1 Samuel 5:12
in 1 Samuel 5Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the men that died not were smitten with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
KJV
And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe men that died not - Some it seems were smitten with instant death; others with the haemorrhoids, and there was a universal consternation; and the cry of the city went up to heaven - it was an exceeding great cry. It does not appear that the Philistines had any correct knowledge of the nature of Jehovah, though they seemed to acknowledge his supremacy. They imagined that every country, district, mountain, and valley, had its peculiar deity; who, in its place, was supreme over all others.
This site's exposition
the Ekronites cried out, saying
on 1 Samuel 5:10-12
Ekron receives the ark next, and its people cry out before any plague has touched them, certain of what is coming because they have heard what happened at Ashdod and Gath. The lords assemble a third time and now agree to send the ark home rather than pass it on again, because the destruction has turned deadly through the whole city and the hand of God lies heavy there. Even the men who do not die are struck with the emerods, and the chapter ends on the city's own cry going up to heaven, the clearest confession the Philistines make in the whole account.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 3 · Written before 604.
proposed
13. Concerning the striking of the buttocks indeed, because we spoke of it above, it would not need to be discussed here, if nothing different were said here than was said there. What then is the meaning of what it says: "The men also who had not died were struck"? Were those who had died supposed to be bitten again as punishment for the ark? But also when the cry of the stricken is said to have ascended to heaven, it could be sufficiently shown that this was said of the living, and not of the dead.
And the wailing of each city went up to heaven. And the murmur and impatience and the clamor of Sodom, falsely significant among the faithful, in whichever places, or persons, or certainly senses of the body, which are five for the cities of the Philistines, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But God lets them know that though he does not see fit to draw Israel's sword against them (they were unworthy to be employed), yet God had a sword of his own, with which he could make a no less dreadful execution among them, which if he whet, and his hand take hold on judgment, he will render vengeance to his enemies, Deut. xxxii.
The Psalmist, speaking of this sore judgment upon the Philistines, describes it thus: God smote his enemies in the hinder parts, and put them to a perpetual reproach, Ps. lxxviii. The emerods (which we call the piles, and perhaps it was then a more grievous disease than it is now) is threatened among the judgments that would be the fruit of the curse, Deut. xxviii.
And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the cry of the city went up to heaven--The disease is attended with acute pain, and it is far from being a rare phenomenon in the Philistian plain [VAN DE VELDE].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Deadly upheaval. All upheavals [mentioned in Scripture] are caused by thunder. The following is the origin: "Adonoy thundered with a great noise on that day against the Philistines, making them panic. 3 Below:10. It is so explained in the Aggadah of Thirty-Two Rules of R.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָֽאֲנָשִׁים֙ | vehaanashim | and the men | H582 → | 566 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מֵ֔תוּ | metu | they died | H4191 → | 839 times |
| הֻכּ֖וּ | huku | they were struck | H5221 → | 499 times |
| בַּטְּחֹרִ֑ים | batchorim | with the tumors | H2914 → | 8 times |
| וַתַּ֛עַל | vataal | and it went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| שַֽׁוְעַ֥ת | shavat | [the] cry for help of | H7775 → | |
| הָעִ֖יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃ | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
וְהָֽאֲנָשִׁים֙and the men
vehaanashimH582 →566 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
מֵ֔תוּthey died
metuH4191 →839 times
הֻכּ֖וּthey were struck
hukuH5221 →499 times
בַּטְּחֹרִ֑יםwith the tumors
batchorimH2914 →8 times
וַתַּ֛עַלand it went up
vataalH5927 →890 times
שַֽׁוְעַ֥ת[the] cry for help of
shavatH7775 →
הָעִ֖ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃the heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 9:16“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him leader over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 10:1
Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?
- Exodus 3:7–9
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
- Psalms 106:44
Nevertheless He heard their cry; He took note of their distress.
- Psalms 25:18
Consider my affliction and trouble, and take away all my sins.
- 1 Samuel 15:1
Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.
- 1 Samuel 10:1
Through
Jeremiah 14:2“Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:26
And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
- Jeremiah 8:21
For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.
- Isaiah 3:26
Through
Amos 5:19It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a…
it leads to
- Isaiah 24:17–18
Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth.
- Isaiah 24:17–18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.