Bible Strands
1 Samuel 5:12
Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the immediate aftermath in Ekron after the Philistine rulers ordered the Ark removed to prevent further fatalities. The text records the physical affliction on survivors and the city's desperate plea following the warning in the preceding verse.
The words — The verb הֻכּוּ (hu.Ku) literally means "they were struck," denoting the affliction of tumors on those who survived. The noun שַׁוְעַת (shav.'At) translates to "cry for help," which the text states "went up to heaven."
The thread — The sequence of plague followed by widespread wailing parallels Exodus 12:30, where a deadly strike in Egypt produces loud mourning, and Amos 5:19, which outlines inescapable judgment. The narrative pattern links localized affliction to a broader scriptural theme of divine intervention.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that physical affliction and desperate outcry are the direct result of the stated divine presence. It asks the reader to accept the narrative's plain claim that human panic cannot alter the recorded reality of God's heavy hand.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
Cross-references
- Exodus 12:30 During the night Pharaoh got up—he and all his officials and all the Egyptians—and there was loud wailing in Egypt; for there was no house without someone dead.
- Amos 5:19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.
- 1 Samuel 9:16 “At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him ruler over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”
- 1 Kings 19:17 Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu.
- Isaiah 15:3 In its streets they wear sackcloth; on the rooftops and in the public squares they all wail, falling down weeping.
- Jeremiah 14:2 “Judah mourns and her gates languish. Her people wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 25:34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.
- Jeremiah 48:3 A voice cries out from Horonaim: ‘Devastation and great destruction!’