Chapter 5

1 Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon. 3 When the residents of Ashdod got up early the next day, Dagon was lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him back in his place. 4 But when they got up early the following day, Dagon was again lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and his two hands were sheared off⁠ and were lying at the threshold.⁠ Only Dagon’s body was left intact. 5 (For this reason, to this very day, neither Dagon’s priests nor anyone else who enters Dagon’s temple steps on Dagon’s threshold in Ashdod.)⁠ 6 The Lord attacked the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores.⁠ 7 When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked both us and our god Dagon!” 8 So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and asked, “What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They replied, “The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel. 9 But after it had been moved the Lord attacked that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city with sores. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But when the ark of God arrived at Ekron, the residents of Ekron cried out saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here to kill our people!” 11 So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and said, “Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won’t kill us and our people!” The terror of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there. 12 The people who did not die were struck with sores; the city’s cry for help went all the way up to heaven.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 2.10:11 and 1 Samuel 5:6

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

Summary

The image of a god's hand shared with the Ugaritic letter KTU 2.10 treats disease as direct divine action, helping explain why the outbreak in 1 Samuel 5 calls for a religious response.

Passages

KTU 2.10:11

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

Message of Iwrdr. To Pilsiya say: May it be well with you. To Trgds and to Kalbiya: I have heard of the defeat. They are defeated. Now if they have not been defeated, then send to me. And the hand of the gods here is like death, very strong. If they have been overcome, your answer […] And whatever word you hear there, put in a letter to me.

1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

1 Samuel 5:6

Hebrew Bible

6 The Lord attacked the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores. 7 When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked both us and our god Dagon!” 8 So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and asked, “What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They replied, “The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel. 9 But after it had been moved the Lord attacked that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city with sores.

600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Samuel

References

“... These sources are highly relevant for understanding biblical notions of disease and deﬁlement, with “touch” ﬁguring prominently. First of all, like the usage of the Akkadian verb lapātu, the Bible employs the verbal root n-g-ʿ (whose basic sense is literally “to touch”) to describe disease. The derivatives of this verb include the piel (causative) verbal form used to describe God afﬂicting people and lands with disease (e.g., Genesis 12:17; 2 Kgs 15:5) and the nominal form negaʿ, used to describe illnesses, especially the skin disease ṣaraʿat. Second, like the Mesopotamian sources, the Bible refers to mass afﬂictions as manifestations of the “hand” of God. It is important to stress that these semantic parallels, as opposed to etymological ones, do not imply intercultural contact or inﬂuence, but rather the independent emergence of similar conceptions in both cultures. ...” “... 55 E.g., Exodus 9:3; 1 Sam 5:6, 9; 2 Sam 24:14–15. A comparable idiom (yd ʾilm) is also attested in Ugaritic texts (e.g., CAT 2.10 11–13). ...”

Yitzhaq Feder, Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible: From Embodied Experience to Moral Metaphor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022), 42.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

1 Samuel31 chapters

Compare KTU 2.10:11 and 1 Samuel 5:6

Summary

Passages

KTU 2.10:11

1 Samuel 5:6

References

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