Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: 1 Samuel 6:4 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
1Sa 6:4	Strong Concordance	Then said [0559] they, What shall be the trespass offering [0817] which we shall return [07725] to him? They answered [0559], Five [02568] golden [02091] emerods [02914] [06076], and five [02568] golden [02091] mice [05909], according to the number [04557] of the lords [05633] of the Philistines [06430]: for one [0259] plague [04046] was on you all, and on your lords [05633].
	King James	Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Five golden emerods--Votive or thank offerings were commonly made by the heathen in prayer for, or gratitude after, deliverance from lingering or dangerous disorders, in the form of metallic (generally silver) models or images of the diseased parts of the body. This is common still in Roman Catholic countries, as well as in the temples of the Hindus and other modern heathen. five golden mice--This animal is supposed by some to be the jerboa or jumping mouse of Syria and Egypt [BOCHART]; by others, to be the short-tailed field mouse, which often swarms in prodigious numbers and commits great ravages in the cultivated fields of Palestine.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Five golden emerods--Votive or thank offerings were commonly made by the heathen in prayer for, or gratitude after, deliverance from lingering or dangerous disorders, in the form of metallic (generally silver) models or images of the diseased parts of the body. This is common still in Roman Catholic countries, as well as in the temples of the Hindus and other modern heathen.

