1 Samuel 6:19

[zz912]

Discussing with an atheist and he is bringing up the usual canards that the God of the OT is violent, etc, etc.

He brought up 1 Samuel 6:19. I was going to discuss this some with him, but when looking more into it, there appear to be several wildly different translations of this verse. Could someone help with shedding some light on this verse, and which interpretation comes closest to reality?

NABRE

19The descendants of Jeconiah did not join in the celebration with the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh when they saw the ark of the LORD, and seventy of them were struck down. The people mourned over this great calamity which the LORD had inflicted upon them.

DR

19 But he slew of the men of Bethsames, because they had seen the ark of the Lord: and he slew of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the common people. And the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten the people with a great slaughter.

NIV

19 But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy[a] of them to death because they looked into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them.

American Standard Version

19 And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, he smote of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand men; and the people mourned, because Jehovah had smitten the people with a great slaughter.

 

[Verbum]

Hi zz,

The part about the 50 000 men is a gloss, that is a marginal note that slipped into the text. How the seventy men met their fate is not explained. But the people saw it as punishment.

Verbum

 

[Taestron]

“Struck down” when talking of multiple people generally means killed. I don’t think there is any way around that. But what is the exact reason your friend thought this passage showed God’s malignancy?

 

[zz912]

“Struck down” when talking of multiple people generally means killed. I don’t think there is any way around that. But what is the exact reason your friend thought this passage showed God’s malignancy?

Well he’s arguing over simply viewing the Ark. But as shown in the NABRE translation it was b/c they didn’t take part in the celebrations. That was the big discrepancy I was wondering about.

 

[animalis]

The Synod of Bishops, a few years ago, disscussed the violence in the bible, and the Pope apparently saw this as noteworthy and he included it within a synthesis, the Apostolic Exhortation Verbum domini in number 42.

In number 42, we read, “In discussing the relationship between the Old and the New Testaments, the Synod also considered those passages in the Bible which, due to the violence and immorality they occasionally contain, prove obscure and difficult. Here it must be remembered first and foremost that biblical revelation is deeply rooted in history. God’s plan is manifested progressively and it is accomplished slowly, in successive stages and despite human resistance…”

I give this link so you can read the whole thing, a small segment.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20100930_verbum-domini_en.html#The_Interpretation_Of_Sacred_Scripture__In_The_Church

 

[Taestron]

My translation from the BHS. “And He struck the men of Bethshemesh because they had looked upon the Ark of the LORD. And He struck fifty thousand and seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD struck the people with a great plague.”

That is a pretty literal translation. “looked upon” can have the meaning of “enjoy looking at” or “gloated over” which would carry the connotation that the people of Bethshemesh were not merely looking at the Ark, but gloating over their good fortune. As for the numbering problem:shrug:. Verbum might be correct in saying it is a gloss, but the manuscript evidence suggests that it is original. The phrase “70 men and 50,000 men” is common enough in Biblical Hebrew that there really shouldn’t be any distinction between common people and the seventy.