I Samuel 5:10 · Bible study
1 Samuel 5:10 Commentary: The Terror of God's Presence
Hebrew · 6 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why did the Ekronites fear the ark? Study of God's holy judgment and the Philistines' cry of death at the arrival of the ark.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The Ekronites see the ark’s arrival as a death sentence, revealing that God’s holy presence brings terror to the unrepentant.
- Key words: “cried out” (zā‛aq, v. 10), “brought about” (hêsabbû from sāvav, passed along), “to kill” (lăhâmîtênı̂, Hiphil infinitive from mūt).
- Main debate: Whether the Ekronites’ fear was a step toward repentance or simply a reaction to physical plague, most commentators see it as fear without faith.
- Theological theme: God’s holiness is not a passive quality; it actively judges those who treat him as common or treat worship as a trophy.
- Best use: Preaching on the fear of the Lord, the progression of judgment, and the difference between terror and repentance.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron, but as it arrived, the Ekronites cried out, “They have brought us the ark of the God of Israel in order to kill us and our people!”
WEB World English Bible 2000
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.”
KJV King James Version 1769
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.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
So 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.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And they send the ark of God to Ekron, and it cometh to pass, at the coming in of the ark of God to Ekron, that the Ekronites cry out, saying, `They have brought round unto us the ark of the God of Israel, to put us to death--and our people.'
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, when 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 kill us and our people.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Therefore they sent the ark of God into Accaron. And when the ark of God was come into Accaron, the Accaronites cried out, saying: They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Entonces enviaron el arca de Dios á Ecrón. Y como el arca de Dios vino á Ecrón, los Ecronitas dieron voces diciendo: Han pasado á mí el arca del Dios de Israel por matarme á mí y á mi pueblo.
Então enviaram a arca de Deus a Ecrom. E quando a arca de Deus veio a Ecrom, os ecronitas deram vozes dizendo: Passaram a mim a arca do Deus de Israel para matar a mim e a meu povo.
Alors ils envoyèrent l’arche de Dieu à Ékron. Lorsque l’arche de Dieu entra dans Ékron, les Ékroniens poussèrent des cris, en disant: On a transporté chez nous l’arche du Dieu d’ Israël, pour nous faire mourir, nous et notre peuple!
Da sandten sie die Lade des HERRN gen Ekron. Da aber die Lade Gottes gen Ekron kam, schrieen die von Ekron: Sie haben die Lade Gottes hergetragen zu mir, daß sie mich töte und mein Volk.
Toen zonden zij de ark Gods naar Ekron; maar het geschiedde, als de ark Gods te Ekron kwam, zo riepen die van Ekron, zeggende: Zij hebben de ark des Gods van Israel tot mij rondom gebracht, om mij en mijn volk te doden.
Allora mandarono l’arca di Dio a Ekron. E come l’arca di Dio giunse a Ekron, que’ di Ekron cominciarono a gridare, dicendo: “Hanno trasportato l’arca dell’Iddio d’Israele da noi, per far morire noi e il nostro popolo!”
Odesłali tedy skrzynię Bożą do Akkaronu; a gdy przyszła skrzynia Boża do Akkaronu, krzyczeli Akkarończycy, mówiąc: Przyprowadzono do nas skrzynię Boga Izraelskiego, aby nas wymordowano z ludem naszym.
И отослали они ковчег Божий в Аскалон; и когда пришел ковчег Божий в Аскалон, возопили Аскалонитяне, говоря: принесли к нам ковчег Бога Израилева, чтоб умертвить нас и народ наш.
他們就把 神 的約櫃 送到 以革倫。 神 的約櫃 到了，以革倫人 就喊嚷起來 說：「他們將 以色列 神 的約櫃 運 到我們這裡，要害我們 和 我們的眾民！」
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of the town made an outcry, saying, They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us for the destruction of us and of our people.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · I Samuel 5:10
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that the Ekronites’ cry of terror upon the ark’s arrival stems from what they had heard, and likely already felt, of the plagues on Ashdod and Gath. Gill notes that the Philistine lords did not intend death for Ekron, but that is how it worked out: the ark eventually brought death. Keil & Delitzsch stress that each refusal to acknowledge God’s chastening hand escalated the judgment, so Ekron suffered more severely than the earlier cities. The Cambridge Bible observes that the Hebrew shifts from plural verbs to a singular pronoun (“to me, to kill me”), indicating the local lord spoke for the whole city. Matthew Henry sees here a sobering proof that God’s glory is terrible toward the impenitent: the Philistines had clear evidence of Yahweh’s power but remained unrepentant. The common thread is that the ark, God’s throne among Israel, became a source of mortal danger in the hands of those who treated it as a spoil, and that terror is the fitting response to his holy presence among the rebellious.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Superstitious terror: The Ekronites cry out and want the ark gone; they show no interest in the God of Israel, only dread of his effects.
