1 Samuel 5

¹ Now the Philistines had taken God’s ark, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

² The Philistines took God’s ark, and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.

³ When the people of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the LORD’s ark. They took Dagon and set him in his place again.

⁴ When they arose early on the following morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the LORD’s ark; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso was intact.

⁵ Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

⁶ 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.

⁷ When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us, for his hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god.”

⁸ They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried over to Gath.” They carried the ark of the God of Israel there.

⁹ It was so, that after they had carried it there, the LORD’s hand was against the city with a very great confusion; and he struck the men of the city, both small and great, so that tumors broke out on them.

¹⁰ So they sent God’s ark to Ekron. As God’s ark came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here to us, to kill us and our people.”

¹¹ They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, “Send the ark of the God of Israel away, and let it go again to its own place, that it not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly panic throughout all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there.

¹² The men who didn’t die were struck with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Around 1 Samuel 5

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

1 Samuel 5 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

The Philistines bring God’s ark to Ashdod and set it in the house of their god Dagon, beside his statue. In the morning the people find Dagon fallen on his face before the ark. They set him up again. The next morning he has fallen again, and this time his head and both hands lie cut off on the threshold. Only his torso is left.

Then the LORD’s hand is heavy on Ashdod. The people are struck with tumors. They say the ark of the God of Israel cannot stay with them. The lords of the Philistines send it to Gath, and there too tumors break out on small and great.

So they send it on to Ekron. The Ekronites cry out that the ark has been brought to kill them and their people. They tell the lords to send it back to its own place. The text says there was a deadly panic through the city, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Background

After the defeat in 1 Samuel 4, it might seem the Philistines had won over Israel's God. This chapter says otherwise: the ark goes into the house of Dagon, the Philistines' god, and Dagon falls. The tumors are generally read as a disease, though the text does not say what it was. The ark, lost in battle, does not need Israel to defend it. How the Philistines send it back is told in 1 Samuel 6.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 28 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes