1 Samuel 6:3
New International Version
They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.”

New Living Translation
“Send the Ark of the God of Israel back with a gift,” they were told. “Send a guilt offering so the plague will stop. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused the plague.”

English Standard Version
They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.”

Berean Standard Bible
They replied, “If you return the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means return it to Him with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why His hand has not been lifted from you.”

King James Bible
And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.

New King James Version
So they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but by all means return it to Him with a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”

New American Standard Bible
And they said, “If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel away, do not send it empty; but you shall certainly return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be revealed to you why His hand does not leave you.”

NASB 1995
They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but you shall surely return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”

NASB 1977
And they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but you shall surely return to Him a guilt offering. Then you shall be healed and it shall be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”

Legacy Standard Bible
So they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but you shall surely return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not turned away from you.”

Amplified Bible
They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty [without a gift]; but be sure to return [it] to Him [together with] a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”

Christian Standard Bible
They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, do not send it without an offering. Send back a guilt offering to him, and you will be healed. Then the reason his hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, you must not send it without an offering. You must send back a restitution offering to Him, and you will be healed. Then the reason His hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.”

American Standard Version
And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but by all means return him a trespass-offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they said: “If you send the Ark of LORD JEHOVAH God of Israel, you shall not send it empty, but certainly bring him offerings, and then you shall be healed and it will be made known to you why the hand of LORD JEHOVAH would not turn away from you”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And they said, If ye send away the ark of the covenant of the Lord God of Israel, do not on any account send it away empty, but by all means render to it an offering for the plague; and then shall ye be healed, and an atonement shall be made for you: should not his hand be thus stayed from off you?

Contemporary English Version
"Don't send it back without a gift," the priests and fortunetellers answered. "Send along something to Israel's God to make up for taking the chest in the first place. Then you will be healed, and you will find out why the LORD was causing you so much trouble."

Douay-Rheims Bible
If you send back the ark of the God of Israel, send it not away empty, but render unto him what you owe for sin, and then you shall be healed: and you shall know why his hand departeth not from you.

English Revised Version
And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a guilt offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The priests answered, "If you're returning the ark of the God of Israel, don't send it away empty, but by all means return it to its [proper] place with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will know why he would not turn his anger away from you."

Good News Translation
They answered, "If you return the Covenant Box of the God of Israel, you must, of course, send with it a gift to him to pay for your sin. The Covenant Box must not go back without a gift. In this way you will be healed, and you will find out why he has kept on punishing you."

International Standard Version
They said, "If you send the Ark of the God of Israel back, don't send it empty, but rather be sure to send back to him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and will know why his oppression has not been removed from you."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And they said: 'If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return Him a guilt-offering; then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.'

Literal Standard Version
And they say, “If you are sending the Ark of the God of Israel away, you do not send it away empty; for you certainly send back a guilt-offering to Him; then you are healed, and it has been known to you why His hand does not turn aside from you.”

Majority Standard Bible
They replied, “If you return the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means return it to Him with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why His hand has not been lifted from you.”

New American Bible
They replied: “If you intend to send back the ark of the God of Israel, you must not send it alone, but must, by all means, make amends to God through a reparation offering. Then you will be healed, and will learn why God continues to afflict you.”

NET Bible
They replied, "If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel back, don't send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand is not removed from you."

New Revised Standard Version
They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and will be ransomed; will not his hand then turn from you?”

New Heart English Bible
And they said, "If you are going to send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty. But return to him a reparation, then you shall be healed and he will be reconciled to you. Will not, then, his hand be removed from you?"

Webster's Bible Translation
And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass-offering: then ye will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.

World English Bible
They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, don’t send it empty; but by all means return a trespass offering to him. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.”

Young's Literal Translation
And they say, 'If ye are sending away the ark of the God of Israel, ye do not send it away empty; for ye do certainly send back to Him a guilt-offering; then ye are healed, and it hath been known to you why His hand doth not turn aside from you.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Ark Returned to Israel
2the Philistines summoned the priests and diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how to send it back to its place.” 3They replied, “If you return the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means return it to Him with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why His hand has not been lifted from you.” 4“What guilt offering should we send back to Him?” asked the Philistines. “Five gold tumors and five gold rats,” they said, “according to the number of rulers of the Philistines, since the same plague has struck both you and your rulers.…

Cross References
Exodus 23:15
You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.

Leviticus 5:15
"If someone acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against any of the LORD's holy things, he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock, of proper value in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel; it is a guilt offering.

