What was the meaning of 5 gold tumors and 5 gold rats the Philistines sent as a 'guilt offering' aside from being the number of Philistines rulers?
1 Samuel 6:3 - 6
ESV - 3 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. 4 And they said, "What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?" They answered, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords.
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JD Abshire
Realizing their error in taking the arc of the Israelite's God and especially because of putting it in the house of their pagan god Dagon 1 Samuel 6:3-4 tells us "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. Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords." Look at verse 5 "Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land." 1 Samuel 5:9 states they had "emrods in their secret parts". Apparently they made golden images of their hemorrhoids, piles, tumors and mice/rats representing infestation that "mar the land". The golden images obviously represented the Philistines acknowledgment that the curses imposed upon them was a result of their taking and profaning the arc of God, the God of Israel.
Myra Sanders
Swollen lymph nodes is a symptom of bubonic plague which is transmitted by animals such as the mice in the land of the Philistines. This is why the offering of golden mice and emerods (swollen lymph nodes).
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