In the previous chapter we saw the harsh blow that the nation of Israel absorbed: the Ark of God was taken captive, the two sons of Eli died, and Eli the Kohen fell and died. The chapter before us tells what happened to the Ark in the land of the Philistines. And the conclusion that emerges from it is explicit: whoever thought that the Ark was taken because of some supposed weakness will quickly discover that the entire campaign is being directed from Above. The Ark passes from city to city, and in every place it comes to, a harsh blow comes with it, until the Philistines themselves seek to be rid of it and return it to its place.
וּפְלִשְׁתִּים לָקְחוּ אֵת אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים וַיְבִאֻהוּ מֵאֶבֶן הָעֵזֶר אַשְׁדּוֹדָה׃ וַיִּקְחוּ פְלִשְׁתִּים אֶת־אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים וַיָּבִאוּ אֹתוֹ בֵּית דָּגוֹן וַיַּצִּיגוּ אֹתוֹ אֵצֶל דָּגוֹן׃ - And the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it from Even HaEzer to Ashdod. And the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it beside Dagon.
The Philistines transfer the Ark from Even HaEzer to Ashdod, and in Ashdod they had a house of idol worship. The idol was called "Dagon" because its form was the shape of a fish: from its navel downward the form of a fish, and from its navel upward the form of a man.
And why did they place the Ark of God specifically in the house of the idol? On this the Sages disagreed. Rabbi Yochanan says: they honored it. They said, this is a god and this is a god, let the god come and dwell beside the god. Reish Lakish disagrees and says: if they honored it, why were they punished? Rather, they disgraced it. They said, this one is victorious and this one is vanquished, let the vanquished come and be beside the victorious, as it were beneath the feet of Dagon. But already by the next morning it became clear to them who was the victorious one and who was the vanquished.
וַיַּשְׁכִּמוּ אַשְׁדּוֹדִים מִמׇּחֳרָת וְהִנֵּה דָגוֹן נֹפֵל לְפָנָיו אַרְצָה לִפְנֵי אֲרוֹן יְהֹוָה וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת־דָּגוֹן וַיָּשִׁבוּ אֹתוֹ לִמְקוֹמוֹ׃ - And the people of Ashdod rose early the next morning, and behold, Dagon had fallen upon its face to the ground before the Ark of Hashem, and they took Dagon and returned it to its place.
The Malbim explains: both of them, the Ark and Dagon, stood side by side on the side facing the entrance. If Dagon had fallen by chance, it would have fallen toward the side facing the entrance, on its face. But they saw that it fell "before it" - toward the side of the Ark and not toward the entrance, like one who kneels and bows to the Ark. When one sees such a thing, one understands that this is no accident.
And furthermore: a thing that falls, falls within the distance in which it stood. And here they saw that Dagon moved from its place and drew near to the Ark and there it fell, and this magnifies the miracle even more. Therefore it says "וַיָּשִׁבוּ אֹתוֹ לִמְקוֹמוֹ" - they had to return it to its place, for it had, as it were, gone from its place in order to kneel to the Ark.
וַיַּשְׁכִּמוּ בַבֹּקֶר מִמׇּחֳרָת וְהִנֵּה דָגוֹן נֹפֵל לְפָנָיו אַרְצָה לִפְנֵי אֲרוֹן יְהֹוָה וְרֹאשׁ דָּגוֹן וּשְׁתֵּי כַּפּוֹת יָדָיו כְּרֻתוֹת אֶל־הַמִּפְתָּן רַק דָּגוֹן נִשְׁאַר עָלָיו׃ - And they rose early in the morning the next day, and behold, Dagon had fallen upon its face to the ground before the Ark of Hashem, and the head of Dagon and the two palms of its hands were cut off upon the threshold, only Dagon's trunk remained on it.
That upper part which was in the shape of a man: his two hands cut off and his head cut off, and they were lying at the threshold. The Malbim says that a double miracle happened here: first, that Dagon again fell on his face toward the Ark as on the first day; and second, that his hands and head were cut off. The sequence of events: first he fell onto the threshold, and there his limbs were cut off, and afterward he fell toward the Ark.
עַל־כֵּן לֹא־יִדְרְכוּ כֹהֲנֵי דָגוֹן וְכׇל־הַבָּאִים בֵּית־דָּגוֹן עַל־מִפְתַּן דָּגוֹן בְּאַשְׁדּוֹד עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה׃ - Therefore the priests of Dagon and all who come into the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
Since they found on the threshold the head and the palms of the hands, they held the threshold to be a holy place. They thought that upon the threshold the victorious god, as it were, rested, and there Dagon bowed before him and his hands were cut off, and therefore they treated that place as holy and did not tread upon it.
וַתִּכְבַּד יַד־יְהֹוָה אֶל־הָאַשְׁדּוֹדִים וַיְשִׁמֵּם וַיַּךְ אֹתָם בַּטְּחֹרִים אֶת־אַשְׁדּוֹד וְאֶת־גְּבוּלֶיהָ׃ - And the hand of Hashem was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and He devastated them and struck them with hemorrhoids, both Ashdod and its territory.
They saw the fragments of their god and did not understand the hint. They did not grasp that perhaps they should return the Ark to the people of Israel; after all, look what happened to their god. And since they were not satisfied with this blow, Hashem struck them with hemorrhoids. The written form is "ba'afolim" and the read form is "batechorim," and Chazal say that this is a name for the lower openings: a person would go to relieve himself and do his needs, and a weasel or a mouse would come, grab hold of his intestines and pull them out. A most severe and terrible plague.
