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1 Samuel 5:12

Old Testament Historical ASV (1901)

What does 1 Samuel 5:12 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And the men that died not were smitten with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And the men that died not were smitten with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
1 Samuel 5:12 — American Standard Version

Context — 1 Samuel 5

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
9And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of Jehovah was against the city with a very great discomfiture: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great; and tumors brake out upon them.
10So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.
11They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that is slay us not, and our people. For there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
12And the men that died not were smitten with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
← 1 Samuel 5:111 Samuel 6:1 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods, etc.] As the inhabitants of Ashdod and Gath had been; this shows that those that died did not die of that disease, but of some other; very likely the pestilence: and the cry of the city went up to heaven; not that it was heard and regarded there, but the phrase is used to denote the greatness of it, how exceeding loud and clamorous it was; partly on the account of the death of so many of the inhabitants, their relations and friends; and partly because of the intolerable pain they endured through the emerods. There is something of this history preserved in a story wrongly told by Herodotus f107, who relates that the Scythians returning…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“the cry of the city went up to heaven--The disease is attended with acute pain, and it is far from being a rare phenomenon in the Philistian plain [VAN DE VELDE]. Next: 1 Samuel Chapter 6”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“died: Kg1 19:17; Amo 5:19 the cry: Sa1 9:16; Exo 12:30; Isa 15:3-5; Jer 14:2, Jer 25:34, Jer 48:3 Next: 1 Kings (1 Samuel) Chapter 6”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification