1 Samuel 6:1
New International Version
When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months,

New Living Translation
The Ark of the LORD remained in Philistine territory seven months in all.

English Standard Version
The ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

Berean Standard Bible
When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines seven months,

King James Bible
And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

New King James Version
Now the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

New American Standard Bible
Now the ark of the LORD had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months.

NASB 1995
Now the ark of the LORD had been in the country of the Philistines seven months.

NASB 1977
Now the ark of the LORD had been in the country of the Philistines seven months.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the fields of the Philistines seven months.

Amplified Bible
Now the ark of the LORD had been in the country of the Philistines for seven months.

Christian Standard Bible
When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory for seven months,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months,

American Standard Version
And the ark of Jehovah was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

Contemporary English Version
After the sacred chest had been in Philistia for seven months,

English Revised Version
And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months

Good News Translation
After the LORD's Covenant Box had been in Philistia for seven months,

International Standard Version
The Ark of the LORD remained in Philistine territory for seven months.

Majority Standard Bible
When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines seven months,

NET Bible
When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months,

New Heart English Bible
The ark was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

World English Bible
Yahweh’s ark was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And the Ark of YHWH is in the field of the Philistines [for] seven months,

Young's Literal Translation
And the ark of Jehovah is in the field of the Philistines seven months,

Smith's Literal Translation
And the ark of Jehovah will be in the field of Philisteim seven months.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Now the ark of God was in the land of the Philistines seven months.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Now the ark of the Lord was in the region of the Philistines for seven months.

New American Bible
The ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines seven months

New Revised Standard Version
The ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
AND the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And the Ark of LORD JEHOVAH was in a field of the Philistines seven months
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the ark was seven months in the country of the Philistines, and their land brought forth swarms of mice.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Ark Returned to Israel
1When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines seven months, 2the Philistines summoned the priests and diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how to send it back to its place.”…

Cross References
Exodus 7:25
And seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile.

Exodus 12:31-33
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. / Take your flocks and herds as well, just as you have said, and depart! And bless me also.” / And in order to send them out of the land quickly, the Egyptians urged the people on. “For otherwise,” they said, “we are all going to die!”

Exodus 12:40-41
Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years. / At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD’s divisions went out of the land of Egypt.

Numbers 33:3-4
On the fifteenth day of the first month, on the day after the Passover, the Israelites set out from Rameses. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians, / who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had executed judgment against their gods.

Joshua 3:10-11
He continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. / Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you into the Jordan.

1 Samuel 5:1-12
After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod, / carried it into the temple of Dagon, and set it beside his statue. / When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place. ...

1 Samuel 7:1-2
Then the men of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the LORD and took it into Abinadab’s house on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to guard the ark of the LORD. / And from that day a long time passed, twenty years in all, as the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim. And all the house of Israel mournfully sought the LORD.

2 Samuel 6:2-3
And he and all his troops set out for Baale of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name—the name of the LORD of Hosts, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on it. / They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart,

2 Kings 19:35
And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!

1 Chronicles 13:5-7
So David assembled all Israel, from the River Shihor in Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. / David and all Israel went up to Baalah of Judah (that is, Kiriath-jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name. / So they carried the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding the cart.

Psalm 78:60-61
He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men. / He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.

Isaiah 37:36
Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!

Jeremiah 7:12-14
But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. / And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer, / therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.

Acts 7:44-46
Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. / And our fathers who received it brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations God drove out before them. It remained until the time of David, / who found favor in the sight of God and asked to provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

Acts 13:19-20
And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance. / All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.


Treasury of Scripture

And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

A.

1 Samuel 5:1,3,10,11
And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod…

Psalm 78:61
And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.

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Ark Country Months Philistine Philistines Seven Territory
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Ark Country Months Philistine Philistines Seven Territory
1 Samuel 6
1. After seven months the Philistines take counsel how to send back the ark
10. They bring it on a new cart with an offering unto Beth Shemesh
19. The people are smitten for looking into the ark
21. They send to them of Kiriath Jearim to fetch it














When the ark of the LORD
The "ark of the LORD" refers to the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred chest that held the tablets of the Ten Commandments, Aaron's rod, and a pot of manna. In Hebrew, the word for "ark" is "aron," which signifies a chest or box. The Ark symbolized God's presence and covenant with Israel. Its capture by the Philistines was a significant event, representing a temporary loss of God's favor due to Israel's disobedience. The Ark's presence among the Philistines would have been a constant reminder of the power and holiness of the God of Israel.

had been in the land of the Philistines
The "land of the Philistines" refers to the territory occupied by the Philistines, a group of people who were often in conflict with Israel. Historically, the Philistines were known as a seafaring people who settled along the coastal regions of Canaan. Their possession of the Ark was a source of both pride and fear, as they believed they had captured the power of Israel's God, yet they also experienced plagues and misfortunes as a result of having the Ark in their midst.

for seven months
The "seven months" duration is significant in biblical numerology, where the number seven often symbolizes completeness or divine perfection. The period of seven months suggests a complete cycle of judgment upon the Philistines, during which they experienced the full weight of God's displeasure. This time frame allowed the Philistines to recognize the futility of holding onto the Ark and the necessity of returning it to Israel. Theologically, it underscores the idea that God's presence cannot be manipulated or controlled by human hands, and His holiness demands reverence and obedience.

Verses 1, 2. - The ark of Jehovah was in the country - literally, the field, i.e. the territory - of the Philistines seven months, during which long time the people wherever the ark was deposited were afflicted in their persons with a most painful malady. The princes determined, therefore, to restore it to Israel, and convened the priests and the diviners, that they might advise them as to the manner in which this purpose should be best carried out, lest some error or want of due reverence might only serve to increase their sufferings. It would be the duty of the priests to see that the proper ceremonial was observed in moving the ark, while the diviners would decide what day and hour and special method would be lucky. The importance of the diviner, qosem, is shown by his being mentioned in Isaiah 3:2 in an enumeration of the leading orders in the state. He is placed there between the prophet and the elder or senator; but the A.V., displeased perhaps at finding one who practised a forbidden art nevertheless described as practically so valued, translates the word prudent. Literally it means a divider or partitioner, because it was his office to separate things into the two classes of lucky and unlucky. Tell us wherewith, etc, Though this translation is tenable, the right rendering is probably how. The princes did not assume that gifts must accompany the ark, but inquired generally as to the best method of restoring it. So the answer of the priests and diviners is not merely that expiatory offerings are to be made, but that the ark is to be sent back in such a way as to give proof that Jehovah had intervened, or the contrary (vers. 7, 8, 9).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
When the ark
אֲרוֹן־ (’ă·rō·wn-)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 727: A chest, ark

of the LORD
יְהוָ֛ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

had been
וַיְהִ֧י (way·hî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

in the land
בִּשְׂדֵ֥ה (biś·ḏêh)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7704: Field, land

of the Philistines
פְלִשְׁתִּ֖ים (p̄ə·liš·tîm)
Noun - proper - masculine plural
Strong's 6430: Philistines -- inhabitants of Philistia

for seven
שִׁבְעָ֥ה (šiḇ·‘āh)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's 7651: Seven, seven times, a week, an indefinite number

months,
חֳדָשִֽׁים׃ (ḥo·ḏā·šîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2320: The new moon, a month


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OT History: 1 Samuel 6:1 The ark of Yahweh was (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 5:12
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