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1 Samuel 5

ARC · Chapter 5/31

1Os philisteos pois tomaram a arca de Deus, e a trouxeram de Eben-ezer, a Asdod.

2E tomaram os philisteos a arca de Deus, e a metteram na casa de Dagon. e a pozeram junto a Dagon.

3Levantando-se porém de madrugada os d'Asdod, no dia seguinte, eis que Dagon estava caido com o rosto em terra diante da arca do Senhor: e tomaram a Dagon, e tornaram a pôl-o no seu logar.

4E, levantando-se de madrugada no dia seguinte pela manhã, eis que Dagon jazia caido com o rosto em terra diante da arca do Senhor; e a cabeça de Dagon e ambas as palmas das suas mãos cortadas sobre o lumiar; sómente o tronco ficou a Dagon.

5Pelo que nem os sacerdotes de Dagon, nem nenhum de todos os que entram na casa de Dagon pisam o lumiar de Dagon em Asdod, até ao dia d'hoje.

6Porém a mão do Senhor se aggravou sobre os d'Asdod, e os assollou: e os feriu com hemorrhoidas, a Asdod e aos seus termos.

7Vendo então os homens d'Asdod que assim foi, disseram: Não fique comnosco a arca do Deus de Israel; pois a sua mão é dura sobre nós, e sobre Dagon, nosso deus

8Pelo que enviaram e congregaram a si todos os principes dos philisteos, e disseram: Que faremos nós da arca do Deus d'Israel? E responderam: A arca do Deus d'Israel dará volta a Gath. Assim a rodearam com a arca do Deus de Israel.

9E succedeu que, desde que a rodearam com ella, a mão do Senhor veiu contra aquella cidade, com mui grande vexação: pois feriu aos homens d'aquella cidade, desde o pequeno até ao grande: e tinham hemorrhoidas nas partes secretas.

10Então enviaram a arca de Deus a Ekron. Succedeu porém que, vindo a arca de Deus a Ekron, os de Ekron exclamaram, dizendo: Transportaram para mim a arca do Deus de Israel, para me matarem, a mim e ao meu povo.

11E enviaram, e congregaram a todos os principes dos philisteos, e disseram: Enviae a arca do Deus de Israel, e torne para o seu logar, para que não mate nem a mim nem ao meu povo. Porque havia mortal vexação em toda a cidade, e a mão de Deus muito se aggravara ali

12E os homens que não morriam eram tão feridos com hemorrhoidas que o clamor da cidade subia até o céu.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The Philistines place the captured ark in the temple of their god Dagon in Ashdod. Dagon's statue falls and breaks before the ark, and outbreaks of tumors afflict the Philistine cities through which the ark passes.

Explanation

The repeated falling of Dagon's statue, culminating in its head and hands breaking off on the threshold, was a clear public humiliation of the Philistine god before the God of Israel, even on enemy territory and with no Israelite army present to claim the victory. The plagues that followed the ark from city to city among the Philistines (Ashdod, Gath, Ekron) show that God's power did not depend on Israel's military strength—he acted directly to defend his own honor, even while his people were defeated and had no control over the ark. This episode teaches that God does not need our victory to prove his power; he can act independently of human circumstances.

Fun facts

  • The custom mentioned, that Dagon's priests would not step on the threshold of the temple in Ashdod 'to this day' (v.5), suggests the biblical author was writing some time after the event, yet at a time when this custom was still observed and known.
  • Dagon was a deity worshiped throughout the region of Mesopotamia and Canaan, traditionally associated with agriculture and grain—not, as a mistaken popular tradition suggests, a fish-god.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Samuel 5:1Ashdod was one of the five great Philistine cities and home to an important temple dedicated to Dagon — it is no accident that this is where the captured ark is taken first, as a trophy of war.
  2. 1 Samuel 5:2Placing the ark “stood beside” the statue of Dagon was a common gesture in antiquity: the victorious god stood next to the defeated god, as a symbol of the enemy’s religious submission.
  3. 1 Samuel 5:3Finding their own statue fallen face down before the ark of the enemy god was humiliation enough — but the priests still try to reverse the scene, setting the idol back up as if nothing had happened.
  4. 1 Samuel 5:4Dagon was the chief god of the Philistines; finding him fallen and then shattered before the ark, with only his trunk left standing, was a public humiliation of the rival god. That is how the custom arose of not even stepping on the threshold of his temple in Ashdod.
  5. 1 Samuel 5:5“Unto this day” is a formula the narrator uses to explain the origin of a custom still alive in his own time — a common device in the Old Testament for linking present-day traditions to events of the past.
  6. 1 Samuel 5:6The “emerods” mentioned here and in the next chapters were probably painful tumors or swellings — many scholars, because of the mention of mice in the next chapter, link the plague to a rodent-borne epidemic, a kind of ancient pestilence.
  7. 1 Samuel 5:7The Philistines themselves recognize a double defeat: not only do the people of Ashdod suffer physically, but the god Dagon himself has already been humiliated — the ark needs to leave before things get even worse.
  8. 1 Samuel 5:8Instead of returning the ark to Israel right away, the Philistines first try relocating it to another of their own cities — only after the disaster repeats in Gath and Ekron do they consider giving it back for good.
  9. 1 Samuel 5:9The plague in Gath strikes everyone, from the humblest to the most important in the city — showing this was not an isolated stroke of bad luck but a pattern that followed the ark wherever it went.
  10. 1 Samuel 5:10The people of Ekron already know, from the news out of Ashdod and Gath, what the arrival of the ark tends to bring — so they protest immediately, even before any plague begins there.
  11. 1 Samuel 5:11The request is now unanimous among the five Philistine cities: the ark must go back to Israel, the only way to stop the disaster that kept repeating city after city.
  12. 1 Samuel 5:12The chapter’s final image is one of widespread suffering — the cry of the city “went up to heaven,” describing the intensity of the collective pain caused by the plague.

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