---
title: "Clarke"
description: "take away the ark, 21. NOTES ON CHAP. VI Verse 1 Samuel 6:2. The diviners — קסמים kosemim, from קסם kasam, to presage or prognosticate. See Deuteronomy 18"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/1-samuel/6"
---

*take away the ark*, 21.
NOTES ON CHAP. VI

Verse [1 Samuel 6:2](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/2). ***The diviners*** — קסמים *kosemim*, from קסם *kasam*, to *presage* or *prognosticate*. See [Deuteronomy 18:10](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/18/10). In what their pretended art consisted, we know not.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:3](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/3). ***Send it not empty*** — As it appears ye have *trespassed* against him, send him an offering for this trespass.
***Why his hand is not removed*** — The sense is, If you send him a trespass-offering, and ye be cured, then ye shall know why his judgments have not been taken away from you previously to this offering.
It is a common opinion, says *Calmet*, among all people, that although the Supreme Being needs nothing of his creatures, yet he requires that they should consecrate to him all that they have; for the same argument that proves his independence, infinitude, and self-sufficiency, proves our dependence, and the obligation we are under to acknowledge him by offering him due marks of our gratitude and submission. Such sentiments were common among all people; and God himself commands his people not to appear before him without an offering, [Exodus 23:15](../../../kjv/exodus/23/15): *None shall appear before me empty*.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:4](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/4). ***Five golden emerods, and five golden mice*** — *One* for each satrapy. The *emerods* had afflicted their bodies; the *mice* had marred their land. Both, they considered, as sent by God; and, making an image of each, and sending them as a trespass-offering, they acknowledged this. See at the end.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:5](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/5). ***He will lighten his hand from off you*** — The whole land was afflicted; the ground was marred by the *mice*; the common people and the lords afflicted by the *haemorrhoids*, and their gods broken in pieces.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:6](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/6). ***Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts*** — They had heard how God punished the Egyptians, and they are afraid of similar plagues. It appears that they had kept the ark long enough.
***Did they not let the people go*** — And has he not *wrought* *wonderfully among us*? And should we not send back his ark?

Verse [1 Samuel 6:7](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/7). ***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, [2 Samuel 6:3](../../../kjv/2-samuel/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.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:8](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/8). ***The jewels of gold*** — The word קלי *keley*, which our translators so often render *jewels*, signifies *vessels, implements,* *ornaments*, &c. A *jewel of gold* has an odd sound to those who always attach the idea of a *precious stone* to the term.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:9](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/9). ***A chance that happened to us*** — The word מקרה *mikreh*, from קרה *karah*, to *meet* or *coalesce*, signifies an event that naturally arises from such concurring causes as, in the order and nature of things, must produce it.
Thus a bad state of the atmosphere, putrid exhalations, bad diet, occasioned by any general scarcity, might have produced the disease in question; and to something of this kind they would attribute it, if the other evidences did not concur. This gives us the proper notion of *chance*; and shows us that it is a matter as dependent upon the *Divine providence*, as any thing can be: in short, that these *occurrences* are parts of the *Divine government*.
The word *chance*, though often improperly used to signify such an occurrence as is not under the Divine government, is of itself, not only *simple*, but expressive; and has nearly the meaning of the Hebrew word: it comes from the French *cheoir*, or *escheoir, to fall* *out, to occur, to fall to*. Hence our law-term *escheat*, any lands that fall to the lord of the manor by forfeiture, or for want of heirs: i.e., these are the *occurrences* which *naturally* throw the lands into the hands of the lord.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:12](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/12). ***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.
***The lords of the Philistines went after*** — They were so jealous in this business that they would trust no eyes but their own. All this was wisely ordered, that there might be the fullest conviction of the *being* and *interposition* of God.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:14](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/14). ***They clave the wood of the cart*** — Both the *cart* and the *cattle* having been thus employed, could no longer be devoted to any secular services; therefore the *cattle* were *sacrificed*, and the *cart* was *broken up* for fuel to consume the sacrifice.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:15](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/15). ***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.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:17](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/17). ***These*****are*****the golden emerods*** — Each of these cities, in what may be called its *corporate capacity*, sent a golden emerod.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:18](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/18). ***And the golden mice*** — The desolation that had been made through the land by these animals had excited a general concern; and it appears from the text, that all the cities of the Philistines, as well *fended* as without *walls*, sent a golden mouse as a trespass-offering.
**Remaineth*****unto this day*** — Some think the *ark* is intended, which continued on the stone of Abel for some considerable time after it was placed there; and that the memoranda from which this book was afterwards compiled, were made before it was removed: but it is not likely that it remained any time exposed in the open field. Therefore it is most natural to suppose that it is the *stone* of *Abel* which is here intended; and so our translators have understood the place, and have used supplementary words to express this sentiment: "*Which stone remaineth* unto this day."