five golden mice--This animal is supposed by some to be the jerboa or jumping mouse of Syria and Egypt [BOCHART]; by others, to be the short-tailed field mouse, which often swarms in prodigious numbers and commits great ravages in the cultivated fields of Palestine.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
It was a prevalent custom in pagan antiquity to make offerings to the gods expressive of the particular mercy received. Thus, those saved from shipwreck offered pictures of the shipwreck, etc., and the custom still exists among Christians in certain countries. The plague of the mice is analogous to that of the frogs in Egypt. The destructive power of field-mice was very great.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The trespass-offering was to correspond to the number of the princes of the Philistines. מספּר is an accusative employed to determine either measure or number (see Ewald, 204, a.), lit., "the number of their princes:" the compensations were to be the same in number as the princes. "Five golden boils, and five golden mice," i.e., according to Sa1 6:5, images resembling their boils, and the field-mice which overran the land; the same gifts, therefore, for them all, "for one plague is to all and to your princes," i.e., the same plague has fallen upon all the people and their princes. The change of person in the two words, לכלּם, "all of them," i.e., the whole nation of the Philistines, and לסרניכם, "your princes," appears very strange to us with our modes of thought and speech, but it is by no means unusual in Hebrew. The selection of this peculiar kind of expiatory present was quite in accordance with a custom, which was not only widely spread among the heathen but was even adopted in the Christian church, viz., that after recovery from an illness, or rescue from any danger or calamity, a representation of the member healed or the danger passed through was placed as an offering in the temple of the deity, to whom the person had prayed for deliverance; (Note: Thus, after a shipwreck, any who escaped presented a tablet to Isis, or Neptune, with the representation of a shipwreck upon it; gladiators offered their weapons, and emancipated slaves their fetters. In some of the nations of antiquity even representations of the private parts, in which a cure had been obtained from the deity, were hung up in the temples in honour of the gods (see Schol. ad Aristoph. Acharn. 243, and other proofs in Winer's Real-wrterbuch, ii. p. 255). Theodoret says, concerning the Christians of the fourth century (Therapeutik. Disp. viii.): Ὅτι δὲ τυγχάνουσιν ὧνπερ αἰτοῦσιν οἱ πιστῶς ἐπαγγέλλοντες ἀναφανδὸν μαρτυρεὶ τὰ τούτων ἀναθήματα, τὴν ἰατρείαν δηλοῦντα, οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὀφθαλμῶν, οἱ δὲ ποδῶν ἄλλοι δὲ χειρῶν προσφέρουσιν ἐκτυπώματα καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐκ χρυσοῦ, οἱ δὲ ἐξ ὕλης ἀργύρου πεποιημένα. Δέχεται γὰρ ὁ τούτων Δεσπότης καὶ τὰ σμικρά τε καὶ εὔωνα, τῇ τοῦ προσφέροντος δυνάμει τὸ δῶρον μετρῶν. Δηλοῖ δὲ ταῦτα προκείμενα τῶν παθημάτων τὴν λύσιν, ἧς ἀνετέθη μνημεῖα παρὰ τῶν ἀρτίων γεγενημένων. And at Rome they still hang up a picture of the danger, from which deliverance had been obtained after a vow, in the church of the saint invoked in the danger.) and it also perfectly agrees with a custom which has prevailed in India, according to Tavernier (Ros. A. u. N. Morgenland iii. p. 77), from time immemorial down to the present day, viz., that when a pilgrim takes a journey to a pagoda to be cured of a disease, he offers to the idol a present either in gold, silver, or copper, according to his ability, of the shape of the diseased or injured member, and then sings a hymn. Such a present passed as a practical acknowledgement that the god had inflicted the suffering or evil. If offered after recovery or deliverance, it was a public expression of thanksgiving. In the case before us, however, in which it was offered before deliverance, the presentation of the images of the things with which they had been chastised was probably a kind of fine or compensation for the fault that had been committed against the Deity, to mitigate His wrath and obtain a deliverance from the evils with which they had been smitten. This is contained in the words, "Give glory unto the God of Israel! peradventure He will lighten His (punishing) hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land." The expression is a pregnant one for "make His heavy hand light and withdraw it," i.e., take away the punishment. In the allusion to the representations of the field-mice, the words "that devastate the land" are added, because in the description given of the plagues in Sa1 5:1-12 the devastation of the land by mice is not expressly mentioned. The introduction of this clause after עכבּריכם, when contrasted with the omission of any such explanation after עפליכם, is a proof that the plague of mice had not been described before, and therefore that the references made to these in the Septuagint at Sa1 5:3, Sa1 5:6, and Sa1 6:1, are nothing more than explanatory glosses. It is a well-known fact that field-mice, with their enormous rate of increase and their great voracity, do extraordinary damage to the fields. In southern lands they sometimes destroy entire harvests in a very short space of time (Aristot. Animal. vi. 37; Plin. h. n. x. c. 65; Strabo, iii. p. 165; Aelian, etc., in Bochart, Hieroz. ii. p. 429, ed. Ros.).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The trespass-offering was to correspond to the number of the princes of the Philistines. מספּר is an accusative employed to determine either measure or number (see Ewald, 204, a.), lit., "the number of their princes:" the compensations were to be the same in number as the princes. "Five golden boils, and five golden mice," i.e., according to Sa1 6:5, images resembling their boils, and the field-mice which overran the land; the same gifts, therefore, for them all, "for one plague is to all and to your princes," i.e., the same plague has fallen upon all the people and their princes. The change of person in the two words, לכלּם, "all of them," i.e., the whole nation of the Philistines, and לסרניכם, "your princes," appears very strange to us with our modes of thought and speech, but it is by no means unusual in Hebrew. The selection of this peculiar kind of expiatory present was quite in accordance with a custom, which was not only widely spread among the heathen but was even adopted in the Christian church, viz., that after recovery from an illness, or rescue from any danger or calamity, a representation of the member healed or the danger passed through was placed as an offering in the temple of the deity, to whom the person had prayed for deliverance;

