‏ 1 Samuel 5:1

CHAPTER 5

1Sa 5:1, 2. The Philistines Bring the Ark into the House of Dagon.

1. Ashdod--or Azotus, one of the five Philistine satrapies, and a place of great strength. It was an inland town, thirty-four miles north of Gaza, now called Esdud.

‏ Jeremiah 48:7

7. thy works--namely, fortifications built by thy work. Moab was famous for its fortresses (Jr 48:18). The antithesis is to Jr 48:6, "Be ... in the wilderness," where there are no fortified cities.

thou ... also--like the rest of the surrounding peoples, Judah, &c.

Chemosh--the tutelary god of Moab (Nu 21:29; Jud 11:24; 1Ki 11:7; 2Ki 23:13). When a people were vanquished, their gods also were taken away by the victors (Jr 43:12).

‏ Jeremiah 49:3

3. Heshbon ... Ai--Nebuchadnezzar, coming from the north, first attacked Ammon, then its brother and neighbor, Moab. As Ai of Ammon had already suffered destruction, Heshbon of Moab being near it might well fear the same fate.

hedges--Their cities being destroyed, the outcasts have no place of shelter save behind the "hedges" of vineyards and gardens; or else the enclosures of their villages.

their king--Melchom, the idol, as the mention of "his priests" shows (compare Jr 48:7).

‏ Daniel 11:8

8. carry ... into Egypt their gods, &c.--Ptolemy, on hearing of a sedition in Egypt, returned with forty thousand talents of silver, precious vessels, and twenty-four hundred images, including Egyptian idols, which Cambyses had carried from Egypt into Persia. The idolatrous Egyptians were so gratified, that they named him Euergetes, or "benefactor."

continue more years--Ptolemy survived Seleucus four years, reigning in all forty-six years. Maurer translates, "Then he for several years shall desist from (contending with) the king of the north" (compare Da 11:9).