Verse [1 Samuel 6:19](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/19). ***He smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore**********and ten men*** — The present Hebrew text of this most extraordinary reading stands thus: ויך באנשי בית־שמש - ויך בעם שבעים איש חמשים אלף איש *vaiyach beanshey Beith-shemesh-vaiyach baam shibim ish,* *chamishshim eleph ish*; "And he smote among the men of Beth-shemesh, (because they looked into the ark of Jehovah,) and he smote among the people SEVENTY men, FIFTY THOUSAND *men*."
From the manner in which the text stands, and from the great improbability of the thing, it is most likely that there is a corruption in this text, or that some explanatory word is lost, or that the number *fifty thousand* has been added by ignorance or design; it being very improbable that such a small village as Beth-shemesh should *contain* or be *capable* of *employing fifty* *thousand* and *seventy* men in the fields at wheat harvest, much less that they could all peep into the ark on the stone of Abel, in the corn-field of Joshua.
That the words are not naturally connected in the Hebrew text, is evident; and they do not stand better in the *versions*.
1. The VULGATE renders it thus: - *Et percussit de populo* *SEPTUAGINTA viros; et QUINQUAGINTA MILLA plebis*; "And he smote of the (chief) people SEVENTY men, and FIFTY THOUSAND of the (common) people." This distinction, I suppose, St. Jerome intended between *plebis* and *populus*; which he might think was warranted by the אנשים *anashim*, and איש *ish*, of the Hebrew text.
2. The TARGUM of *Jonathan* is something similar to the *Vulgate*: - "And he smote עמא *besabey amma*, of the *elders* of the people SEVENTY men; ובקהלא *ubekahala*, and of the *congregation* FIFTY THOUSAND men."
3. The SEPTUAGINT follow the Hebrew text: Και επαταξεν εν αυτοις ἑβδομηκοντα ανδρας, και πεντηκοντα χιλιαδας ανδρων; "And he smote of them SEVENTY men; and FIFTY THOUSAND men." εκτουλαου, *of the* *people*, is added by some copies.
4. The SYRIAC has *forty-five thousand* less! It is as follows: [-----Syriac-----] *wamacho Morio beamo chamesho alapin weshabein* *gabrin*; "And the Lord smote among the people FIVE *thousand* and SEVENTY men."
5. The ARABIC is nearly similar: "*And the LORD smote among the* *people*; and *there died of them* [---Arabic---] FIVE *thousand* and SEVENTY men."
We have no other *versions* from which we can receive any farther light.
6. JOSEPHUS is different from all the rest, and has *fifty* *thousand* less, for he renders the place thus, *Antiq. Jud*. libe. vi., cap. i., sect. 4: Θργη δε και χολος του Θεου μετεισιν, ὡστε ἑβδομηκοντα των εκ της Βηθσαμης κωμησ-βαλων απεκτεινεν "But the displeasure and wrath of God pursued them so, that SEVENTY *men* of the village of Beth-shemesh, approaching the ark, which they were not worthy to touch, (not being priests,) were struck with lightning." Here we find the whole *fifty thousand* is *omitted*.
7. *Rabbi Solomon Jarchi*, giving the opinion of other rabbins as well as his own, says, "Our rabbins say SEVENTY *men*, and each of them was worth *fifty thousand* men; or *fifty thousand*, every one of whom was worth the seventy of the Sanhedrin." This only shows embarrassment, but gives very little light.
All these discordances, together with the utter improbability of the thing, lead us to suppose there must be a corruption in this place, either by *adding* or *omitting*.
Dr. *Kennicott* has found *three* very reputable MSS. in which the words חמשים אלף איש *chamishshim eleph ish, fifty thousand men*, are wanting. The 1st, No. 84, a MS. from *Holland*; the 2d, No. 210, one of the *Parisian* MSS.; the 3d, No. 418, a MS. belonging to *Milan*; all three written about the beginning of the *twelfth* century, and numbered as above in Dr. K's Bible.
Perhaps the omission in these MSS. was occasioned by a mistake of the transcriber, which might have easily happened, because of the word איש *ish*, which occurs both after שבעים *shibim* and after אלף *eleph*; for, having written the *first*, and taking his eye off, when he recommenced he might have supposed he had written the latter, and so proceed, leaving the words in question out of his copy. *Two, three*, or *more* persons might have been thus deceived, and so produce the above MSS.; or the mistake once made, all the MSS. copied from that would show the same omission. The common reading may be defended, if we only suppose the *omission* of a single letter, the particle of *comparison* כ ke, like, as, or equal to, before the word חמשים *chamishshim*: thus כחמשים *kechamishshim*; the passage would then read: "And he smote of the people SEVENTY men, *equal to* FIFTY THOUSAND men;" that is, they were the *elders* or *governors* of the people.
Some solve the difficulty by translating, "He slew SEVENTY men OUT OF *fifty thousand* men." There are various *other* methods invented by learned men to remove this difficulty, which I shall not stop to examine; all, however, issue in this point, that only SEVENTY MEN were slain; and this is, without doubt the most probable. The FIFTY THOUSAND, therefore, must be an *interpolation*, or be understood in some such way as that mentioned above. But the omission of the particle of *similitude* solves every difficulty; and this would account for the reading in *Josephus*, who in his recital would naturally leave out such an explanation of the *worth* of the *seventy* men, as his Roman readers could not easily comprehend such *comparisons*.
***With a great slaughter.*** — Seventy men slain, out of an inconsiderable village in a harvest day, was certainly a *great* *slaughter*.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:20](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/20). ***Who is able to stand*** — Why this exclamation? They knew that God had forbidden any to touch his ark but the priests and Levites; but they endeavoured to throw that blame on God, as a Being *hard to be pleased*, which belonged solely to themselves.

