Why this story matters

(commentary on 1 Samuel 4-6)

(Page 4 of 4)

How many men were really killed?

A footnote in the New International Version acknowledges that most Hebrew manuscripts say that 50,070 men were killed, but modern scholarship suggests the figure may only be 70. Literally the text reads “seventy men, fifty thousand men”. The phrase isn't very clear and there are a couple of problems with the idea of fifty thousand. First, this seems high for a small town like Beth Shemesh. And second, it's hard  to see how fifty thousand men could look inside the ark at more or less the same time.

Because of these problems, and perhaps because the slaughter of 50,070 people seems pretty brutal, other interpretations have been offered by apologists. Some have even suggested it should read 70 men and 50 oxen, but why would Yahweh want to slaughter 50 poor oxen because some men were foolish enough to look into the ark?

Here are some examples of the confusing and conflicting interpretations of 1 Samuel 6:19 given in different Bibles:

"He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men" - New American Standard Bible

“But the Lord killed seventy men from Beth-shemesh”- New Living Translation

“the Lord killed 70 men and 50 oxen” - (alternate version in footnote of the NLT)

“He smiteth among the people seventy men -- fifty chief men” - Young's Literal Translation

"and he slew of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the common people" - Douay-Rheims Bible

“he smote of the people fifty thousand and three score and ten men”- King James Version

"He struck down 70 men [out of] 50,000 men" - Holman's Christian Standard Bible

"he smote of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand men" -American Standard Version

Many conservative Christians favor the King James Version. They adamantly maintain that the correct figure is 50,070, and they consider modern attempts to minimize the slaughter to be a watering down of God’s “righteous anger". To bolster their claim, they point out that in the beginning of the story, where 30,000 Israelites are killed in battle, the author calls this a “great slaughter.” He also calls the killing of the men of Beth Shemesh a great slaughter. By comparison to 30,000, a figure of 70 could hardly be called a "great slaughter." Conservative Christians have a pretty good point here.

Regardless of the exact figure, the people see this as a great tragedy. In fact the people of Beth Shemesh are so sad and frightened that they beg for God’s holy Ark to be taken away so that God doesn’t kill any more of their friends and family: “No other God is like the LORD! Who can go near him and still live? We'll have to send the chest away from here” (1 Samuel 6:20 CEV). So they ask people from another town to come and take it away.

Conclusion

Yahweh is certainly a terrifying being and, according to this and other examples from the series, he appears more than a little petulant as well. He may rightly be upset with the conduct of Eli’s two sons, but why should 34,000 soldiers be killed because of the behavior of two individuals? And as for the plagues, there are surely less painful options he could have chosen. One simple solution would have been to have the ark lift off the ground, float 20ft into the air, and slowly head back to the Israelites. This would have proven Yahweh’s greatness without all the pain, misery, and death. The text states plainly that the fatal groin tumors were struck on both old and young (1 Samuel 5:9). But the young Philistine boys, girls, and little toddlers hadn't done anything wrong. Is it really a good god that would give children a form of cancer? If you think Yahweh did a good thing here, try visiting a children's cancer ward. And finally, slaughtering lots of men, whether it be 50, 070 or even just 70, because they got carried away with excitement and looked into the ark seems even more cruel. Surely it's more likely that these plagues were ascribed to an angry deity by an ancient story teller and not really dished out by a kind, merciful and perfect deity. These actions are surely far from perfect.

END OF COMMENTARY

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