Leviticus 5:16
Regarding any holy thing he has harmed, he must make restitution by adding a fifth of its value to it and giving it to the priest, who will make atonement on his behalf with the ram as a guilt offering, and he will be forgiven.

Deuteronomy 16:16
Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.

1 Samuel 6:8
Take the ark of the LORD, set it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending Him as a guilt offering. Then send the ark on its way,

1 Samuel 6:9
but keep watching it. If it goes up the road to its homeland, toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has brought on us this great disaster. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not His hand that punished us and that it happened by chance."


Treasury of Scripture

And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then you shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.

empty

Exodus 23:15
Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

Exodus 34:20
But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.

Deuteronomy 16:16
Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

a trespass

Leviticus 5:6,15-19
And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin…

Leviticus 6:6
And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest:

Leviticus 7:1-7
Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy…

know

1 Samuel 6:9
And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.

1 Samuel 5:7,9,11
And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god…

Job 10:2
I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.

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1 Samuel 6
1. After seven months the Philistines take counsel how to send back the ark
10. They bring it on a new cart with an offering unto Beth Shemesh
19. The people are smitten for looking into the ark
21. They send to them of Kiriath Jearim to fetch it














(3) Send it not empty.--The advice was to propitiate with gifts the powerful Hebrew Deity, whom they imagined was offended and angry at the insult offered Him--the being placed in an inferior position in the Dagon temple.

The priests and diviners evidently thought that the Hebrew Deity, in some way resident in the "golden chest," was a childish, capricious deity, like one of their own loved gods--Dagon, or Beelzebub, lord of flies. Their people had insulted Him; He had shown Himself powerful enough, however, to injure His captors, so the insults must cease, and He must be appeased with rich offerings.

Verses 3, 4. - A trespass offering. The offering that was to be made when the offence had been unintentional (Leviticus 5:15). Why his hand is not removed from you. A euphemism for "why your punishment continues to be so severe, without sign of abatement." If healing follows the gift, you will know that the malady was Jehovah's doing. The trespass offering was to consist of five golden emerods, and five golden mice, it being an old heathen custom, still constantly practised abroad, of presenting to the deity tokens representing the deliverance wrought for such as had implored his aid. Thus Horace ('Carm.,' 1:5) speaks of the custom of hanging up in the temple of Neptune the clothes in which a man had escaped from shipwreck. Slaves when manumitted offered their chains to the Lares; and the idea is so natural that we cannot wonder at its prevalence. One plague was on you all. Rather, "is on you all." It did not cease until the ark had been restored. The Hebrew has on them all; but as all the versions and several MSS. read you all, the substitution of them is probably the mistake of some transcriber.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
They replied,
וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“If
אִֽם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

you return
מְשַׁלְּחִ֞ים (mə·šal·lə·ḥîm)
Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 7971: To send away, for, out

the ark
אֲר֨וֹן (’ă·rō·wn)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 727: A chest, ark

of the God
אֱלֹהֵ֤י (’ĕ·lō·hê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

of Israel,
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

do not
אַל־ (’al-)
Adverb
Strong's 408: Not

send it away
תְּשַׁלְּח֤וּ (tə·šal·lə·ḥū)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 7971: To send away, for, out

empty,
רֵיקָ֔ם (rê·qām)
Adverb
Strong's 7387: Emptily, ineffectually, undeservedly

but
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

by all means
הָשֵׁ֥ב (hā·šêḇ)
Verb - Hifil - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

return [it]
תָּשִׁ֛יבוּ (tā·šî·ḇū)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

to Him
ל֖וֹ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

with a guilt offering.
אָשָׁ֑ם (’ā·šām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 817: Guilt, a fault, a sin-offering

Then
אָ֤ז (’āz)
Adverb
Strong's 227: At that time, place, therefore

you will be healed,
תֵּרָֽפְאוּ֙ (tê·rā·p̄ə·’ū)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 7495: To mend, to cure

and you will understand
וְנוֹדַ֣ע (wə·nō·w·ḏa‘)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3045: To know

why
לָ֛מָּה (lām·māh)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

His hand
יָד֖וֹ (yā·ḏōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3027: A hand

has not
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

been lifted
תָס֥וּר (ṯā·sūr)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 5493: To turn aside

from
מִכֶּֽם׃ (mik·kem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

you.�
לָכֶ֔ם (lā·ḵem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew


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OT History: 1 Samuel 6:3 They said If you send away (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 6:2
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