1 AND the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod.
2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
6 But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.
7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.
8 They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither.
9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.
11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

1And the Philistines tooke the Arke of God, and brought it from Ebenezer vnto Ashdod.

2When the Philistines tooke the Arke of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

3 And when they of Ashdod arose earely on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen vpon his face to the earth, before the Arke of the Lord: and they tooke Dagon, and set him in his place againe.

4And when they arose earely on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen vpon his face to the ground, before the Arke of the Lord: and the head of Dagon, and both the palmes of his hands were cut off vpon the threshold, only the stumpe of Dagon was left to him.

5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagons house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod vnto this day.

6But the hand of the Lord was heauy vpon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with Emerods, euen Ashdod, and the coastes thereof.

7And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The Arke of the God of Israel shall not abide with vs: for his hand is sore vpon vs, and vpon Dagon our god.

8They sent therefore, and gathered all the lords of the Philistines vnto them, and said, What shall we doe with the Arke of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the Arke of the God of Israel bee caried about vnto Gath. And they caried the Arke of the God of Israel about thither.

9And it was so, that after they had caried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the citie with a very great destruction: and hee smote the men of the citie both small and great, and they had Emerods in their secret parts.

10 Therfore they sent the Arke of God to Ekron: and it came to passe as the Arke of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They haue brought about the Arke of the God of Israel to vs, to slay vs, and our people.

11So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the Arke of the God of Israel, and let it goe againe to his owne place, that it slay vs not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the citie: The hand of God was very heauy there.

12And the men that died not, were smitten with the Emerods: and the cry of the citie went vp to heauen.

I == 1st Sam 4:1 ; 7:12

II == Judg 16:23

 

III == Isa 19:1 ; 46:1-2 , 7

 

 

IV == Jer 50:2 ; Ezek 6:4 , 6 ; Mic 1:7

 

 

 

 

V == Zeph 1:9

 

 

VI == Ex 9:3 ; Deut 28:27 ; 1st Sam 5:7 . 11 ; 6:5 ; Ps 32:4 ; 78:66 ; Acts 13:11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IX == Deut 2:15 ; 1st Sam 5:6 , 11 ; 7:13 ; 12:15 '; Ps 78:66

 

 

 

 

 

 

XI == 1st Sam 5:6 , 9

 

 

 

1 The Philistines, having captured the ark of God, transferred it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

2 They then took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, placing it beside Dagon.

3 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next morning, Dagon was lying prone on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they picked Dagon up and replaced him.

4 But the next morning early, when they arose, Dagon lay prone on the ground before the ark of the LORD, his head and hands broken off and lying on the threshold, his trunk alone intact.

5 For this reason, neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter the temple of Dagon tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this very day; they always step over it.

6 Now the LORD dealt severely with the people of Ashdod. He ravaged and afflicted the city and its vicinity with hemorrhoids; he brought upon the city a great and deadly plague of mice that swarmed in their ships and overran their fields.

7 On seeing how matters stood, the men of Ashdod decided, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for he is handling us and our god Dagon severely."

8 So they summoned all the Philistine lords and inquired of them, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" The men of Gath replied, "Let them move the ark of the God of Israel on to us."

9 So they moved the ark of the God of Israel to Gath! But after it had been brought there, the LORD threw the city into utter turmoil: he afflicted its inhabitants, young and old, and hemorrhoids broke out on them.

10 The ark of God was next sent to Ekron; but as it entered that city, the people there cried out, "Why have they brought the ark of the God of Israel here to kill us and our kindred?"

11 Then they, too, sent a summons to all the Philistine lords and pleaded: "Send away the ark of the God of Israel. Let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our kindred." A deadly panic had seized the whole city, since the hand of God had been very heavy upon it.

12 Those who escaped death were afflicted with hemorrhoids, and the outcry from the city went up to the heavens.

v 1,2. The Philistines originally came from Crete or other Aegean Sea area as early as 2000 BC, Abraham’s time, (Gen. 10:14) with another migration about 1200 BC. From this background, their god, Dagon, was god of the seas, half fish and half man. When they became farmers they added to him the title of god of harvest. They believed they had just captured another god to use, and set the ark beside Dagon.

v 3-5. The first night Dagon had fallen as if in submission to Israel’s God, much to the embarrassment of the Philistines. The next night Dagon was shattered on the threshold with just the fish tail part intact, so Philistines refused to step on the threshold thereafter. Some say threshold may also be translated as the pedestal on which Dagon stood. However, others feel that this superstitious act of the Dagon worshipers is referred to in Zechariah 1:9, where punishment is pronounced on those who leap over the threshold.

v 6-9. Emerods in KJV is here better translated tumors. They  affected all sex amd age. Many suppose these tumors to be painful hemorrhoids, but they are more likely nodules which develop in the groin in connection with bubonic plague. Mice and rats carry bubonic plague, and they were overrun with mice (or rats), 6:5.  Multitudes of people do not die from hemorrhoids, but they do from bubonic plague. The plague was so severe that the people of Ashdod asked what could be done. The leaders couldn’t believe the ark was the cause of the problem so they just had it sent to Gath.

v 10-12. Gath had the same problems so they had it sent to Ekron. The people of Ekron raised such a cry that it was not sent to the remaining two cities of the other two kings. Instead they set up an enormous cry that it be sent back to Israel. It was grievous  to them because all those who didn’t die were suffering from the tumors. The people were correct in thinking that this was the hand of the Lord upon them, but they chose to get rid of the ark rather than get rid of their sins and turn to God.