Why Was the Ark Taken/2

Why Was the Ark Taken?

Exegetical Approaches

This page is a stub.
Please contact us if you would like to assist in its development.

Taking the Ark to Battle

The Children of Israel sinned by taking the ark to battle.

Sources: Yerushalmi ShekalimShekalim 6:1About the Yerushalmi, RashiDevarim 10:1About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, Abarbanel #3Shemuel I 4:41About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, Malbim #3Shemuel I 4:3-4About R. Meir Leibush Weiser

Was this forbidden? There are many verses in Tanakh which imply that it is permitted to take the ark to battle, making this approach difficult.¹ These commentators respond to this argument in one of two ways:

• Wrong ark – Talmud Yerushalmi and Rashi claim that there were two arks, only one of which was permitted to be taken to war, while the other was supposed to stay in the Mishkan.² The people sinned in that they took the wrong ark to battle.
• No Divine permission – Abarbanel and Malbim suggest that the people were only allowed to take the ark to war with explicit Divine permission.  In our chapter this was lacking.

"וַיִּשְׁלַח הָעָם שִׁלֹה וַיִּשְׂאוּ מִשָּׁם אֵת אֲרוֹן" – Malbim attempts to prove from this phrase that the decision to take the Aron was that of the nation alone (וַיִּשְׁלַח הָעָם) and that they did not consult either Shemuel or Eli, as they were required.

"אֲרוֹן בְּרִית י"י צְבָאוֹת יֹשֵׁב הַכְּרֻבִים" – This description of the ark as being "יֹשֵׁב הַכְּרֻבִים" is found only here and in

Initial defeat in battle – This approach has difficulty explaining the deaths which occurred in the first stage of the battle before the ark was brought.  At that point the nation had not yet sinned, so they should not have been deserving of defeat.

Measure for measure punishment – The singular punishment of the ark being captured by the Philistines can be viewed as a measure for measure punishment for the nation's having wrongfully taken it to war.

References to Shiloh's destruction – In later references back to the destruction of Shiloh, the verses never blame the nation's taking of the ark to battle as the reason for Hashem's decision.  This position might claim that though the nation suffered defeat and the ark was taken, Shiloh as a whole was not yet destroyed during this war.³  Its destruction, thus, might have been for entirely different reasons.

Magnitude of defeat

Wrong Worship

The severe defeat resulted from the nation's sinning in the area of religious worship.

Worship of Foreign Gods

The nation was punished for their idolatrous ways.

Sources: RadakShemuel I 4:4About R. David Kimchi,⁴ Abarbanel #1Shemuel I 4:41About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, Malbim #1Shemuel I 4:3-4About R. Meir Leibush Weiser

Evidence of idolatry – Though the opening chapters of Sefer Shemuel do not speak of idolatry,⁵ these sources find evidence for it elsewhere:

• Shofetim 18 – Abarbanel and Malbim point to the idol of Michah as evidence of the nation's sinning in this regard during this era, as Shofetim 18:31 notes that Mikhah's idol existed for as long as the Mishkan was in Shiloh.
• Shemuel I 7 – Abarbanel also points to Chapter 7 which speaks of Shemuel's calling on the nation to rid itself of foreign gods, telling them that if they do so they will be victorious over the Philistines.  This suggests that until that moment, they had been worshiping idolatry and that it was the reason for the defeat described in Chapter 4.
• Yirmeyahu 7 – Yirmeyahu compares the destruction of Shiloh to that of the impending destruction of the Mikdash, implying that the reason for both was one and the same. Chief among the sins listed as causes for the latter's destruction is treachery against Hashem and straying after foreign gods, suggesting that this was prevalent in Shiloh as well.
• Tehillim 78 – The psalmist also explains that Shiloh was destroyed due to the worshiping of idols ("יַּכְעִיסוּהוּ בְּבָמוֹתָם וּבִפְסִילֵיהֶם יַקְנִיאוּהוּ").

"וַיְהִי דְבַר שְׁמוּאֵל לְכׇל יִשְׂרָאֵל" – Radak claims that this verse teaches that the nation went to battle at the behest of Shemuel,⁶ and that Hashem intentionally urged them to war in order to punish them.⁷  This would support the idea that the people sinned not during the battle itself (as claimed by the above approach) but beforehand. 

