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1 Samuel 6:15

in 1 Samuel 6

And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest containing the gold objects, and they placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the Levites took down the ark of Jehovah, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto Jehovah.

KJV

And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth–shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the Lord.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 6

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
The word “Levites” here probably means priests Exo 4:14, sons of Levi, since Bethshemesh was one of the cities of the priests Jos 21:13-16. The burnt offering of the kine was not in any sense the offering of the men of Bethshemesh, but rather of the Philistine lords to whom the cart and the kine belonged. But the Bethshemites themselves, in token of their gratitude for such a signal mercy, now offered both burnt offerings and sacrifices, probably peace offerings, and doubtless feasted together with great joy and gladness (see 1Ki 8:62-66; Ezr 6:16-17).

This site's exposition

Levites took down the ark

on 1 Samuel 6:15-16

Levites lift the ark and the chest of gold from the cart, since Beth-shemesh is a Levitical city and its own men can do lawfully what the Philistines could not. The five rulers watch the sacrifices and return to Ekron “that same day”, about twelve miles behind them. They came to see whether the plague was the hand of Israel's God, and they leave having seen it.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church3 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

But the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings, etc. Whosoever belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its vices and desires (Gal. V). And elsewhere: I beseech you, he says, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

The Levites, however, laid down the Ark of God, etc. Ministers of the word, receiving faith and examples of the lives of saints from those who have preceded in Christ, did not place these things in some base and lowly earthly breast, but in those …

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 4 · Written before 604.

proposed

26. The Levites are interpreted as "the assumed." Who then are the Levites, except those who are so confirmed by divine grace that they can never be forsaken by the Holy Spirit?

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

And, the case being extraordinary, the law for offering at the altar in the court of the tabernacle was dispensed with, and the more easily because Shiloh was now dismantled; God himself had forsaken it, and the ark, which was its chief glory, they had with them here.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Though they cannot but think the God of Israel glorious in holiness and fearful in praises, yet they are resolved they will think Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, at least as good as he, and to him they will cleave because he is theirs. Notice is taken of the continuance of the great stone in the same place; there it is unto this day (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

2 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The Levites took down - It appears there were some of the tribe of Levi among the people of Beth-shemesh: to them appertained the service of the tabernacle.

The words behind it

27 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְהַלְוִיִּ֞םand the Levites

    vehalviyimH3881 →

  • הוֹרִ֣ידוּ׀they brought down

    horiduH3381 →381 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲר֣וֹן[the] ark of

    ʾaronH727 →202 times

  • יְהוָ֗הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • הָאַרְגַּ֤זthe box

    haargazH712 →3 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • אִתּוֹ֙[was] with it

    ʾitoH854 →929 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • בּ֣וֹ[were] in <the> it

    bo

  • כְלֵֽי־[the] articles of

    khelei-H3627 →325 times

  • זָהָ֔בgold

    zahavH2091 →389 times

  • וַיָּשִׂ֖מוּand they put [them]

    vaiyasimuH7760 →584 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הָאֶ֣בֶןthe stone

    haevenH68 →273 times

  • הַגְּדוֹלָ֑ה<the> large

    hagedolahH1419 →526 times

  • וְאַנְשֵׁ֣יand [the] people of

    veansheiH582 →566 times

  • בֵֽית־Beth

    veit-H1053 →42 times

  • שֶׁ֗מֶשׁShemesh

    shemeshH1053 →42 times

  • הֶעֱל֨וּthey offered up

    heeluH5927 →890 times

  • עֹל֜וֹתburnt offerings

    olotH5930 →287 times

  • וַֽיִּזְבְּח֧וּand they sacrificed

    vaiyizbechuH2076 →134 times

  • זְבָחִ֛יםsacrifices

    zevachimH2077 →162 times

  • בַּיּ֥וֹםon the day

    baiyomH3117 →2304 times

  • הַה֖וּא<the> that

    hahu'H1931 →1879 times

  • לַֽיהוָֽה׃to Yahweh

    layahwehH3068 →6520 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

1 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Joshua 3:3

    and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 31:9

      So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

    • 2 Samuel 6:13

      When those carrying the ark of the LORD had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

    • Exodus 13:21–22

      And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel…

    • Joshua 3:8

      Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.’”

    • Numbers 10:33

      So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a…

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

The Ark Is Returned to Beth-shemesh — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Ark Is Returned to Beth-shemesh — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
1 Samuel: the study guide →Read 1 Samuel 6 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 6 →