(Note: Thus, after a shipwreck, any who escaped presented a tablet to Isis, or Neptune, with the representation of a shipwreck upon it; gladiators offered their weapons, and emancipated slaves their fetters. In some of the nations of antiquity even representations of the private parts, in which a cure had been obtained from the deity, were hung up in the temples in honour of the gods (see Schol. ad Aristoph. Acharn. 243, and other proofs in Winer's Real-wrterbuch, ii. p. 255). Theodoret says, concerning the Christians of the fourth century (Therapeutik. Disp. viii.): Ὅτι δὲ τυγχάνουσιν ὧνπερ αἰτοῦσιν οἱ πιστῶς ἐπαγγέλλοντες ἀναφανδὸν μαρτυρεὶ τὰ τούτων ἀναθήματα, τὴν ἰατρείαν δηλοῦντα, οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὀφθαλμῶν, οἱ δὲ ποδῶν ἄλλοι δὲ χειρῶν προσφέρουσιν ἐκτυπώματα καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐκ χρυσοῦ, οἱ δὲ ἐξ ὕλης ἀργύρου πεποιημένα. Δέχεται γὰρ ὁ τούτων Δεσπότης καὶ τὰ σμικρά τε καὶ εὔωνα, τῇ τοῦ προσφέροντος δυνάμει τὸ δῶρον μετρῶν. Δηλοῖ δὲ ταῦτα προκείμενα τῶν παθημάτων τὴν λύσιν, ἧς ἀνετέθη μνημεῖα παρὰ τῶν ἀρτίων γεγενημένων. And at Rome they still hang up a picture of the danger, from which deliverance had been obtained after a vow, in the church of the saint invoked in the danger.)

and it also perfectly agrees with a custom which has prevailed in India, according to Tavernier (Ros. A. u. N. Morgenland iii. p. 77), from time immemorial down to the present day, viz., that when a pilgrim takes a journey to a pagoda to be cured of a disease, he offers to the idol a present either in gold, silver, or copper, according to his ability, of the shape of the diseased or injured member, and then sings a hymn. Such a present passed as a practical acknowledgement that the god had inflicted the suffering or evil. If offered after recovery or deliverance, it was a public expression of thanksgiving. In the case before us, however, in which it was offered before deliverance, the presentation of the images of the things with which they had been chastised was probably a kind of fine or compensation for the fault that had been committed against the Deity, to mitigate His wrath and obtain a deliverance from the evils with which they had been smitten. This is contained in the words, "Give glory unto the God of Israel! peradventure He will lighten His (punishing) hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land." The expression is a pregnant one for "make His heavy hand light and withdraw it," i.e., take away the punishment. In the allusion to the representations of the field-mice, the words "that devastate the land" are added, because in the description given of the plagues in Sa1 5:1-12 the devastation of the land by mice is not expressly mentioned. The introduction of this clause after עכבּריכם, when contrasted with the omission of any such explanation after עפליכם, is a proof that the plague of mice had not been described before, and therefore that the references made to these in the Septuagint at Sa1 5:3, Sa1 5:6, and Sa1 6:1, are nothing more than explanatory glosses. It is a well-known fact that field-mice, with their enormous rate of increase and their great voracity, do extraordinary damage to the fields. In southern lands they sometimes destroy entire harvests in a very short space of time (Aristot. Animal. vi. 37; Plin. h. n. x. c. 65; Strabo, iii. p. 165; Aelian, etc., in Bochart, Hieroz. ii. p. 429, ed. Ros.).

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Emerods - Figures representing the disease. These they offered not in contempt of God, for they fought to gain his favour hereby; but in testimony of their humiliation, that by leaving this monument of their own shame and misery, they might obtain pity from God. Mice - Which marred their land by destroying the fruits thereof; as the other plague afflicted their Bodies.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
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.

Top

¹ And the ark [0727] of the LORD [03068] was in the country [07704] of the Philistines [06430] seven [07651] months [02320].

⁶ But the hand [03027] of the LORD [03068] was heavy [03513] upon them of Ashdod [0796], and he destroyed [08074] them, and smote [05221] them with emerods [02914] [06076], even Ashdod [0795] and the coasts [01366] thereof.

³ And when they of Ashdod [0796] arose early [07925] on the morrow [04283], behold, Dagon [01712] was fallen [05307] upon his face [06440] to the earth [0776] before [06440] the ark [0727] of the LORD [03068]. And they took [03947] Dagon [01712], and set [07725] him in his place [04725] again [07725].

