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1 Samuel 6:7

in 1 Samuel 6

Now, therefore, prepare one new cart with two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Now therefore take and prepare you a new cart, and two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke; and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them;

KJV

Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:

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This verse in 1 Samuel 6

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
A new cart ... kine on which there hath come no yoke - This was so ordered in reverence to the ark, and was a right and true feeling. See Mar 11:2; Mat 27:60. For the supposed special virtue of new things, see Jdg 16:7, Jdg 16:11.

This site's exposition

prepare one new cart with two milk cows

on 1 Samuel 6:7-9

The priests' test is “one new cart with two milk cows that have never been yoked”. Cows fresh from calving would by instinct turn back for their young, so a straight road to Beth-shemesh would show “it is the LORD who has brought on us this great disaster”. Numbers 4 and 7 had assigned the ark to Kohathite shoulders, and David will later copy this cart before learning that law.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

Now, therefore, seize and make a new cart, etc. Now, they say, hasten, and either in your hearts or in the hearts of your brethren, putting off the old man with his deeds, put on the new one, which is created according to God in …

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

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

proposed

9. For what is designated by the name of the cart, if not either the whole holy Church together, or the individual soul of each faithful person? The wheels of this cart are indeed the two Testaments. For while the holy Church, or any chosen mind instructed through the Old and New Testament, presses onward toward eternal life, it is carried aloft to its appointed place as if upon lofty wheels set before it.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Milch kine, &c. - In respect to the ark; and for the better discovery, because such untamed heifers are apt to wander, and keep no certain and constant paths, as oxen accustomed to the yoke do, and therefore were most unlikely to keep the direct road to Israel's land.
Now therefore make a new cart,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The church is built upon a rock. They offered the sacrifices of thanksgiving to God, some think upon the great stone, more probably upon an altar of earth made for the purpose,
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Make a new cart - It was indecent and improper to employ in any part of the worship of God any thing that had before served for a common purpose. Every thing in the worship of God is said to be sanctified: now the general meaning of that word is, to separate a thing from all earthly and common uses, and devote it solely to the service of God. When David removed the ark from the house of Abinadab, he put it on a new cart, 2Sa 6:3. Bring their calves home from them - So it appears that their calves had been with them in the fields. This was a complete trial: unless they were supernaturally influenced, they would not leave their calves; unless supernaturally directed, they would not leave their home, and take a way unguided, which they had never gone before.

The words behind it

22 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.

  • וְעַתָּ֗הand therefore

    veatahH6258 →433 times

  • קְח֨וּtake

    kechuH3947 →966 times

  • וַעֲשׂ֜וּand make

    vaasuH6213 →2628 times

  • עֲגָלָ֤הa cart

    ʾagalahH5699 →25 times

  • חֲדָשָׁה֙new

    chadashahH2319 →

  • אֶחָ֔תone

    ʾechatH259 →971 times

  • וּשְׁתֵּ֤יand two

    usheteiH8147 →768 times

  • פָרוֹת֙cows

    farotH6510 →26 times

  • עָל֔וֹתnursing

    alotH5763 →

  • אֲשֶׁ֛רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • עָלָ֥הit has gone up

    ʾalahH5927 →890 times

  • עֲלֵיהֶ֖םon them

    ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times

  • עֹ֑לa yoke

    ʾolH5923 →

  • וַאֲסַרְתֶּ֤םand you will harness

    vaasartemH631 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַפָּרוֹת֙the cows

    haparotH6510 →26 times

  • בָּעֲגָלָ֔הon the cart

    baagalahH5699 →25 times

  • וַהֲשֵׁיבֹתֶ֧םand you will take back

    vahasheivotemH7725 →1056 times

  • בְּנֵיהֶ֛םyoung ones their

    beneihemH1121 →4930 times

  • מֵאַחֲרֵיהֶ֖םfrom after them

    meachareihemH310 →715 times

  • הַבָּֽיְתָה׃the house towards

    habayetahH1004 →2046 times

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

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Samuel 6:3They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart,6 worksNumbers 19:2“This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.5 works1 Chronicles 13:7So they carried the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding the cart.2 works1 Kings 18:44On the seventh time the servant reported, “There is a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea.” And Elijah replied, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”1 works

The walk

8 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

    Numbers 19:2

    “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 21:3

      Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work,

    • Leviticus 22:20–25

      You must not present anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.

    • 1 Peter 1:19

      but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

    • Philippians 2:6–8

      Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

    • Malachi 1:13–14

      You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the LORD of Hosts. “You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from…

  • Through

    1 Chronicles 13:7

    So they carried the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding the cart.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 4:15

      When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they…

    • 1 Chronicles 15:2

      Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before Him forever.”

  • Through

    2 Samuel 6:3

    They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new…

    it leads to

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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 6 →