“Now therefore take and prepare yourselves a new cart and two milk cows on which there has come no yoke; and tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home from them;
Parallel Translations
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“Now therefore take and prepare yourselves a new cart and two milk cows on which there has come no yoke; and tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home from them;
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Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:
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Now therefore take and prepare you a new cart, and two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to 1 Samuel 6:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 19:2 “This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded. Tell the children of Israel to bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no defect, and which was never yoked.
- 2 Samuel 6:3 They set God’s ark on a new cart, and brought it out of Abinadab’s house that was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.
- 1 Chronicles 13:7 They carried God’s ark on a new cart, and brought it out of Abinadab’s house; and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Sa 6:7 Now therefore make a new cart, and…
1Sa 6:7 Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:
Ver. 7. Now therefore make a new cart.] For reverence to the ark, which the Philistines might cart: but if David, who should have known better, do so, as 2Sa 6:3, though it were a new cart, yet God made a breach upon him, because the ark was not carried as it ought, on the Levites’ shoulders.
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On which there hath come no yoke.] Untamed and untrained, iuvencae petulcae, and therefore less likely to do that piece of service they were now to be put to. But God was the more seen in it, confuting his enemies by their own inventions.
And bring their calves home from them.] This made the miracle the greater, and the hand of God the more manifest, since they naturally longed after their calves, and would break through all, to come to them.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Make a new cart; as David did for the…
Make a new cart; as David did for the same use, 2Sa 6:3, in reverence to the ark.
On which there hath come no yoke; partly in respect to the ark, and partly for the better discovery, because such untamed heifers are wanton, and apt to wander, and keep no certain and constant paths, as oxen accustomed to the yoke do, and therefore were most unlikely to keep the direct road to Israel’s land.
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Bring their calves home from them; which would stir up natural affection in their dams, and cause them rather to return home, than to go to a strange country.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Now therefore make a new cart,.... For there were…
Now therefore make a new cart,.... For there were no Levites, nor priests of the Lord to carry it upon their shoulders, as it was wont to be when carried, and therefore they ordered a cart to be made; and they might know the Levites were allowed wagons to carry some of their sacred things on, Num 7:1 and a new one for the honour of the ark, as David afterwards did, Sa2 6:3.
and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke; which also might be designed for the honour of the ark; but there was a further view in it, at least in the providence of God; since two such creatures, who had young, would be apt, if left to themselves, as these were, to return home to them, and not to proceed on a journey; and being unaccustomed to a yoke, would draw one way, and another another, in different ways; and not go on in a direct road, as such that are used to the yoke do:
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and tie the kine to the cart; in order to draw it:
and bring their calves home from them; that they might not cry after them, which would cause them to turn back.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Milch kine, &c. - In respect to the ark;…
Milch kine, &c. - In respect to the ark; and for the better discovery, because such untamed heifers are apt to wander, and keep no certain and constant paths, as oxen accustomed to the yoke do, and therefore were most unlikely to keep the direct road to Israel's land. From them - Which would stir up natural affection in their dams, and cause them rather to return home, than to go to a strange country.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. Make a new cart] It was indecent…
Verse 7. Make a new cart] It was indecent and improper to employ in any part of the worship of God any thing that had before served for a common purpose. Every thing in the worship of God is said to be sanctified: now the general meaning of that word is, to separate a thing from all earthly and common uses, and devote it solely to the service of God.
When David removed the ark from the house of Abinadab, he put it on a new cart, 2Sa 6:3.