Why this specific punishment? While subjugation to an enemy is often the punishment for idolatry⁸ it is not clear why in this case specifically, the ark was also taken.  Abarbanel attempts to address this by citing Vayikra 26:19 which says that the punishment for continuously not listening to Hashem's commandments⁹ is that He will shatter the "pride of the nation".  He claims that this "pride" might refer to the ark.

The Ark by the Philistines – In allowing the Philistines to capture the ark, there was a danger lest the nation conclude that the event occurred because the Philistine gods were more powerful than Hashem.  If so, the punishment would have backfired, leading the nation not to repent but to instead turn to even more idolatry.  Hashem, thus, dispelled any such notion by proving the Philistine gods worthless and having Dagon fall and break.

Improper Cultic Practices

The Children of Israel believed that the ark itself would ensure their victory, forgetting that only Hashem controls their destiny, and He does so according to their merits.

Sources: Abarbanel #4Shemuel I 4:41About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, Malbim #2Shemuel I 4:3-4About R. Meir Leibush Weiser, Prof. Yehuda Elitzur¹⁰

Evidence of  Mistaken Attitude

• "וְיֹשִׁעֵנוּ מִכַּף אֹיְבֵינוּ" – The nation's mistaken attitude towards the ark is apparent in their decision to bring the ark to battle so that "it" might save them ( "נִקְחָה אֵלֵינוּ מִשִּׁלֹה אֶת אֲרוֹן בְּרִית י"י... וְיֹשִׁעֵנוּ מִכַּף אֹיְבֵינוּ").  They do not pray to Hashem that He save them, but assume that the ark itself will provide victory. 
• Contrast to Philistines – The error is highlighted when the nation's reaction to the ark is contrasted with that of the Philistines.  Upon the ark's arrival in the camp, the Philistines cry out: "בָּא אֱלֹהִים אֶל הַמַּחֲנֶה... אוֹי לָנוּ מִי יַצִּילֵנוּ מִיַּד הָאֱלֹהִים הָאַדִּירִים הָאֵלֶּה".  Ironically, only they are the ones to recognize that behind the ark stands Hashem, and it is Hashem whom one must fear, not the ark itself.
• Allusions to the Exodus – In 4:8 and 6:6 the Philistines explicitly warn each other of Hashem's wondrous punishment of the Egyptians, the purpose of which was to teach the Egyptians "so that you shall know that I am your God".¹¹  This is the same message that needs to be taught here: recognition of Hashem (and not his symbols) as the supreme power.

Later references to Shiloh's destruction – Much of Yirmeyahu 7 focuses on the nation's wrong belief that the Mikdash is invincible and would always protect the people regardless of their actions.¹² To prove his point, Yirmeyahu points to the destruction of Shiloh.  The comparison suggests that in both stories the nation's sin was identical: forgetting that cultic objects are purely symbolic and power lies not in them but Hashem.

Victory in Shemuel I 7 – The many points of contact between the wars of Chapter 4 and Chapter 7 might further support this reading of the sin. Both involve wars between Israel and the Philistines that take place at the site Even Ha'ezer.  However, while in the former the people say "let us take the ark and it will save us("נִקְחָה ... אֶת אֲרוֹן... וְיֹשִׁעֵנוּ") in they pray to Hashem that He may save them.  As such, in place of the Israelites being defeated (וַיִּנָּגֶף יִשְׂרָאֵל), it is the Philistines who lose in Chapter 7 ("וַיִּנָּגְפוּ לִפְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל").  Chapter 7, thus, provides a model of correct worship, crying to Hashem and acts of repentance, to correct the corrupted worship of Chapter 4.

Measure for measure punishment – The capture of the ark served both to punish the people and correct their misconceptions. They believed the ark to be all powerful, so Hashem taught them that not only did it not have the power to save them, it could not even save itself.

Initial defeat – This approach might account for the deaths of the first four thousand people (before binging the ark to battle) by saying that the nation's hopes in the ark merely reflected a problem that already existed.

Shiloh's destruction

Ark in Philistine land

Sins of Eli's Sons

Only Eli's sons sinned, but this caused the defeat of the whole nation.

