1 Samuel 6:3

1 Samuel 6:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
• New International Version (NIV)They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you."
• New King James Version (NKJV)So they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but by all means return it to Him with a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”

Context of 1 Samuel 6:3

1The Philistines had the Lord's Covenant Box in their country for seven months. 2Then they called their priests and their magicians to meet with them. The people asked them, ‘What must we do with the Lord's Covenant Box? Tell us how we should send it back to its home.’ The priests and magicians answered, ‘Send the Covenant Box of Israel's God back with a special offering. You must not send it back without anything. Send an offering so that their God will forgive you. Then you will get well again. You will understand why he has continued to punish you.’ 4The people asked, ‘What offering should we send to their God, so that he will forgive us?’ The priests and magicians replied, ‘You must send gold images of five tumours and five mice. You must make five images of each one because the Philistines have five rulers. They have the same disease that all of you have. 5Make images of the tumours and the mice that are destroying everything in the country. Do that to give honour to the God of Israel. Maybe then he will stop punishing you, your gods and your land.

1 Samuel 6:3 word by word

וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ אִֽם־מְשַׁלְּחִ֞ים אֶת־אֲר֨וֹן אֱלֹהֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אַל־תְּשַׁלְּח֤וּ אֹתוֹ֙ רֵיקָ֔ם כִּֽי־הָשֵׁ֥ב תָּשִׁ֛יבוּ ל֖וֹ אָשָׁ֑ם אָ֤ז תֵּרָֽפְאוּ֙ וְנוֹדַ֣ע לָכֶ֔ם לָ֛מָּה לֹא־תָס֥וּר יָד֖וֹ מִכֶּֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And they saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• If ye send awayשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
• the arkאֲרוֹן'ârôn 'ârôn · arkH727
• of the Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• it not emptyרֵיקָםrêyqâm · emptilyH7387
• but in any wiseשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• him a trespass offeringאָשָׁם'âshâm · guilt (offering)H817
• then ye shall be healedרָפָאrâphâ' râphâh · to healH7495
• and it shall be knownיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• to you why his handיָדyâd · hand: powerH3027
• is not removedסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: turn asideH5493

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 6:3

• Exodus 23:15Eat the Feast of Flat Bread every year. For seven days, you must eat bread that you have made without any yeast. I have commanded you to do this. Do it at the right time during the month Abib. It was in that month that you came out of Egypt. Nobody must come to me without an offering.
• Exodus 34:20For a firstborn donkey, you may pay for it with a lamb instead. If you do not pay for it, you must break the donkey's neck. You must pay me back for every firstborn son that you have. Nobody may come to worship me without an offering to give me.
• Deuteronomy 16:16Three times in every year, all your men must go to the place that the Lord your God will choose. They must go there for the Passover festival, the festival of Weeks and the festival of Huts. Each man must bring with him gifts to offer to the Lord.
• Leviticus 5:6He must give a sheep or a goat for a sin offering. Then the Lord will not be angry with him. The priest will kill the animal as a sacrifice to atone for that sin.
• Leviticus 6:6He must bring a sheep to the priest. The sheep must be a perfect male animal. The sheep must be worth the right amount of money.
• Leviticus 7:1These are the rules for a most holy offering. A person may be sorry for the wrong things that he has done. That person must obey these rules.
• 1 Samuel 6:9But continue to watch it carefully. The cows may pull it across our border to Beth Shemesh in Israel. If that happens, we will know that the God of Israel has punished us with this great trouble. But if the cart goes somewhere else, we will know that it was not their God who did this to us. We will know that our disease happened only by chance.’
• 1 Samuel 5:7When the people in Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, ‘The Covenant Box of Israel's God must not stay here with us. He is punishing us and our god Dagon.’
• Job 10:2This is what I will say to God: “Do not say that I am guilty. Tell me what bad things you think I have done.
• Job 34:31Someone could say to God, “I am guilty, and I have received my punishment. But I will not do any more wrong things.

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 6:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Send it not empty - As it appears ye have trespassed against him, send him an offering for this trespass. Why his hand is not removed - The sense is, If you send him a trespass-offering, and ye be cured, then ye shall know why his judgments have not been taken away from you previously to this offering. It is a common opinion, says Calmet, among all people, that although the Supreme Being needs nothing of his creatures, yet he requires that they should…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Send it not empty - See the marginal references. The pagan idea of appeasing the gods with gifts, and the scriptural idea of expressing penitence, allegiance, or love to God, by gifts and offerings to His glory and to the comfort of our fellow worshippers, coincide in the practical result.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3The Philistines probably did not know about Israelite worship rules. A Philistine guilt offering was likely a payment to their god. It was to avoid his anger. This differs from the idea of atonement in Leviticus 16.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-32-3. the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners--The designed restoration of the ark was not, it seems, universally approved of, and many doubts were expressed whether the prevailing pestilence was really a judgment of Heaven. The priests and diviners united all parties by recommending a course which would enable them easily to discriminate the true character of the calamities, and at the same time to propitiate the incensed Deity for any…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Samuel 6:3

• Ark
• Kirjath-Jearim
• Miracles
• Offerings

In the dictionaries

• God
• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Trespass offering
• Along
• David
• Ekron
• Harden

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings