Bible Strands
1 Samuel 6:21
So they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up with you.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The men of Beth-shemesh dispatch messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim immediately after the Philistines return the ark and the Beth-shemesh community questions where it should go.
The words — The text records מַלְאָכִים (mal.'a.Khim), meaning "messengers," and הֵשִׁ֤בוּ (he.Shi.vu), meaning "they have brought back," to describe the Philistines' action and the Beth-shemesh response.
The thread — Kiriath-jearim appears in Joshua 9:17 as a city reached by the Israelites and in 1 Chronicles 13:5 as the location where David later assembles Israel to transport the ark.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that sacred items are transferred only through authorized channels and explicit instruction, not by local initiative.
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 they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath–jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.
Cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 13:5 So David assembled all Israel, from the River Shihor in Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.
- Joshua 9:17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities—Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.
- Joshua 18:14 On the west side the border curved southward from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south and came out at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the western side.
- Joshua 15:9 From the hilltop the border curved to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, proceeded to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then bent around toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim).
- Joshua 15:60 Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah—two cities, along with their villages.
- Judges 18:12 They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called Mahaneh-dan to this day.
- Psalms 78:60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.
- Jeremiah 7:12 But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
- Jeremiah 7:14 therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.