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.

1 SAMUEL 6:4KJV
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1 Samuel 6:4 (KJV)

What does 1 Samuel 6:4 mean?

1 Samuel 6:4 describes how the Philistines asked what kind of offering they should send back to Israel’s God to make up for taking the Ark. The Philistines’ advisors told them to send five golden images of the tumors (emerods) and five golden mice, matching the number of Philistine rulers, because the same plague had struck all of them.

In this verse, the Philistines are speaking to their own priests and diviners, trying to figure out how to return the Ark of the Covenant after suffering from plagues. The advisors suggest a “trespass offering” that symbolically represents both the physical affliction (tumors) and the destruction (mice) that had affected all five Philistine cities and their leaders.

The Hebrew behind 1 Samuel 6:4

  • “Offering” (אָשָׁם, ’asham): This word means a guilt or trespass offering, highlighting that the Philistines saw their action as an offense needing atonement, not just a simple mistake.
  • “Emerods” (טְחֹרִים, techorim): This word refers to the tumors or swellings that struck the Philistines, showing the offering was shaped to match their specific suffering.
  • “Mice” (עַכְבָּר, akhbar): The use of this word points to the belief that mice (or rats) were part of the plague, possibly destroying their crops, so the offering included both what hurt their bodies and their land.
  • “Lords” (סֶרֶן, seren): This word refers to the five rulers of the Philistine cities, making clear that the offering was meant to cover every leader and region affected.

Why 1 Samuel 6:4 matters

  • 1 Samuel 6:4 shows that the Philistines recognized the plagues as punishment from Israel’s God and tried to make amends in a way that matched their understanding of guilt and restitution.
  • The verse helps explain why the Philistines sent such specific and unusual objects—golden tumors and mice—showing their attempt to directly address the causes of their suffering.
  • This verse connects to the larger story by illustrating the Philistines’ fear and respect for the power of the Ark, and how they sought advice from their own religious leaders to resolve their crisis.

Where else these words appear

“mice” Hebrew H5909 · used in 6 verses

  • Leviticus 11:29 These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind,
  • 1 Samuel 6:5 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 6:18 And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.

“emerods” Hebrew H2914 · used in 8 verses

  • Deuteronomy 28:27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
  • 1 Samuel 5:9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
  • 1 Samuel 6:5 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.

“emerods” Hebrew H6076 · used in 9 verses

  • Deuteronomy 28:27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
  • 1 Samuel 5:9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
  • 2 Kings 5:24 And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed.

“lords” Hebrew H5633 · used in 20 verses

  • Joshua 13:3 From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites:
  • Judges 16:27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
  • 1 Samuel 6:18 And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.