They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel there.
All Commentaries on 1 Samuel 5:8 Go To 1 Samuel 5
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Lords, next in dignity to a king, like the Persian surena, Judges iii. 3., and xvi. 5.
About. Hebrew, "and they answered, let the ark.be carried unto Geth "in which sense the Septuagint seem to have taken it. But the Vulgate is more natural. Theodoret (q. 10,) concludes, that the people imagined the mortality proceeded from some natural cause; (Calmet) otherwise it would have been very absurd to give such advice, as the ark would spread the contagion throughout the country, by being removed. From Geth it was sent to Accaron, when the magistrates of the city objected to its being admitted, ver. 10. Jospehus says, however, that it visited all the five principal cities, as if to punish them for their impiety. (Haydock)