1 Samuel 6:19 kjv
And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
1 Samuel 6:19 nkjv
Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.
1 Samuel 6:19 niv
But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them.
1 Samuel 6:19 esv
And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the LORD. He struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great blow.
1 Samuel 6:19 nlt
But the LORD killed seventy men from Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of the LORD. And the people mourned greatly because of what the LORD had done.
1 Samuel 6 19 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ex 19:21-24 | ...do not break through to the Lord to look, lest many of them perish. ... | God's strict boundary on Mt. Sinai for holiness. |
| Num 3:10 | ...appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death. | Regulations for holy office and prohibited access. |
| Num 4:15 | ...they shall not touch the holy things, lest they die. ... | Kohathite duty to carry holy things without touching or looking. |
| Num 4:19-20 | ...lest they die when they approach the most holy things... they shall not go in to look... | Specific prohibition on looking at the sacred, punishable by death. |
| Lev 10:1-2 | Nadab and Abihu... offered unauthorized fire... and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them. | Instant judgment for approaching God improperly. |
| 2 Sam 6:6-7 | ...Uzzah put out his hand... and God struck him down there for his error... | Punishment for touching the Ark improperly, highlighting God's holiness. |
| 1 Chr 13:9-10 | ...Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark... and the Lord broke out against Uzza... | Parallel account of Uzzah's punishment. |
| Lev 16:2 | ...Aaron your brother must not come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil... | High priest's limited access to God's presence, highlighting its sacredness. |
| Deut 4:24 | For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. | God's fierce holiness and nature. |
| Psa 5:4 | For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. | God's inability to tolerate sin and impurity. |
| Rom 6:23 | For the wages of sin is death... | Universal consequence of disobedience. |
| Heb 10:31 | It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. | Warning about God's fearful judgment. |
| Isa 6:5 | ...for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! | Isaiah's profound realization of unworthiness in God's presence. |
| 1 Cor 10:11 | These things happened to them as an example, but they were written for our instruction... | Old Testament events as lessons for believers today. |
| Rom 15:4 | For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction... | Scripture's purpose to teach and guide. |
| Psa 78:34-36 | When he killed them, they sought him... they remembered that God was their Rock... | People's lament and temporary repentance after divine judgment. |
| Jer 14:12 | Though they fast, I will not hear their cry... but I will consume them by the sword... | God's rejection of insincere lamentation when sin persists. |
| Ex 25:22 | There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat... I will speak... | God's designated way for interaction through proper means. |
| Heb 4:16 | Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy... | New Covenant access to God through Christ, contrasting old restrictions. |
| Heb 9:7 | But into the second only the high priest goes, and then only once a year... | Foreshadowing of Christ's perfect single access. |
| 1 Tim 2:5 | For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. | Necessity of mediation for access to God. |
| Heb 12:29 | For our God is a consuming fire. | Reinforcement of God's holy and consuming nature. |
1 Samuel 6 verses
1 Samuel 6 19 Meaning
The Lord struck down many men of Beth-shemesh for presumptuously looking into the Ark of the Covenant, an act strictly forbidden by divine law. This severe judgment, resulting in widespread lamentation, underscored God's absolute holiness, the sacredness of His presence represented by the Ark, and the dire consequences of irreverence and disobedience to His commands. It served as a potent lesson on the proper and respectful approach required when engaging with divine truth and symbols.
1 Samuel 6 19 Context
Chapter 6 of 1 Samuel narrates the Ark of the Covenant's return to Israelite territory after seven months in Philistine captivity. The Philistines, suffering plagues, determined to send the Ark back, devising a test involving unyoked cows. Upon its arrival in Beth-shemesh, a Levitical city, the people rejoiced greatly. The Levites correctly removed the Ark and its contents from the cart. However, a group of men from Beth-shemesh then violated a specific divine prohibition by illicitly looking into the Ark, an act of grave irreverence towards God's most sacred dwelling place. This verse records the swift and severe divine judgment that followed, resulting in the deaths of a large number of the population, leaving the survivors to mourn and fearfully question how anyone could stand before such a holy God. This incident sharply contrasted with the earlier Philistine reverence and underscored Israel's responsibility to understand and obey God's laws regarding the holy Ark, which their forebears had seemingly forgotten.
