1 Samuel 6:21
in 1 Samuel 6So they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up with you.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought back the ark of Jehovah; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.
KJV
And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath–jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 6
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Kirjath-jearim - See Jos 9:17 note. It has been thought that there was a high place at Kirjath-jearim (the hill, 1Sa 7:1), the remnant of its old pagan sanctity when it was called Kirjath-Baal, “the city of Baal” (see Jos 18:14; 2Sa 6:2); and that for this reason it was selected as a proper place to send the ark to.
This site's exposition
Who can stand in the presence of the LORD
on 1 Samuel 6:20-21
The men of Beth-shemesh ask “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God”, and then send the ark away without examining their own trespass. They summon the people of Kiriath-jearim, where the ark rests for years on the road from Shiloh's fall to David. Clarke reads their question as blame laid on the ark's severity, the same instinct that first sent it away from Ashdod.
This site's exposition
So they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath-jearim
Beth-shemesh passes the ark to Kiriath-jearim. Adam Clarke held it probable that the Philistines had destroyed Shiloh after Israel's defeat, for the ark never went back there. Matthew Henry saw the ark passed from town to town with no public care, a sign that Israel had no king.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistCommentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 4 · Written before 604.
proposed
32. Kiriath-jearim is called their city. What is the city of the saints, if not that Jerusalem which is above? Who then are its inhabitants, if not perfect men separated from the love of the world by their lofty manner of life? Of whom indeed one, more effective than the rest, says: "Our conversation is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). To these, of course, messengers must be sent to receive the ark of God: because for the election of priests, holy men must not only be received but also invited.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It lay in the way from Beth-shemesh to Shiloh, so that when they sent to them to fetch it, we may suppose, they intended that the elders of Shiloh should fetch it thence, but God intended otherwise. Thus was it sent from town to town, and no care taken of it by the public, a sign that there was no king in Israel.
And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim,....
In the field of the Philistines (so it is in the original), from which some gather that, having tried it in all their cities, and found it a plague to the inhabitants of each, at length they sent it into the open fields, upon which mice sprang up out of the ground in great multitudes, and destroyed the corn which was now nearly ripe and marred the land.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Kirjath-jearim--"the city of woods," also called Kirjath-baal (Jos 15:60; This was the nearest town to Beth-shemesh; and being a place of strength, it was a more fitting place for the residence of the ark.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Kirjath-jearim--"the city of woods," also called Kirjath-baal (Jos 15:60; This was the nearest town to Beth-shemesh; and being a place of strength, it was a more fitting place for the residence of the ark.
To the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim - They wished the ark away out of their village, but why they sent to this city instead of sending to Shiloh, does not appear: probably Shiloh had been destroyed by the Philistines, after the late defeat of Israel. This is most likely, as the ark was never more taken back to that place. It was a very ancient usage, when a plague or other calamity infested a country, city, etc. for the magicians to form an image of the destroyer, or of the things on which the plague particularly rested, in gold, silver, ivory, wax, clay, etc., under certain configurations of the heavens; and to set this up in some proper place, that the evils thus represented might be driven away. These consecrated images were the same that are called talismans, or rather telesms, among the Asiatics. Mr. Locke calls the diviners talismans, but this is a mistake; the image, not the fabricator, was called by this name. I have seen several of these talismans, of different countries; and such images were probably the origin of all the forms of gods which, in after times, were the objects of religious worship. It is well known that Ireland is not infested with any venomous creature; no serpent of any kind is found in it: - “No poison there infects, no scaly snake Lurks in the grass, nor toads annoy the lake.” This has been attributed to a telesm, formed with certain rites under the sign Scorpio. Such opinions have been drawn from very ancient pagan sources: e.g.: A stone engraved with the figure of a scorpion, while the moon is in the sign Scorpio, is said to cure those who are stung by this animal. Apollonius Tyaneus is said to have prevented flies from infesting Antioch, and storks from appearing in Byzantium, by figures of those animals formed under certain constellations. […]
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיִּשְׁלְחוּ֙ | vaiyishlechu | and they sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| מַלְאָכִ֔ים | malakhim | messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יוֹשְׁבֵ֥י | yoshevei | [the] inhabitants of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| קִרְיַת־ | kiryat- | Kiriath | H7157 → | 39 times |
| יְעָרִ֖ים | yearim | Jearim | H7157 → | 39 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הֵשִׁ֤בוּ | heshivu | they have brought back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| פְלִשְׁתִּים֙ | felishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲר֣וֹן | ʾaron | [the] ark of | H727 → | 202 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| רְד֕וּ | redu | come down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| הַעֲל֥וּ | haalu | take up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אֹת֖וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲלֵיכֶֽם׃ | ʾaleikhem | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
וַֽיִּשְׁלְחוּ֙and they sent
vaiyishlechuH7971 →845 times
מַלְאָכִ֔יםmessengers
malakhimH4397 →213 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יוֹשְׁבֵ֥י[the] inhabitants of
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
קִרְיַת־Kiriath
kiryat-H7157 →39 times
יְעָרִ֖יםJearim
yearimH7157 →39 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הֵשִׁ֤בוּthey have brought back
heshivuH7725 →1056 times
פְלִשְׁתִּים֙[the] Philistines
felishtimH6430 →287 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֲר֣וֹן[the] ark of
ʾaronH727 →202 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
רְד֕וּcome down
reduH3381 →381 times
הַעֲל֥וּtake up
haaluH5927 →890 times
אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
אֲלֵיכֶֽם׃to you
ʾaleikhemH413 →5510 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
Psalms 78:60He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.
it leads to
- Joshua 18:1
Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,
- Jeremiah 26:6–9
then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’”
- 1 Samuel 4:4–11
So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni…
- Jeremiah 7:12–14
But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
- Joshua 18:1
Through
Judges 18:12They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called Mahaneh-dan to this day.
it leads to
- Joshua 15:60
Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah—two cities, along with their villages.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 13:5–6
So David assembled all Israel, from the River Shihor in Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 13:25
And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
- Joshua 15:60
Through
Joshua 18:14On the west side the border curved southward from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south and came out at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the…
it leads to
- Joshua 15:9
From the hilltop the border curved to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, proceeded to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then bent around toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim).
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 15:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 4; 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.