Verse [1 Samuel 6:21](../../../kjv/1-samuel/6/21). ***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, c. 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, c., 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: -
*Virgil* refers to this custom, Eclogue viii., ver. 80, where he represents a person making two images or *telesms*, one of *wax*, another of *clay*, which were to represent an absent person, who was to be alternately *softened* or *hardened*, as the *wax* or *clay* image was exposed to the fire: -
This thought is borrowed from *Theocritus*, Idyl. ii., ver. 28.
A beautiful marble figure of *Osiris*, about four inches and a quarter high, now stands before me, entirely covered with *hieroglyphics*; he is *standing*, and holds in each hand a *scorpion* and a *snake* by the tails, and with each foot he stands on the neck of a *crocodile*. This I have no doubt was a *telesm*, formed under some peculiar *configuration* of the heavens, intended to drive away both scorpions and crocodiles. This image is of the highest antiquity, and was formed probably long before the Christian era.
*Tavernier* observes that something like what is mentioned in the text is practiced among the Indians; for when a pilgrim goes to one of the idol temples for a cure, he brings the *figure* of the *member* affected, made either of *gold, silver*, or *copper*, according to his circumstances, which he offers to his god. This custom was common among the heathens, and they consecrated to their gods the *monuments* of their deliverance. From heathenism it was adopted by *corrupt Christianity*; and *Theodoret* informs us that in his time there might be seen about the tombs of the martyrs figures of *eyes, hands, feet*, and other parts of the body, which represented those of the offerers which they supposed had been healed by the intercession of those holy persons! This degrading superstition is continued among the papists to the present day: I have seen at *St. Winifred's well*, in *Holywell*, Flintshire several *staves, crutches*, and *handbarrows*, hung up in different places, which were reported to be the votive offerings of the maimed, the halt, the withered, c., who had received their cure by the virtue of the saint! It is true the crutches are such as no man or woman could ever walk with and the *barrows* are such as most evidently never carried any human being. But they serve the purpose of superstition, and keep up an idolatrous reverence for the well and the legendary virgin.
After all, I need not say that the system of judicial astrology is vain, unfounded, absurd, and wicked. It in effect presumes to take the government of the world out of the hand of an all-wise God, and to abandon it to the most fortuitous and unconnected occurrences of life; for the stars have their influences according to this pretended science, conformably to the occurrences here below: e.g., if a child be born but one hour sooner or later than a particular configuration of the heavens, his destiny will be widely different from what it otherwise would have been; and as an almost infinite number of casualties may accelerate or retard a birth, consequently the whole destiny of man is influenced and ruled by these casualties: to say nothing of the absurdity, that those omnipotent stars ever can affect the infant while invested with a thin covering of flesh in the womb of its parent. But the whole science is a tissue of absurdities.

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