The Ark Afflicts the Philistines
After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod, 1Sa 7:121Sa 4:11Sa 4:22Jos 13:31Sa 4:111Sa 4:17-18Act 8:40Jos 11:22 carried it into the temple of Dagon, and set it beside his statue. 1 Jdg 16:231Ch 10:10Dan 5:2Dan 5:23Hab 1:11Hab 1:16
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. Isa 19:1Isa 46:1-2Isa 46:7Mrk 3:11Luk 10:18-20Zep 2:112Co 6:14-16Exo 12:12
But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD, with his head and his hands broken off and lying on the threshold. Only the torso remained. Mic 1:7Isa 2:18-19Jer 10:11Jer 50:2Dan 11:8Ezk 6:4-6Isa 27:9 That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and all who enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on the threshold. Zep 1:9Psa 115:4-7Jos 5:15Psa 135:15-18
Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity, ravaging them and afflicting them with tumors. 2 1Sa 5:11Act 13:11Deu 28:27Exo 9:3Psa 32:41Sa 5:7Psa 78:66Job 31:3 And when the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not stay here with us, because His hand is heavy upon us and upon our god Dagon.” Exo 12:331Ch 15:13Jer 48:71Ch 13:11-131Sa 4:81Sa 5:3-41Sa 6:202Sa 6:9
So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” 1Sa 17:41Sa 5:11Amo 6:2Zec 12:3
“It must be moved to Gath,” they replied. So they carried away the ark of the God of Israel.
But after they had moved the ark to Gath, the LORD’s hand was also against that city, throwing it into great confusion and afflicting the men of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors. 1Sa 5:61Sa 7:13Deu 2:151Sa 12:15Psa 78:661Sa 5:111Sa 6:111Sa 6:4-5
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!” Amo 1:82Ki 1:2Jdg 1:18Jos 15:45
Then the Ekronites assembled all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel. It must return to its place, so that it will not 3kill us and our people!” 1Sa 5:61Sa 5:8-9Isa 13:7-9Jer 48:42-44
For a deadly confusion had pervaded the city; the hand of God was heavy upon it. Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven. Exo 12:30Amo 5:191Ki 19:171Sa 9:16Isa 15:3-5Jer 14:2Jer 25:34Jer 48:3