1Sa 5:1-10 | TNotes | STEP | 5:1 Ebenezer: See study note on 4:1b. • Ashdod , one of the five important Philistine cities (see 6:17 ), was located along the same major trade highway (the Great Trunk Road) as Aphek.

5:1 ^a Ebenezer: See study note on 4:1b.

• Ashdod, one of the five important Philistine cities (see 6:17 ^b), was located along the same major trade highway (the Great Trunk Road) as Aphek.
5:2 ^c Dagon was one of the Philistines’ gods (see Judg 16:23-24 ^d). The name could be related to the Hebrew dag (“fish”), an appropriate name for a god of seafaring people. More likely, it reflects the Hebrew dagan (“grain”), suggesting a fertility or agriculture god.
5:4 ^e his head and hands had broken off: A symbol of God’s supremacy over the idol (5:7 ^f; see also 17:51 ^g).
5:5 ^h step on its threshold: While the Philistines might have believed that Dagon’s amputations resulted from their failure to honor the god properly, the true failure was in worshiping an idol rather than honoring the one true God (Isa 44:6-20 ⁱ).
5:6 ^j tumors: The Hebrew term can mean simply “swellings.” A possible alternative translation is “hemorrhoids.” They were possibly the fatal buboes of bubonic plague, which attack the lower body, especially the rectal area. Rats are known carriers of the plague.
5:8 ^k rulers (or overlords): Each of the five major Philistine cities had its own ruler (6:16-18 ^l).

• Move it: Despite the obvious danger, the Philistines relished their captured trophy enough to relocate it rather than return it.

• Gath, one of the five major Philistine cities, was nearby.
5:9 ^m God often used great panic to incapacitate and overwhelm Israel’s enemies (14:15 ⁿ, 20 ^o; Deut 7:23 ^p; Ezek 22:5 ^q; Amos 3:9 ^r).
5:10 ^s Ekron, another of the five major Philistine cities (see 6:17 ^t), was just five miles north of Gath.