1 Samuel 6:7

Now, therefore, prepare one new cart with two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — A directive is issued to the Philistines regarding the proper method for returning the ark of the LORD. This instruction follows a warning against hardening one’s heart like the Egyptians and Pharaoh did during the plagues.

The words — The Hebrew term עֲגָלָה ('a.ga.Lah) denotes a cart, while חֲדָשָׁה (cha.da.Shah) specifies that it must be new. The conjunction וְ/עַתָּ֗ה (ve./'a.Tah) frames the command as a necessary response to the preceding events.

The thread — The motif of a new cart for transporting sacred objects recurs in 2 Samuel 6:3 and 1 Chronicles 13:7. A separate statute in Numbers 19:2 also mandates the use of a never-yoked animal for ritual purification.

Why it lands — The text demands precise obedience in handling holy things, specifying that the cows must be unyoked and separated from their calves. It requires the reader to recognize that proper reverence dictates following exact instructions rather than relying on convenience or prior custom.

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

Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:

Cross-references

Numbers 19:2 “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.
2 Samuel 6:3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart,
1 Chronicles 13:7 So they carried the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding the cart.