- Chastening judgment (escalation): Keil & Delitzsch argue that each refusal to acknowledge God's hand increased the severity of the plagues, making Ekron's experience a lesson in progressive judgment.
- Recognition of divine power without surrender: Matthew Henry notes that the Philistines had clear evidence of Yahweh's might but still avoided repentance—their fear was factual, not saving.
What is clear: The Ekronites viewed the arrival of the ark as a deadly threat, confirming that God's holy presence brings terror to the unrepentant.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Fear of the ark | All commentators agree the Ekronites were genuinely terrified of dying because of the ark's presence. | Some (Gill) see the fear as rational given the plagues; others (Matthew Henry) emphasize that the fear stopped short of a seeking after God. |
| Nature of the judgments | The plagues are from Yahweh and are a direct response to the Philistines' capture of the ark. | Commentators differ on whether the judgments were primarily punitive to vindicate God's honor (Keil & Delitzsch) or corrective to lead the Philistines to repentance (implied by Matthew Henry's note that they 'would not see'). |
| God's sovereignty over pagan nations | The passage affirms that Yahweh exercises authority over Philistine cities and their gods. | Some emphasize the progressive hardening of the Philistines (Keil & Delitzsch), others focus on the general lesson that God resists the proud (Gill). |
| Human response to divine judgment | The Ekronites respond with loud crying, fear is the dominant emotion. | Whether that fear could ever lead to genuine faith (as with the Ninevites in Jonah) or is merely selfish terror is debated; the narrative lacks any record of repentance. |
| Progression of judgment | Each Philistine city suffers, and the suffering escalates at Ekron. | Keil & Delitzsch see this as a direct consequence of continued resistance; Cambridge Bible treats it more as a narrative pattern of increasing divine severity. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Ekron was the northernmost of the five principal Philistine cities, about eleven miles north of Gath (Cambridge). It fell within the territory allotted to Judah (Joshua 15:45) and was briefly occupied by that tribe (Judges 1:18). The city’s patron deity was Baal‑zebub, “the lord of flies” (2 Kings 1:2), underscoring the Philistines’ deep entanglement with idolatry.
The narrative leading to verse 10 shows the ark moving from one Philistine stronghold to another, each station receiving its own dose of divine judgment. In Ashdod the hand of Yahweh crushed the image of Dagon and struck the people with tumors (verses 6, 7). The lords of the Philistines assembled and decided to move the ark to Gath, where the same confusion and tumors fell on both small and great (verse 9). By the time the ark reached Ekron, the town already knew the pattern. Their cry, “They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to me, to slay me and my people,” uses the Hiphil verb hêsabbû (from sāvav, “to turn, bring around”), highlighting that the ark was being passed from city to city like a hot coal (Gill). The progressive nature of the plagues, each city affected more severely (Keil & Delitzsch), shows that God’s judgment is meant to lead to recognition, but when resistance hardens the heart, the weight of his hand only increases. The Ekronites’ fear is not speculation; it is a reaction to a demonstrated pattern of holy judgment.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for 1 Samuel 5:10. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts. The small variations in English translations (e.g., “brought about” vs. “brought”) reflect different renderings of the Hiphil verb hêsabbû, not underlying textual differences.
Reception History
This passage has long been used in Christian preaching to illustrate the fear of God and the danger of treating holy things as objects of human control. Church fathers such as Augustine cited the Philistine plagues as examples of God’s power over pagan idols, a warning against idolatry and presumption. Medieval exegetes saw in the movement of the ark a type of Christ’s presence that judges the world yet saves believers. Reformation-era commentators (Geneva, Matthew Henry) applied the verse to call for reverent worship and to warn against relying on religious symbols without true repentance. In modern homiletics, 1 Samuel 5:10 is often paired with the New Testament warning in 1 Peter 4:17 that judgment begins at the household of God, but here it begins among those who despise his covenant.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God’s glory is terrible to the unrepentant. The ark, a symbol of God’s presence among Israel, becomes an instrument of terror in Philistia. Matthew Henry observes that the Philistines would not see when his hand was lifted up, but at Ekron they certainly saw.