1 Samuel 6 19 Word analysis
- And he smote: The Hebrew word is wa-yakh (וַיַּךְ), which directly attributes the action to God. This signifies divine agency and intentional judgment, not an accidental occurrence. It implies a direct, devastating strike by the Lord.
- some of the men of Beth-shemesh: 'Anshei Beit Shemesh (אַנְשֵׁי בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ). These were local inhabitants, presumably some of whom were Levites who should have known and taught the divine laws regarding the Ark. The city itself was a Levitical city, implying a greater responsibility for handling sacred objects correctly.
- because they had looked into: The Hebrew is ki hetsitsu ba-aron (כִּי הֵצִיצוּ בַּאֲרוֹן). The verb hetsitsu comes from the root tsits (צץ), which means "to gaze," "to peer," or "to pry." This implies an active, deliberate, and perhaps presumptuous act of peering or curiously inspecting, rather than an accidental glance. It violated explicit prohibitions from Num 4:20 against even seeing the sacred objects. Their act was an irreverent intrusion into God's hidden, holy space.
- the ark of the Lord: Aron Yahweh (אֲרוֹן יְהוָה). The Ark of the Covenant was the holiest object in Israel, representing the presence, throne, and power of God. It contained the Law, manna, and Aaron's rod, symbols of God's covenant, provision, and authority. To treat it casually or without reverence was to disregard God Himself.
- even he smote of the people fifty thousand and seventy men: The Hebrew reads chamishim elef u-shiv'im ish (חֲמִשִּׁים אֶלֶף וְשִׁבְעִים אִישׁ), "fifty thousand and seventy men." The precise number is subject to scholarly debate due to textual variants in ancient manuscripts and the exceptionally large sum. However, in the Masoretic Text, it conveys the devastating magnitude of the judgment, emphasizing the extreme seriousness of the transgression in God's sight. Whether 70 and 50,000, or 70 out of 50,000, or a corruption of an original '5,000 and 70' or just '70' (as some ancient versions imply), the current text stresses God's immense displeasure. This great slaughter was a chilling reminder of His absolute holiness.
- and the people lamented: The response was lamentation, a public display of grief and distress, signifying not only the loss of life but also a realization of the dreadful consequence of offending the Holy God.
- because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter: This final phrase reiterates God's direct involvement (Yahweh smote) and the extensive scale (great slaughter). It cements the theological point: this was divine punishment for specific sacrilege.
1 Samuel 6 19 Bonus section
The severity of the punishment upon the Beth-shemeshites stands in stark contrast to the handling of the Ark by the Philistines. The Philistines, though pagan, followed divinely inspired instructions to return the Ark, sending it with an offering and treating it with fear (1 Sam 6:3-12). Their experience of God's power made them careful. In contrast, the Israelites of Beth-shemesh, who possessed the divine law, acted carelessly. This highlights a principle: greater revelation brings greater responsibility. This event foreshadows a similar incident with Uzzah (2 Sam 6:6-7) decades later, where touching the Ark improperly also resulted in instant death. Both instances emphasize that God's laws concerning sacred objects and His presence are eternal and not to be trifled with, regardless of intention. The incidents underscore the need for appointed mediators and the specific pathways God provides for humanity to approach His holiness, ultimately pointing to Christ as the perfect Mediator and the one who perfectly bridges the gap between a Holy God and sinful humanity (Heb 10:19-22).
1 Samuel 6 19 Commentary
The incident at Beth-shemesh serves as a profound and sober theological lesson concerning God's absolute holiness and the necessity of approaching Him on His own terms. The men of Beth-shemesh, despite residing in a Levitical city, showed a presumptuous irreverence by looking into the Ark, an act strictly forbidden by God. Their curiosity, rather than humble reverence, led to catastrophic judgment. This was not merely an accident but a direct act of divine wrath, teaching Israel that while God is merciful, His holiness demands strict obedience and profound awe. The Ark, being the dwelling place of God's immediate presence, was inviolable except under precise divine stipulations. This tragic event highlighted the peril of treating sacred things with common familiarity, reminding all of the weighty implications of a covenant relationship with the Holy One of Israel. It instilled a renewed "fear of the Lord" which had been lacking due to the spiritual decline of the period.