1Sa 6:8-10 | JFB | STEP | 8. take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart-- This mode of carrying the sacred symbol was forbidden; but the ignorance of the Philistines made the indignity excusable (see on ). put the jewels ... in a coffer by the side thereof-- The way of securing treasure in the East is still in a chest, chained to the house wall or some solid part of the furniture.

‏ 1 Samuel 6:8-10

8. take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart--This mode of carrying the sacred symbol was forbidden; but the ignorance of the Philistines made the indignity excusable (see on 2Sa 6:6).

put the jewels ... in a coffer by the side thereof--The way of securing treasure in the East is still in a chest, chained to the house wall or some solid part of the furniture.

9-12. Beth-shemesh--that is, "house of the sun," now Ain Shems [Robinson], a city of priests in Judah, in the southeast border of Dan, lying in a beautiful and extensive valley. Josephus says they were set a-going near a place where the road divided into two--the one leading back to Ekron, where were their calves, and the other to Beth-shemesh. Their frequent lowings attested their ardent longing for their young, and at the same time the supernatural influence that controlled their movements in a contrary direction.