dôwd ( ) - [pronouncd ash-dohd] fortrss, castl (accoing to Barns) and translitratd Ashdod propr noun; location; with th dirctional hê Strong s #795 BDB #78 ad ( ) [pronouncd ahd] as far as, vn to, up to, until prposition Strong s #5704 BDB #723 yôwm ( ) [pronouncd yohm] day; tim; today (with a dfinit articl) masculin singular noun with a dfinit articl Strong s #3117 BDB #398 zh ( ) [pronouncd zh] hr, this, thus dmonstrativ adjctiv with th dfinit articl Strong s #2063, 2088, 2090 BDB #260 Translation:...in Ashdod, vn to this day. Altogthr, this givs us: Thrfor, th prists of Dagon and all thos ntring th hous of Dagon do not trad on th thrshold of Dagon in Ashdod, vn to this day.

21 647 Th Book of Samul This last littl phras, vn to this day, indicats thr things: (1) this portion of Scriptur was writtn (or ditd) 14 somtim aftr th Dagon incidnt and, (2) this rmark was addd, indicating that a considrabl priod of tim had gon by (that is, if an ywitnss wrot this, thn h wrot this particular draft svral yars (or svral dcads) aftr this incidnt occur); and, (3) thr was som way for th writr to confirm this. In othr wos, an Isralit would not hav writtn this chaptr. Or, if an Isralit wrot this, thn it would hav bn basd upon somon ls s ywitnss account. This incidnt, obviously, had a profound affct upon th citiznry of Ashdod for yars to com. Th Ark of Jhovah, for all intnts and purposs, was on a missionary tour. Thr wr som in Philistia who blivd in Jhovah, th God of Isral. Thr wr som who movd to Isral (which w ar infrring) and som who allid thmslvs with Isral (David had 600 mn undr him from Gath any on of thm could hav known about this incidnt, and, in fact, probably most of thm wr vry familiar with it). Th Ark of Jhovah, for all intnts and purposs, was on a missionary tour. Th rfrnc to th thrshold indicats that, in th ancint world, th thrshold was mor than somthing that on stps ovr. Th NIV Study Bibl suggsts that thr was somthing suprnatural about it,.g., spirits dwlt 15 at th thrshold. Goon says to th thrsholds of th tmpls in th ancint world wr normally tratd with rspct, as thy rprsnt th transition from th scular to th rligious; thy mark th boundary dividing sac 16 from profan. In th altrnat, possibly thy blivd gods guad th tmpl at that point and that ths gods had bn ovrpow th Jhovah, making th thrshold itslf a plac of bad luck. Or, vn mor likly, th hands (and possibly had) of thir dity had lain upon th thrshold. For thm to stp upon th thrshold showd him grat disrspct. In my trip to Thailand, I rcall that som of th oldr homs had thrsholds that on must stp ovr; som prhaps 12 inchs high. Th ida was, accoing to thos I spok with, to kp out vil spirits (howvr, who knows; mayb th kpt out varmints as wll). And so was havy a hand of Y howah towa th Ashdodits and so H causd thm to b awstruck and appalld and so H struck thm in tumors, Ashdod and hr bors [or, trritoris]. 1Samul 5:6 So th hand of Y howah was havy against th Ashdodits and H dvastatd thm; H struck thm Ashdod and hr trritoris with tumors. And, in th midst of thir land, rats sprang up and thr was a grat dath panic in 17 th city. So th hand of Jhovah was havy upon th popl of Ashdod. H dvastating thm, striking both Ashdod and hr trritoris with cancrous growths. First, what othrs hav don: Ancint txts: Latin Vulgat And th hand of th Lo was havy upon th Azotians, and h dstroyd thm, and afflictd Azotus and th coasts throf with mrods. And in th villags and filds 14 Th trm oftn usd is action, and it dos not compromis th inspiration of Scriptur. Joshua, for instanc, probably appndd th book of Dutronomy and possibly insrtd svral nots into th writings of Moss. Gnsis was probably writtn by a half-dozn authors (or mor) and put togthr as on book with an occasional commnt. Editing which would not b a problm would b by on who also wrot Scriptur. If I, on th othr hand, chos to add a vrs or two and thn publish this as God s Wo, that would b a problm and what I addd would not b inspi nor would it b God-brathd. 15 Th NIV Study Bibl; 1995 by Th Zondrvan Corporation; p Thy rfrnc Zph. 1:9, which rads: And I will punish on that day all who lap on th thrshold, who fill th hous of thir Lo with violnc and dcit. Barns ss this rfrnc as a confirmation that this tradition was carrid out vn to th tim of Josiah (whn Zphaniah was a propht). Barns Nots; 1Samul to Esthr; F. C. Cook, ditor; rprintd 1996 by Bakr Books; p Robrt Goon, I & 2Samul A Commntary; Zondrvan Publishing Hous, Grand Rapids, MI; 1986; p. 99. This addition is footnotd in th NKJV as from th Sptuagint and th Latin Vulgat and it is not quivalnt to th vrsion which is found in my vrsion of th Sptuagint (which is found blow th vrs).