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Bring their calves home from them] So it appears that their calves had been with them in the fields. This was a complete trial: unless they were supernaturally influenced, they would not leave their calves; unless supernaturally directed, they would not leave their home, and take a way unguided, which they had never gone before.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Sa 6:7. Make a new cart, &c. — It…
1Sa 6:7. Make a new cart, &c. — It was in honour of the ark that they employed nothing about it that had ever served for any other use. And there was another reason for choosing such kine as are here mentioned; that it might be more manifest that they were led by the God of Israel, if they went directly into his country. For untamed heifers are apt to run back, or to wander, and keep no certain and constant paths, as oxen accustomed to the yoke do; and therefore were very unlikely to keep the direct road to the land of Israel. And the taking their calves from them would excite natural affection in them, and cause them rather to return home to their calves than to go into a strange country.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain A new cart ... kine on which there hath…
A new cart ... kine on which there hath come no yoke - This was so ordered in reverence to the ark, and was a right and true feeling. See Mar 11:2; Mat 27:60. For the supposed special virtue of new things, see Jdg 16:7, Jdg 16:11.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain New cart. It would have been deemed irreverent to…
New cart. It would have been deemed irreverent to use one that had been employed for other profane purposes, 2 Kings vi. 3. --- Home. All these circumstances tended to prevent the ark from being conveyed home, (Calmet) unless Providence interfered.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain make a new cart--Their object in making a new…
make a new cart--Their object in making a new one for the purpose seems to have been not only for cleanliness and neatness, but from an impression that there would have been an impropriety in using one that had been applied to meaner or more common services. It appears to have been a covered wagon (see on Sa2 6:3).
two milch kine--Such untrained heifers, wanton and vagrant, would pursue no certain and regular path, like those accustomed to the yoke, and therefore were most unlikely of their own spontaneous motion to prosecute the direct road to the land of Israel.
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bring their calves home from them--The strong natural affection of the dams might be supposed to stimulate their return homewards, rather than direct their steps in a foreign country.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. A new cart — Compare 2Sa_6:3. An old…
7. A new cart — Compare 2Sa_6:3. An old vehicle, or one used for meaner purposes, would not accord with the sacredness of the ark.
Two milch kine, (cows,) on which… no yoke — And therefore not likely, in the natural course of things, to be at once docile and tractable.
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Bring their calves home from them — Which would add still more to the difficulty of drawing them away from their own fields.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. Now therefore make, &c.] Heb. “And now take…
7. Now therefore make, &c.] Heb. “And now take and make a new cart” = set to work to make. Cp. 2Sa_18:18. The use of a new cart (cp. 2Sa_6:3) and unyoked kine (Num_19:2; Deu_21:3-4) was a natural mark of reverence.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) Now therefore make a new cart.—The note here…
(7) Now therefore make a new cart.—The note here in the Speaker’s Commentary is interesting. “This was so ordered in reverence to the Ark, and was a right and true feeling. (See Num_19:2; 2Sa_6:3.) So our Lord rode on an ass ‘whereon never man sat’ (Mar_11:2), and His holy body was laid in Joseph’s ‘new tomb, wherein never man before was laid’ (Mat_27:60; Luk_23:53). For the supposed peculiar virtue of new things, see Jdg_16:7-11.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Make a new cart, and take, etc. The Hebrew…
Make a new cart, and take, etc. The Hebrew is, "Now take and make you a new cart, and two milch kine." The transposition of the A.V throws undue stress upon the verb make, whereas the Hebrew simply means that both the cart was to be new, and the heifers untrained and unbroken to the yoke. Both these were marks of reverence. Nothing was to be employed in God"s service which had been previously used for baser purposes. (comp. Mar_11:2) No animal was deemed fit for sacrifice which had laboured in the field. The separation of the kine from their calves was for the purpose of demonstrating whether the plague after all was supernatural, and it is remarkable what great care the Philistine priests take against confounding the extraordinary with the Divine. If, however, the kine act in a manner contrary to nature, their last doubt will be removed.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 two nursing cows
two nursing cows
"two cows that have calves that are still drinking milk"
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Then send it off and let it go its own way
Normally the two cows would head back home to their calves.
if it goes ... to Beth Shemesh, then it is Yahweh
It is unlikely that the cows would choose to wander to Beth Shemesh when their calves are back in the Philistine area.
translationWords
cow
yoke
ark of the covenant
Yahweh
Beth Shemesh
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 6:7 shut their calves away: If the cows went…
6:7 shut their calves away: If the cows went against their maternal nature and left their calves to take the Ark to Israel, it would prove that the plague was from Israel’s God (6:9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.