Why Was the Ark Taken/2
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Why Was the Ark Taken?
Exegetical Approaches
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The Children of Israel's Sins
The entire nation sinned and was therefore punished.
Idolatry – General Sins
The Children of Israel were punished because of their idolatry and generally bad conduct.
Eliminating the idols in Shemuel I 7:2-4 – This approach uses the verses in Chapter 7 as a proof that only then they believed in Hashem and before they believed in idols and that is why Shemuel commands them to get rid of the idols. As a result they won in that battle right after while over here they lost.
Mentions of Shiloh in Other Places – All these verses (in Yirmeyahu 7:12-14, Yirmeyahu 26:3-6 and Tehillim 78:56-60) imply that Shiloh was destroyed because of idol worship that happened there. Yirmeyahu compares what will happen in the first temple destruction at his time to what already happened in Shiloh and it seems that the sins are the same.
The story of Michah's idol – The Abarbanel and Malbim bring the story of Michah's idol as an example for the Children of Israel's worshiping of idols. In Shofetim it mentions that the idol of Michah was there the whole time of Shiloh. This proves that there was idolatry all the way until Hashem destroys Shiloh.
Mentioning the sin – There is no mention of this sin in these chapters and only after and in Yirmeyahu and Tehillim this sin is mentioned. This is probably the reason that motivates other commentators not to take this approach.
Why was the ark taken – This approach mainly explains why the Children of Israel defeated though it is unclear why the ark had to be taken. Abarbanel tries to explain this by bringing a proof from Vayikra 26:19 that if you do not listen to the Hashem's commandments he will break what the Children of Israel are proud of which possibly is the ark.
Deaths before the bringing of the ark – These commentators have no problem with the 4000 people that died before the ark was brought to battle because for them the sin was from the beginning and not only when the ark was brought.
Battle Related Sins
There was a specific sin which happened in the battle itself that caused the defeat and the exile of the ark. There are a few possibilities as to what was that sin:
Not Asking Hashem Whether to Go to War
The Children of Israel did not ask Hashem if they should go to war.
Sources: Ralbag
Did they not ask – According to Radak actually Hashem commanded them to go to war and there was no need for the Children of Israel to ask if they should. This is how Radak explains the first words in the chapter that the speech of Shemuel came to all Israel to go to war. Ralbag in contrast explains those words in different way as part of the last chapter.
Other times in Tanakh – We lots of times do not hear of the Children of Israel asking if they should go to war.1 However we do hear in the last chapter of Shemuel I that Shaul dies in war because Hashem did not answer him and in Melakhim I 22 that Achav does not want to ask a prophet so he dies as oppose to Yehoshafat that does ask a prophet so he lives.
Motivation – It is unclear how Ralbag gets his approach especially since there are no verses that speak of that sin.
Why was the ark taken – This approach explains the defeat but it is unclear why the ark was taken.
Winning in Shemuel I 7 – According to Ralbag possibly in Shemuel I 7 they win since they do ask Hashem if they should go to war. This may be how one can explain Shemuel I 7:9 were Shemuel calls to Hashem that he should save the Children of Israel and Hashem answers him.
Mentions of Shiloh in Other Places – Ralbag might explain that the idolatry sins mentioned in those verses might be general sins that they did at that time though that's not why the ark was taken and this battle was defeated.
Taking Ark to Battle
The Children of Israel sinned by taking the ark to battle.
Real problem – It is unclear from the verses in Tanakh if this is a real problem or not. There are a lot of verses where it seems that the Children of Israel do take the ark to battle and they are not defeated. The ark takes a role in the battle against Yericho, Moshe says when the ark is moving that Hashem's enemies should be destroyed, Pinchas takes the holy vessels which might be the ark to the war against Midyan, and Uriyah tells David that he cant sleep in his home when the ark is in battle. These verses imply that one can take the ark to war and not like this approach. The commentators explain in two ways this contradiction:
- Talmud Yerushalmi and Rashi explain that one was allowed to take the ark but there were two arks that were made and only one went to war with them and the second stayed and they only took it out here.
- Abarbanel and Malbim on the other hand explain that in general one is not allowed to take the ark to war and only when there is permission. Over here they did not ask Shemuel or the Urim VeTumim.
Mentions of Shiloh in Other Places – It is possible to say that these verses that speak of idolatry sins in Shiloh are viewing the sin of taking the ark as bad as idolatry. One may also explain that the idolatry and destruction of Shiloh are two separate things.
Deaths before the sin – This approach has a difficulty with all the deaths before the ark was brought and there was not any sin.
Attitude Toward Ark
The Children of Israel believed that the ark itself would ensure their victory, and they forgot that Hashem controls their destiny.
The sin – These commentators use a few verses in the chapter to show that this is what the Children of Israel believed.
- In verse 3 the Elders of the nation ask why Hashem defeated them and then say that they should bring the ark and it itself will save us from are enemies.
- Then in verse 5 they use the shout of the Children of Israel to show that they only believed in physical part of the ark and they did not cry to Hashem that he should help them.
Winning is Shemuel I 7 – Prof. Elitzur suggests in his article that Tanakh is brining these two battles against the Philistines from all to compare them. He says that Tanakh is showing that only if one believes in Hashem and cries out to him will it help to win the war but if one believes in the ark that it by it self does it one would not win.
Mentions of Shiloh in other places – In Yirmeyahu 7 we hear that the Children of Israel are believing in The Mikdash and are trusting in what they lie to them that the Heikhal will save them. Then after Yirmeyahu mentions the destruction of Shiloh and it is possible that the same sins are happening in the time of Yirmeyahu and the time of Shiloh. Also the belief in the ark and not in Hashem could be similar to idolatry and possibly that is what Yirmeyahu and Tehillim are talking about when they mention Shiloh.
Deaths before the sin – The deaths of the 4000 people that died before the actual sin of bringing the ark are hard to explain but possibly one can say that from the beginning they were not believing that Hashem would save them rather something else.
Eli's Sons' Sins
Only Eli's sons sinned, but this caused the defeat of the whole nation.
Shemuel's prophecy in last chapter – These commentators use the prophecy of Shemuel in last chapter as a proof that Hashem was going to make the defeat due to Eli's sons' sins. Also the first verse in the chapter that refers back according to some approaches to Shemuel's prophecy shows that this war itself is happening as a fulfillment to what Hashem told Shemuel will happen because of Eli's children's sins.
Eli's sons bringing the ark – The Malbim also suggests that the mentioning of Eli's sons being right next to the ark when it was taken shows that the ark was taken as a result of Eli's sons sins and it is possible that the whole defeat was also as a result for the same sin.
Mentioning of the Sin – This is the only clear sin that is mentioned in last few chapters and this might prompt these commentators to take this approach.
Collective punishment – The main problem with this approach is that there are only two people that are sinning and the whole nation is being defeated for that. Though this is not the only case in Tanakh were it happens:
- The famous case is in Yehoshua 7 were Achan takes from the cheirem and the nation is defeated in their battle against the Ai.
- Hashem tells Moshe and Aharon in Bemidbar 16 that he is going to get rid of the nation and Moshe asks him that he is going to punish the hole nation for a sin of one person.
