1 Samuel 5 · Verse 6

1 Samuel 5:6

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.

1 Samuel 5:6, King James Version

1 Samuel 5:6 in other translations

BSB	Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity, ravaging them and afflicting them with tumors.
WEB	But the LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders.
ASV	But the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with tumors, even Ashdod and the borders thereof.
YLT	And the hand of Jehovah is heavy on the Ashdodites, and He maketh them desolate, and smiteth them with emerods, Ashdod and its borders.
DARBY	And the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he laid them waste, and smote them with hemorrhoids, — Ashdod and its borders.
BBE	But the hand of the Lord was hard on the people of Ashdod and he sent disease on them through all the country of Ashdod.
Webster	But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod, and its borders.

What does 1 Samuel 5:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

6. the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod--The presumption of the Ashdodites was punished by a severe judgment that overtook them in the form of a pestilence. smote them with emerods--bleeding piles, hemorrhoids (Psa 78:66), in a very aggravated form. As the heathens generally regarded diseases affecting the secret parts of the body as punishments from the gods for trespasses committed against themselves, the Ashdodites would be the more ready to look upon the prevailing epidemic as demonstrating the anger of God, already shown against their idol.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 6 Smote them with emerods - The word עפלים apholim, from עפל aphal, to be elevated, probably means the disease called the bleeding piles, which appears to have been accompanied with dysentery, bloody flux, and ulcerated anus. The Vulgate says, Et percussit in secretiori parte natium; "And he smote them in the more secret parts of their posteriors." To this the psalmist is supposed to refer, Psa 78:66, He smote all his enemies in the Hinder Parts; he put them to a perpetual reproach. Some copies of the Septuagint have εξεζεσεν αυτοις εις τας ναυς, "he inflamed them in their ships:" other copies have εις τας ἑδρας, "in their posteriors." The Syriac is the same. The Arabic enlarges: "He smote them in their posteriors, so that they were affected with a dysenteria." I suppose them to have been affected with enlargements of the haemorrhoidal veins, from which there came frequent discharges of blood. The Septuagint and Vulgate make a very material addition to this verse: Και μεσον της χωρας αυτης ανεφυεσιν μυες· και εγενετο συγχυσις θανατου μεγαλη εν τη πολει; Et ebullierunt villae et agri in medio regionis illius; et nati sunt mures, et facta est confusio mortis magnae in civitate: "And the cities and fields of all that region burst up, and mice were produced, and there was the confusion of a great death in the city." This addition Houbigant contends was originally in the Hebrew text; and this gives us the reason why golden mice were sent, as well as the images of the emerods, (1Sam 6:4), when the ark was restored.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel 5:6-12

The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Philistines; he not only convinced them of their folly, but severely chastised their insolence. Yet they would not renounce Dagon; and instead of seeking God's mercy, they desired to get clear of his ark. Carnal hearts, when they smart under the judgments of God, would rather, if it were possible, put him far from them, than enter into covenant or communion with him, and seek him for their friend. But their devices to escape the Divine judgments only increase them. Those that fight against God will soon have enough of it.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

1 Samuel 5:6 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַתִּכְבַּ֧דva.tikh.Badand it was heavyH3513

יַד\־yad-[the] hand ofH3027

יְהוָ֛הYah.wehYahwehH3068

אֶל\־'el-againstH413

הָאַשְׁדּוֹדִ֖יםha.'ash.do.Dimthe AshdoditesH796

וַיְשִׁמֵּ֑םvay.shi.Memand he devastated themH8074

וַיַּ֤ךְvai.Yakhand he struckH5221

אֹתָם֙'o.Tam<obj.> themH853

בַּטְּחֹרִ֔יםbat.cho.Rimwith <the> tumorsH2914

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

אַשְׁדּ֖וֹד'ash.DodAshdodH795

וְאֶת\־ve.'Etand <obj.>H853

גְּבוּלֶֽיהָ\׃ge.vu.Lei.haterritories itsH1366

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Samuel 5:6

1 Samuel 5:11
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.
Psalms 32:4
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
Acts 13:11
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
Deuteronomy 28:27
The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
Exodus 9:3
Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.
1 Samuel 5:7
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.
Psalms 78:66
And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.
1 Samuel 6:4-5
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. Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.
Job 31:3
Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
1 Samuel 5:9
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.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

the hand.
7,11; Ex 9:3; Ps 32:4; Ac 13:11
emerods.
9,11; 6:5; De 28:27; Job 31:3; Ps 78:66
thereof.The LXX. and Vulgate add: [Kai meson tés choras autés anephyésan myes kai egeneto synchysis thanatou megalé en té polei; {Et ebullierunt villæ et agri in medio regionis illius, et nati sunt mures; et facta est confusio mortis magnæ in civitate; "And [the cities and fields in Vulg.] the midst of that region produced mice; [Vulg. burst up, and mice were produced;] and there was the confusion of a great death in the city."
6:4,5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

1 Samuel 5:5
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.
1 Samuel 5:6
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.
1 Samuel 5:7
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.

Read all of 1 Samuel 5

1 Samuel 5:6 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Empero agravóse la mano de Jehová sobre los de Asdod, y destruyólos, é hiriólos con hemorroides en Asdod y en todos sus términos.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et la main de l’ Éternel s’appesantit sur les Asdodiens, et il les désola; et il frappa d’hémorroïdes Asdod et ses confins.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und die Hand Jehovas lag schwer auf den Asdoditern, und er verwüstete sie; und er schlug sie mit Beulen, Asdod und sein Gebiet.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Aggravata est autem manus Domini super Azotios, et demolitus est eos: et percussit in secretiori parte natium Azotum, et fines ejus. Et ebullierunt villæ et agri in medio regionis illius, et nati sunt mures et facta est confusio mortis magnæ in civitate.