וַיִּרְאוּ אַנְשֵׁי־אַשְׁדּוֹד כִּי־כֵן וְאָמְרוּ לֹא־יֵשֵׁב אֲרוֹן אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עִמָּנוּ כִּי־קָשְׁתָה יָדוֹ עָלֵינוּ וְעַל דָּגוֹן אֱלֹהֵינוּ׃ - And when the people of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The Ark of the God of Israel shall not remain with us, for His hand is harsh upon us and upon Dagon our god.
The people of Ashdod see the judgments they are receiving and say: we do not want it here, this is truly a mortal danger. His hand is harsh upon us and also upon Dagon our god.
וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ וַיַּאַסְפוּ אֶת־כׇּל־סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים אֲלֵיהֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ מַה־נַּעֲשֶׂה לַאֲרוֹן אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמְרוּ גַּת יִסֹּב אֲרוֹן אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּסֵּבּוּ אֶת־אֲרוֹן אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel? And they said, Let the Ark of the God of Israel be moved around to Gath. And they moved the Ark of the God of Israel around.
The lords said that this was nothing but chance, and perhaps the problem was not with the Ark but a local problem in Ashdod. And how would we know? We will move the Ark to another place: if we see that the troubles pursue the Ark, we will understand that the problem is with the Ark; and if the troubles remain here, apparently it is not because of the Ark. Therefore they chose to move it not to a nearby city but to Gath, which was far away, for if it were a natural illness, it would not spread over such a distance.
וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי הֵסַבּוּ אֹתוֹ וַתְּהִי יַד־יְהֹוָה בָּעִיר מְהוּמָה גְּדוֹלָה מְאֹד וַיַּךְ אֶת־אַנְשֵׁי הָעִיר מִקָּטֹן וְעַד־גָּדוֹל וַיִּשָּׂתְרוּ לָהֶם טְחֹרִים׃ - And it came to pass, after they had carried it around, that the hand of Hashem was against the city with a very great destruction, and He smote the people of the city, both small and great, and hemorrhoids broke out upon them.
After they moved the Ark to Gath, the fire of Hashem burned against them even more severely, in three ways: First, "a very great destruction" - fear and terror that fell upon them. Second, "both small and great" - initially in Ashdod not everyone was struck, but here the blow was general and severe. And third, "and hemorrhoids broke out upon them" - the hemorrhoids were hidden within their innards. What had previously been external now became internal, and the affliction became still harsher.
וַיְשַׁלְּחוּ אֶת־אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים עֶקְרוֹן וַיְהִי כְּבוֹא אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים עֶקְרוֹן וַיִּזְעֲקוּ הָעֶקְרֹנִים לֵאמֹר הֵסַבּוּ אֵלַי אֶת־אֲרוֹן אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לַהֲמִיתֵנִי וְאֶת־עַמִּי׃ - So they sent the Ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the Ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying: They have brought around to me the Ark of the God of Israel, to slay me and my people.
Notice the change: the people of Gath send the Ark to Ekron without gathering the lords. Since they saw that there was no benefit in the lords and their counsel, and that moving it from place to place did not help, they said: let us save only ourselves, let it leave here. The people of Ekron had already received information about what happens with this Ark, and so they immediately cried out: They have brought the Ark around to us to slay us and our people. For them it was a matter of principle that the Ark should not reach them at all, since they understood what troubles come along with it.
וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ וַיַּאַסְפוּ אֶת־כׇּל־סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיֹּאמְרוּ שַׁלְּחוּ אֶת־אֲרוֹן אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיָשֹׁב לִמְקוֹמוֹ וְלֹא־יָמִית אֹתִי וְאֶת־עַמִּי כִּי־הָיְתָה מְהוּמַת־מָוֶת בְּכׇל־הָעִיר כָּבְדָה מְאֹד יַד הָאֱלֹהִים שָׁם׃ - Therefore they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said: Send away the Ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it slay us not, and our people; for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
Now they do not ask to move the Ark to yet another city, but rather to send it away and return it to its place, for they saw that wherever it came, the trouble pursued it. "A deadly destruction throughout all the city" - the hand of God was heavy, and as soon as the Ark arrived, people would die immediately.
וְהָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר לֹא־מֵתוּ הֻכּוּ בַּטְּחֹרִים וַתַּעַל שַׁוְעַת הָעִיר הַשָּׁמָיִם׃ - And the men who did not die were smitten with the hemorrhoids; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
And even those who did not die did not escape: they were struck with hemorrhoids. A situation was created in which everyone was afflicted, some with death and some with hemorrhoids, until they cried out and their cry rose up to heaven. And how the matter ends we will see, God willing, in the next chapter.
The Philistines thought that their victory in war was a victory over the God of Israel, and they placed the Ark in the temple of Dagon (whether for honor or for disgrace, as in the dispute between Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish). But Dagon fell twice before the Ark, in a miracle that left no room for chance: once bowing to the side of the Ark after it had moved from its place, and a second time with its head and the palms of its hands cut off upon the threshold. When they failed to understand the hint, the plague of hemorrhoids came, and when the lords tried to "test" it by moving it to Gath, the affliction grew sevenfold worse and became internal and general. In Ekron they cried out in advance, and in the end all the lords gathered and decided to return the Ark to its place. The great lesson: the honor of Heaven does not depend on victories on the battlefield, and whoever does not read the first hint is forced to hear the next blow.