1 Samuel 6:12 BSB — MannaFest

1 Samuel 6:12

And the cows headed straight up the road toward Beth-shemesh, staying on that one highway and lowing as they went, never straying to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed behind them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And the kine took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh.

KJV

And the kine took the straight way to the way of Beth–shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth–shemesh.

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Commentary

5 voices

Justin Martyr

Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter CXXXII (165)

You are aware, then, that when the ark of the testimony was seized by the enemies of Ashdod, and a terrible and incurable malady had broken out among them, they resolved to place it on a cart to which they yoked cows that had recently calved, for the purpose of ascertaining by trial whether or not they had been plagued by God's power on account of the ark, and if God wished it to be taken back to the place from which it had been carried away.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Loving - Testifying at once both their natural and vehement inclination to their calves, and the supernatural power which over-ruled them to a contrary course. The lords went - To prevent all imposture, and to get assurance of the truth of the event. All which circumstances tended to the greater illustration of God's glory.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

They went on lowing for their young ones, by which it appeared that they had not forgotten them, but that nature was sensible of the grievance of going from them; the power of the God of nature therefore appeared so much the greater, in overruling one of the strongest instincts of nature.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Lowing as they went - Calling for their calves. To the right hand or to the left - Some think they were placed where two roads met; one going to Ekron, the other to Beth-shemesh. It is possible that they were put in such circumstances as these for the greater certainty of the affair: to have turned from their own homes, from their calves and known pasture, and to have taken the road to a strange country, must argue supernatural influence.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Beth-shemesh--that is, "house of the sun," now Ain Shems [ROBINSON], a city of priests in Judah, in the southeast border of Dan, lying in a beautiful and extensive valley.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

24 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיִשַּׁ֨רְנָה	va.yi.Shar.nah	and they were straight	H3474 →
הַפָּר֜וֹת	ha.pa.Rot	the cows	H6510 →
בַּדֶּ֗רֶךְ	ba.De.rekh	in the road	H1870 →
עַל־	'al-	on	H5921 →
דֶּ֙רֶךְ֙	de.rekh	[the] road of	H1870 →
בֵּ֣ית	beit	Beth	H1053 →
שֶׁ֔מֶשׁ	She.mesh	Shemesh	H1053 →
בִּמְסִלָּ֣ה	bim.si.Lah	on a highway	H4546 →
אַחַ֗ת	'a.Chat	one	H259 →
הָלְכ֤וּ	ha.le.Khu	they went	H1980 →
הָלֹךְ֙	ha.loKh	continuously <to go>	H1980 →
וְגָע֔וֹ	ve.ga.'O	and lowed	H1600 →
וְלֹא־	ve.lo'-	and not	H3808 →
סָ֖רוּ	Sa.ru	they turned aside	H5493 →
יָמִ֣ין	ya.Min	right [hand]	H3225 →
וּשְׂמֹ֑אול	u.se.Mol	and left [hand]	H8040 →
וְסַרְנֵ֤י	ve.sar.Nei	and [the] rulers of	H5633 →
פְלִשְׁתִּים֙	fe.lish.Tim	[the] Philistines	H6430 →
הֹלְכִ֣ים	ho.le.Khim	[were] going	H1980 →
אַחֲרֵיהֶ֔ם	'a.cha.rei.Hem	after them	H310 →
עַד־	'ad-	to	H5704 →
גְּב֖וּל	ge.Vul	[the] border of	H1366 →
בֵּ֥ית	beit	Beth	H1053 →
שָֽׁמֶשׁ׃	Sha.mesh	Shemesh	H1053 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk3

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Numbers 20:19
“We will stay on the main road,” the Israelites replied, “and if we or our herds drink your water, we will pay for it. There will be no problem; only let us pass through…
leads to
- Deuteronomy 2:28
  You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot,
- Deuteronomy 2:6
  You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”
- Exodus 12:38
  And a mixed multitude also went up with them, along with great droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.

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The Ark and Dagon — 1 Samuel 4–6

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The Ark Is Returned to Beth-shemesh — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

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01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About 1 Samuel

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About 1 Samuel