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1 Samuel 6 Bible study: This holy God
The warning about Pharaoh's hard heart came from the Philistines' own priests (6:6), and in Hebrew glory (6:5) is the noun of the verb for harden (6:6) and the LORD's heavy hand (5:6). And "to stand before the LORD" (6:20) is, in Hebrew, the phrase Deuteronomy uses for the Levites' calling (Deuteronomy 10:8).
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“The men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? To whom shall he go up from us?””
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In 1 Samuel 6, the cows lowed as they went but didn't turn aside to the right or the left.”
Is that in 1 Samuel 6, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The Philistines remembered Egypt
When the Philistines asked what to do with the ark (6:2), their priests and diviners answered, "don’t send it empty" (6:3) (tap empty). Then they reached back to the exodus: "Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had worked wonderfully among them, didn’t they let the people go, and they departed?" (6:6). In Hebrew worked wonderfully is the verb of the LORD's own words in Exodus, "what things I have done to Egypt" (Exodus 10:2) (tap worked wonderfully). The Philistines had spoken of Egypt when the ark came into Israel's camp: "These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness" (4:8). And the gold they sent back is "the jewels of gold" (6:8), in Hebrew the same words as the "jewels of gold" Israel asked of the Egyptians when they left (Exodus 12:35).
Where it leads to Jesus
Who can come before God?
1 Samuel 6:20leads toJohn 14:6
The men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? To whom shall he go up from us?" (6:20). When Thomas asked, "How can we know the way?" (John 14:5), Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me" (John 14:6). No New Testament passage cites 1 Samuel 6, so setting the two side by side is a reading. Some hear in Jesus' words an answer to the question of 6:20: there is a way to come to God, and it is through him. Others read each in its own setting: at Beth Shemesh the question led to sending the ark away, "Come down and bring it up to yourselves" (6:21), while Jesus was answering Thomas about where he was going: "I am going to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 1 Samuel 6
That was a taste
The rest of 1 Samuel 6 is waiting in Favor
- Heavy hand, hard hearts, glory
- Two milk cows
- A city of the priests
- Returning a trespass offering
- A new cart, again
- 10 questions as you read
- 11 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
קָדוֹשׁqadoshsay qa-DOSH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "sacred, holy". Strong's: "sacred (ceremonially or morally)". "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God?" (6:20). 1 Samuel uses this word only twice. The first is in Hannah's prayer: "There is no one as holy as the LORD" (2:2). The Law had given Israel the LORD's words, "You shall be holy; for I, the LORD your God, am holy" (Leviticus 19:2).
For your group
1 Samuel 6 Bible study questions
- 1The diviners offered two ways to read what happened: "his hand" or "a chance that happened to us" (6:9). When something hard or surprising happens to you, which do you reach for first, and why?
- 2The people of Beth Shemesh "rejoiced to see" the ark (6:13), and later asked, "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God?" (6:20). How do joy and awe both belong in the way you come to God?
- 3The Philistines' priests asked, "Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?" (6:6). Where are you tempted to keep resisting what you already know?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 1 Samuel 6 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach 1 Samuel 6 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home