Sources: Seder Eliyahu Rabbah12About Seder Eliyahu, Abarbanel #2Shemuel I 4:41About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, Malbim #4Shemuel I 4:3-4About R. Meir Leibush Weiser

Shemuel's prophecy in Chapter 3 – These commentators use the prophecy of Shemuel in the previous chapter as a proof that Hashem was going to cause the defeat of the nation due to the sins of Eli's sons. Additionally, the first verse of Chapter 4 may refer to Shemuel's earlier prophecy regarding the sons of Eli.

Eli's sons bringing of the ark – The Malbim suggests that the mention of Eli's sons being next to the ark when it was taken shows that it was taken as a result of their sins.

Mentioning of the sin – This is the only sin which is explicitly mentioned in the opening chapters of Sefer Shemuel.

Collective punishment – The main problem with this approach is that the whole nation is being punished for the sins of only two people. However, this is not the only case in Tanakh where this occurs.¹³

¹ For example, in Bemidbar 10:35-36, Moshe speaks of the ark traveling in front of the camp and vanquishing Israel's enemies and in Bemidbar 31:6 Pinchas takes the "holy vessels" to war against Midyan.  Similarly, in Yehoshua 6, the ark plays a role in the battle of Yericho, and in Shemuel II 11:11, Uriyah tells David that he feels uncomfortable sleeping in his home while the ark is at battle.  In addition the very name, "אֲרוֹן בְּרִית י"י צְבָאוֹת" might further suggest that it was meant to play a military role.

² Rashi explains that the ark which went to battle was the wooden one made by Moshe when he went to get the Tablets, as described in Devarim 10.  The other ark was the golden one made by Bezalel when he constructed all the vessels of the Tabernacle.  It was supposed to remain in the Mishkan.  The Yerushalmi says that the former held the broken tablets, while the latter housed the full ones.

³ See Shemuel I 14:3 which mentions Achiyah the priest wearing the Efod "in Shiloh", suggesting that Shiloh was still a center of priestly activity during Shaul's reign.  See, though, Radak and Ralbag who maintain that the words "in Shiloh" in the verse refer not back to Achiyah who is mentioned at the beginning of the verse, but only to the immediately preceding word, Eli. As such the verse would just be saying that Eli had presided in Shiloh, but nothing about Ahiyah's abode, allowing for the possibility that Shiloh indeed had been destroyed in our chapter.

⁴ Radak combines this approach with that below, saying that both the nation and Benei Eli were guilty.

⁵ In contrast to the Books of Shofetim and Melakhim, Sefer Shemuel only speaks of the nation worshiping foreign gods once, in Shemuel I Chapter 7.

⁶ Cf. Ralbag who disagrees and even suggests that the fact that the nation did not ask Hashem before fighting is what caused their defeat. According to him, the phrase "וַיְהִי דְבַר שְׁמוּאֵל לְכׇל יִשְׂרָאֵל" means that when the nation went to battle Shemuel's prophecy regarding Eli's family came true.

⁷ Radak compares it to the battle of Givah in Shofetim 20 where the people also ask Hashem before fighting, are answered, but nonetheless suffer defeat. There too, Hashem pushed them to battle only in order to punish them.

⁸ See, for example, the cycle of Sefer Shofetim in which every time the nation turns to foreign god, Hashem hands them over to a different foreign power.

⁹ Throughout the period of the judges until now the nation returned to idolatry over and over, leading to a more severe (and shocking) punishment than subjugation alone.

¹⁰ See "אבן העזר", Yisrael VeHamikra (Jerusalem, 2000): 96-102.

¹¹ This idea serves as a refrain throughout the opening chapters of Sefer Shemot.  See, for instance, Shemot: 6:7; 7:1-5; 7:17; 8:18; 10:2; and 14:18.

¹² Yirmeyahu tells the people not to rely on their false belief in the security of the Temple (אַל תִּבְטְחוּ לָכֶם אֶל דִּבְרֵי הַשֶּׁקֶר לֵאמֹר הֵיכַל י"י הֵיכַל י"י הֵיכַל י"י הֵמָּה), thinking that they can steal, murder and swear falsely, and then come to the Mikdash and be saved ("וַאֲמַרְתֶּם נִצַּלְנוּ"). He compares the Mikdash to a robber's den where thieves come to hide after committing their crimes. see also Yirmeyahu 3:16

¹³ See Yehoshua 7 where the entire nation is defeated in battle against Ai because of the sin of Akhan.