21 And ſhe named the child {| Ichabod, ſay ing, [| * The glory 5 is depared from Iſrael. ( becauſe the ark of God was taken, and becauſe of her father in law, and her husband. ) | #1.c. The glorious Type and aſſurance of GOD'S preſence, the Ark, which is oft called GOD'S Glory, as Pſpl: 26: 8. and 78: 6r. ' Ja: 645 11, and which was the great Safeguard and Ornament of 1j-4- el, which they could glory in above all other Nations. 22 And ſheſaid, The glory is departed from Iſrael, for the ark of God is taken &. & This 15 repeated to ſhew her Piety, and that the Publick and Spiritual loſs lay heavier upon her ſpirit, than hex Perſonal or Do=
meſtick Calamity.
45 H A P, , #
The Philiſtines place the Ark of GOD at 4ſhded in the Heuſe of Dagmn + Which falls down : once and again, 1 5. They of Aſbdod are ſmitten with Emerods : They ſend the Ark to Gath, 6=— $8. They are alſo Smitten with Emerods, and ſend the Avh 80 Ekron : They reſolve to veturn it back ro the Iſraclites, g — 12,
Nd the Philiſtines took the ark of God a,and brought it from Eben-Ezer b unto Aſhdod c.
# Queft. Why were not they immediately killed, who touched the Ark, as afterwards Uzz#h was? 2 Sam. 6: 7. Anſw. Firſt, Be- cauſe the Sin of the Philiſtines was not ſo great, becauſe the Law for-
idding this, was nor given, or at leaſt was not known to them ; whereas Uzzas Falt was a Tranſgrefſion, and that of a known Laws
Secondly, Becauſe God deſigned to reſerve the Philifines for a more
publick and more ſhameful puniſhment, which had been prevent-
ed by this. 5 Where they found it in the Camp of the 1/aelires,
Chap: 4: 1. & Called alſo Azotus : whither they brought it, either
becauſe it was the firſt City in their way, or rather becauſe it was a
great and famous City, and moſt eminent for the worſhip of their
great god Dagon.
z When the Philiſtines took the ark of God, they brought it into the houſe of Dagon, and ſet it by Da- gon &d.
d Either, Firſt, Out of reſpe& to it, that it might be worſhipped together with Dagon.Or rather,Secondly,by way of reproach and con= tempt of it,as a Spoil and Trophy ſer there to the honour of Dagon, to whom doubtleſs they aſcribed this ViRory, as they did a former, Judges 16: 23. And though they had ſome reverence for the Ark before, Chap: 45 7, fc. Yet that was certainly much diminiſhed by
- 04g" apy againſt 7/rael, notwithſtanding the preſence and he! p of Ee I .
3 4 And when they of Aſhdod « aroſe early on the morrow f, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth, before the ark of the LORD : and they took Dagon, and ſet him in his place again g.
e 1.e. The prieſts of Dagon. f Either to worſhip Dagon accor-
ding to their manner: or being curious and greedy to know whe- ther the Nejghbourhood of the Ark to Dagon had made any altc-
ration in either of them, that if Dagon had received any Damage,
they might, if poſſibly they could, repair it, before it came to the Peoples knowledge, as indeed they did, to prevent their contempr of that 1del, by which the prieſts had all their Repuracion and advantage» g 9uppoling or pretending that his fall was wholly
caſual» 4 And
Chap. Y,
o Cha tao, T Heb: 16 And the man faid unto Eli, I am he that came #4
T Heb: «; the thing,
[| Or, &
cry 04t,
+ Heb:
Were turn,
t Heb:ſ4 not hm h:art.
|| That is Where is
the gluy? ! Or, Th 76 m0 glny, * Chi 14h
==
>) —
bs 14%
My. v. I
And when they aroſe early on the morrow mor- ning. behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground, before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands ere cut off
1 Or, the þ upon the threſhold, only || the ſump of Dagon i was fſy pate lefe to him &.
h The head is the Sear of Wiſdom ; the Hands, the Inftrumenrs of AQion : both are cut off, to ſhew that he had neither Wiſdom nor Strength to defznd himſelf, nor his worſhippers. Thus the Prieſts by concealing Dago?'s ſhame before, make 1t more evident and 1n- fimons. #5 Heb: Only Dagony i» e- that part of it from which it was called Dnzm, to wit, the Fiſhy part, for Dag in Hebrew ſignihes a Fiſh. Ard h-nce their Opinion ſeems moſt probable, that chis Idol o: Ingen had in its upper parts an human ſhape, and in its lower parts the form ofa Tiſh ; for ſuch was the form of divers of the Hes- then gods, and particularly of a godof the Phanicians ( under which Name the Philiſtines are comprehended ) as Diodorus Siculus, and Luciang both witneſs, though they call it by another Name. k Or, :;po1 it, 1. e- upon the Threſhold, there the Trunk abode in the place where it fell, but the Head and Hands being violently cut off, were flung to diftant and ſeveral places. _
5 Therefore neither the prieſts of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's houſe, tread on the threſhold
+ ofthe + of | Dagon in Aſhdod unto this day m.
Temple. 1 Out of a Religious Reverence, ſuppoſing this place to be San- ified by the rouch of their god, who firſt fell here, and being bro- ken here, touched it more throughly than he did other parts. This Superſtirion of theirs was Noted and Cenfured long after, Zephans Is g. Herein they manifeſted rheir ſtupendious Folly, both in making a perpetual Monument of their own and Idols ſhame, which 1n all reaſon they ſhould: rather have buried in eternal Oblivion ; and in turning a plain and certain Argument of Contempr, into an «ccaft- on of further V-n-ration- #2 When this Hiſtory was written, w hich if written by Samuel xowards the end of his Life, was a ſufficient ground for this expreſſion, this Superſtitious uſage having then contivued for many Years-
6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Aſhdod », and he deſtroyed them o, and ſmote
{Heb.'s them + with * emerods p, even Aiſhdod, and the
the arr. coaſts thereof. 5
_. 22 For their Incorrigibleneſs by the foregoing Documents. o Part- ly, by waſting their Land, Chap. 6. 5. and partly by killing many of their Perſons as is ſufficiently implied here, 4. 1o. p. A Difeale mentiuned only here, and Dent. 28. 27. it was in the hinder parts. Tr is needleſs to enquire into the Nature of it. It may ſuffice to know, that it was a very ſore Diſeaſe, and not cnly very Vexatious and Tormenting, but alſo Pernicious and Mortal. :
7 And when the men of Aſhdod ſaw that it was ſo, they ſaid, The ark of the God of Iſrael fhal not abide with us: for his hand is ſore upon us, and upon Da- gon our god. |
8 They ſent therefore, and gathered all the lords of the Philiſtines unto them, and ſaid, What ſhal we do