¹ And the Philistines [06430] took [03947] the ark [0727] of God [0430], and brought [0935] it from Ebenezer [072] unto Ashdod [0795].
² When the Philistines [06430] took [03947] the ark [0727] of God [0430], they brought [0935] it into the house [01004] of Dagon [01712], and set [03322] it by [0681] Dagon [01712].
³ And when they of Ashdod [0796] arose early [07925] on the morrow [04283], behold, Dagon [01712] was fallen [05307] upon his face [06440] to the earth [0776] before [06440] the ark [0727] of the LORD [03068]. And they took [03947] Dagon [01712], and set [07725] him in his place [04725] again [07725].
⁴ And when they arose early [07925] on the morrow [04283] morning [01242], behold, Dagon [01712] was fallen [05307] upon his face [06440] to the ground [0776] before [06440] the ark [0727] of the LORD [03068]; and the head [07218] of Dagon [01712] and both [08147] the palms [03709] of his hands [03027] were cut off [03772] upon the threshold [04670]; only the stump of Dagon [01712] was left [07604] to him.
⁵ Therefore neither the priests [03548] of Dagon [01712], nor any that come [0935] into Dagon's [01712] house [01004], tread [01869] on the threshold [04670] of Dagon [01712] in Ashdod [0795] unto this day [03117].
⁶ But the hand [03027] of the LORD [03068] was heavy [03513] upon them of Ashdod [0796], and he destroyed [08074] them, and smote [05221] them with emerods [02914] [06076], even Ashdod [0795] and the coasts [01366] thereof.
⁷ And when the men [0582] of Ashdod [0795] saw [07200] that it was so, they said [0559], The ark [0727] of the God [0430] of Israel [03478] shall not abide [03427] with us: for his hand [03027] is sore [07185] upon us, and upon Dagon [01712] our god [0430].
⁸ They sent [07971] therefore and gathered [0622] all the lords [05633] of the Philistines [06430] unto them, and said [0559], What shall we do [06213] with the ark [0727] of the God [0430] of Israel [03478]? And they answered [0559], Let the ark [0727] of the God [0430] of Israel [03478] be carried about [05437] unto Gath [01661]. And they carried [05437] the ark [0727] of the God [0430] of Israel [03478] about [05437] thither.
⁹ And it was so, that, after [0310] they had carried it about [05437], the hand [03027] of the LORD [03068] was against the city [05892] with a very [03966] great [01419] destruction [04103]: and he smote [05221] the men [0582] of the city [05892], both small [06996] and great [01419], and they had emerods [02914] [06076] in their secret parts [08368].
¹⁰ Therefore they sent [07971] the ark [0727] of God [0430] to Ekron [06138]. And it came to pass, as the ark [0727] of God [0430] came [0935] to Ekron [06138], that the Ekronites [06139] cried out [02199], saying [0559], They have brought about [05437] the ark [0727] of the God [0430] of Israel [03478] to us, to slay [04191] us and our people [05971].
¹¹ So they sent [07971] and gathered together [0622] all the lords [05633] of the Philistines [06430], and said [0559], Send away [07971] the ark [0727] of the God [0430] of Israel [03478], and let it go again [07725] to his own place [04725], that it slay [04191] us not, and our people [05971]: for there was a deadly [04194] destruction [04103] throughout all the city [05892]; the hand [03027] of God [0430] was very [03966] heavy [03513] there.
¹² And the men [0582] that died [04191] not were smitten [05221] with the emerods [02914] [06076]: and the cry [07775] of the city [05892] went up [05927] to heaven [08064].

⁵ Wherefore ye shall make [06213] images [06754] of your emerods [02914] [06076], and images [06754] of your mice [05909] that mar [07843] the land [0776]; and ye shall give [05414] glory [03519] unto the God [0430] of Israel [03478]: peradventure he will lighten [07043] his hand [03027] from off you, and from off your gods [0430], and from off your land [0776].