1 Samuel 5:6–5:9, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
1 Samuel 5:6–5:9
Affliction drives the ark from Ashdod to Gath
Ashdod is struck, and the ark is moved rather than faced
The hand of the LORD is heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroys them and smites them with emerods, the older English for painful swellings or tumors. It is not a joke, not a confident medical diagnosis, and not an invitation to crude humor about bodies. They say the ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with them, for his hand is sore upon them and upon Dagon their god.
Gath receives the transfer, and the crisis intensifies
The lords gather and decide to let the ark be carried about unto Gath. They carry it there, and the hand of the LORD is against the city with a very great destruction. He smites the men of the city, small and great, and they have emerods in their secret parts.
Disease, rodents, mortality, and textual forms remain debated. Exact diagnosis is not available from the narrative. The affliction does not justify delight in civilian suffering, ethnic stigma, or treating ancient Philistines as a people one is allowed to enjoy seeing hurt.
How this should shape us
Refuse entertainment in someone else's sores. Do not diagnose an ancient plague from a pew, and do not use this chapter to stain a living group.
Teach it back
Explain 1 Samuel 5:6–5:9 in your own words, including its movement, one source-controlled detail, one uncertainty, one affected person, and one misuse the context rules out.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful readers disagree?
Best judgment: The disease, rodents, mortality, and textual forms remain debated; exact medical diagnosis is not possible from the narrative.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
1 Samuel 5:6–5:9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology, with the two KJV-Hebrew versification shifts stated rather than silently offset.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Sam.xml, OSIS 5:6–5:9; KJV 20:42 spans Hebrew 20:42–21:1, KJV 21:1–15 maps to Hebrew 21:2–16, KJV 23:29 maps to Hebrew 24:1, and KJV 24:1–22 maps to Hebrew 24:2–23
Supports: Only the translator notes actually printed for these verses, used for lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and older-English controls.
NET Bible First Edition Notes, 1 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 504–543, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 5:6–5:9
Supports: One relatively early integrated/two-edition account of composition, structure, and historiographic value, retained as a contested model.
Garsiel, JHS 10.5 (2010), pp. 1–42, named structural or composition discussion covering the movement that includes 1 Samuel 5:6–5:9
Supports: Only the publisher-visible book architecture and theological scope; the paywalled body is not treated as inspected.
Goldingay, The Theology of the Book of Samuel (2024), official frontmatter and TOC: 1 Samuel 4:1b–12:25, pp. 50–76
Supports: One literary, ethical, and political account of divine and human violence; publisher-visible scope does not establish consensus.
Gilmour, Divine Violence in the Book of Samuel (2021/2022), official abstract and TOC: relevant discussion for 1 Samuel 5:6–5:9, including 1 Samuel 12 pp. 71–81, Saul's rejection pp. 90–139, Eli's house pp. 140–150, or ark violence pp. 154–185 as applicable
Supports: Philology and historical comparison for the ban, used without normalizing violence or proving dependence.
Stern, The Biblical Herem (open digital edition, 2020), philology pp. 5–18, ancient comparisons pp. 19–88, Samuel–Kings and 1 Samuel 15 pp. 165–188, conclusion pp. 217–226
Supports: One intersectional reading of constructed and unstable ethnicity; modern categories are not treated as exact ancient identities.
Millar, 'Species and Ethnicity in 1 Samuel 15,' Bible and Critical Theory 19.1–2 (2023), pp. 1–22, especially pp. 1–4
Supports: Reception and ethical evidence about dangerous modern Amalek mappings, never historical identification or permission for violence.
Jacobs, 'Rethinking Amalek in This 21st Century,' Religions 8.9 (2017), article 196, numbered sections and paragraphs
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
Exact location: 1 Samuel 5:6–5:9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology, with the two KJV-Hebrew versification shifts stated rather than silently offset.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Sam.xml, OSIS 5:6–5:9; KJV 20:42 spans Hebrew 20:42–21:1, KJV 21:1–15 maps to Hebrew 21:2–16, KJV 23:29 maps to Hebrew 24:1, and KJV 24:1–22 maps to Hebrew 24:2–23
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: 1 Samuel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only the translator notes actually printed for these verses, used for lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and older-English controls.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Notes, 1 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 504–543, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 5:6–5:9
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access scholarly article
The Book of Samuel: Its Composition, Structure and Significance as a Historiographical Source
Moshe Garsiel
The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 10.5, 2010
Supports: One relatively early integrated/two-edition account of composition, structure, and historiographic value, retained as a contested model.
Exact location: Garsiel, JHS 10.5 (2010), pp. 1–42, named structural or composition discussion covering the movement that includes 1 Samuel 5:6–5:9
Open source ↗scholarly monograph frontmatter and table of contents
The Theology of the Book of Samuel
John Goldingay
Cambridge University Press, 2024
Supports: Only the publisher-visible book architecture and theological scope; the paywalled body is not treated as inspected.
Exact location: Goldingay, The Theology of the Book of Samuel (2024), official frontmatter and TOC: 1 Samuel 4:1b–12:25, pp. 50–76
Open source ↗scholarly monograph abstract and contents
Divine Violence in the Book of Samuel
Rachelle Gilmour
Oxford University Press, 2021 online; 2022 print
Supports: One literary, ethical, and political account of divine and human violence; publisher-visible scope does not establish consensus.
Exact location: Gilmour, Divine Violence in the Book of Samuel (2021/2022), official abstract and TOC: relevant discussion for 1 Samuel 5:6–5:9, including 1 Samuel 12 pp. 71–81, Saul's rejection pp. 90–139, Eli's house pp. 140–150, or ark violence pp. 154–185 as applicable
Open source ↗open access scholarly monograph
The Biblical Herem
Philip D. Stern
Brown Judaic Studies, 2020 digital edition
Supports: Philology and historical comparison for the ban, used without normalizing violence or proving dependence.
Exact location: Stern, The Biblical Herem (open digital edition, 2020), philology pp. 5–18, ancient comparisons pp. 19–88, Samuel–Kings and 1 Samuel 15 pp. 165–188, conclusion pp. 217–226
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access scholarly article
Species and Ethnicity in 1 Samuel 15
Suzanna Millar
Bible and Critical Theory 19.1-2, 2023
Supports: One intersectional reading of constructed and unstable ethnicity; modern categories are not treated as exact ancient identities.
Exact location: Millar, 'Species and Ethnicity in 1 Samuel 15,' Bible and Critical Theory 19.1–2 (2023), pp. 1–22, especially pp. 1–4
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access reception and ethics article
Rethinking Amalek in This 21st Century
Steven Leonard Jacobs
Religions 8.9, article 196, 2017
Supports: Reception and ethical evidence about dangerous modern Amalek mappings, never historical identification or permission for violence.
Exact location: Jacobs, 'Rethinking Amalek in This 21st Century,' Religions 8.9 (2017), article 196, numbered sections and paragraphs
Open source ↗