- Judgment escalates when the heart hardens. Keil & Delitzsch note that each city was visited more severely than the last. Refusal to repent does not make the danger go away; it increases it.
- The world knows its need, but often cries out in fear rather than repentance. The Ekronites “cried out” (Hebrew zā‛aq, a word for calling for help or protest). They did not call on Yahweh; they only wanted the ark gone. Their terror is real, but it stops short of faith.
Five-point outline
- The ark arrives at Ekron, the end of a human chain of decision-making (v. 10a).
- The immediate reaction: corporate crying out (v. 10b).
- The content of the cry: “to kill me and my people”, a personal, communal dread.
- The theological irony: the ark that brought blessing to Israel brings death to Philistia.
- The unresolved question: fear, but no repentance.
Illustration hooks
- A child who hides after breaking a vase knows fear, but does not yet confess. The Ekronites know they are in danger, but do not seek the God of the ark.
- When a pandemic spreads from city to city, people react with panic, even heroism, but the underlying question is whether they turn in repentance or just demand the problem move elsewhere.
- A team passes a hot potato from one person to another; no one wants to hold it. The Philistines did the same with the ark, each city pushing it to the next.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does God still act this way today? Is he dangerous to those who don’t know him?
- How do we know if our fear of God is the healthy kind or the kind that just wants him to go away?
- What does it mean for our churches when we treat holy things as trophies or good luck charms?
Leading a Discussion
This verse sits in a story where God’s ark, captured as a prize, becomes a source of deadly judgment in every Philistine city it enters. The Ekronites know what happened in Ashdod and Gath, and they are terrified. Use these questions to help your group see both the holiness of God and the human reflex of fear without repentance.
Discussion questions
- Read verses 6, 10 aloud. What do you notice about how fear spreads from one city to the next?
- The Ekronites cry “to slay me and my people”, why do you think the Hebrew changes from plural to singular (Cambridge Bible notes the lord speaks for all)? What does this tell you about how a community can share a fear?
- Matthew Henry says the Philistines had “plainest conviction” yet refused to repent. Where do you see that same refusal in the reaction of the Ekronites?
- The ark brought life and blessing to Israel but death to the Philistines. What does this say about the same God being both a refuge and a consuming fire?
- Keil & Delitzsch argue that the judgment increased because they did not submit sooner. Does God act this way with people today? How might this apply to a person who knows the truth but puts off responding?
- The chapter ends with the cry of the city going up to heaven (v. 12). Compare that cry with the prayer of a redeemed sinner. What’s the difference, and what makes the difference?
- How can this passage shape our reverence for holy things, worship, communion, God’s Word, without making us superstitious about them?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Joshua 15:45 | Ekron, with its towns and its villages; |
| Judges 1:18 | Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border. |
| II Kings 1:2 | Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper room that was in Samaria, and was sick. So he sent messengers, and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this sickness.” |
| Amos 1:8 | I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord Yahweh. |
| Jude 1:18 | They said to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
6 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator points out that in the Hebrew margin the Philistine leaders use singular pronouns: "to me, to slay me and my people." This suggests their lord acted as spokesman for the city. The excerpt also identifies Ekron's location and its local deity Baal-zebub.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva notes highlight the stark irony: the Ark, which represented God's covenant mercy toward Israel, became an instrument of terror and death to the Philistines. The Ekronites recognized immediately that God's presence among them meant judgment, not blessing.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that the Ekronites recognized the ark's arrival meant death, even though the Israelites had not brought it for that purpose. He highlights the irony: they cried out that the ark would slay them, and so it did, regardless of intent. The god of Ekron, Baalzebub, could not protect them from Israel's God.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch point out that Ekron suffered even more severely than Ashdod and Gath because the Philistines kept resisting and refused to recognize God's chastening hand. The longer they held the ark, the heavier the punishment became, until the whole city cried out to heaven under deadly plague and terror.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange emphasizes that the Philistines placed the ark in Dagon's temple as a trophy, intending to show Yahweh's defeat. Instead, the repeated fall and mutilation of Dagon's statue
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry observes that the Philistines could have avoided further devastation if they had repented of their idolatry and humbled themselves before God after Dagon's downfall. Instead, their stubborn refusal to see God's hand at work only brought heavier judgment until they finally cried out.