What were the emerods God afflicted the Philistines with in 1 Samuel 5?

Hemorrhoids or tumours. One of the diseases of the Egyptians, and with which the Philistines were smitten when they had possession of the ark. They returned 'images' of the same with the ark. Deut. 28:27; 1 Sam. 5:6-12; 1 Sam. 6:4-17.

God's judgment is not confined to the overthrow of Dagon; He will touch not merely the idolatry of the people, but their prosperity and lives as well. As He had previously in Egypt not only-poured out His plagues upon the people, but upon their sources of livelihood, so He does here. His hand was laid heavily upon them and He smote them with emerods, a plague similar, probably, to the boils of Egypt and to what is now known as the Bubonic plague, repulsive and deadly in its effects. He had said: "Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment" (Ex. 12:12), making the infliction so sweeping that neither people nor gods could ever again be pointed to as having been immune. So He would do in the land of the Philistines, no less effectually, if on a smaller scale, stopping every possible opportunity for unbelief to lift its head again.

And do we not see mercy in all this? Had Dagon merely been overthrown, the unbelief of the people and their half pity for their god would have found some ready excuse which would have enabled them to patch up their pride and their wounded god at the same time and go on with the old idolatry but if the judgment affects their property as well, and if the little mice, so contemptibly insignificant, can yet ravage their fields so as to rob them of the staff of life, they are forced to acknowledge here a hand whose weight they begin to feel and from under whose chastening they cannot escape. And when the blow comes still nearer and the stroke of God is felt upon their own bodies, with the dead all about them, surely they must be compelled to bow and own the rod.

(2) The Lord's hand falls, therefore, next upon the Philistines themselves; and they are smitten with boils or tumors, which cannot be, apparently, more clearly defined. As with the similar plague in Egypt (Ex. 9:8-12, n.), the external plague may naturally symbolize and lay bare the inward condition, the corruption which consumes the sinner, and underlies all his departure from God. Unwilling to humble themselves fully under Jehovah's hand, they send the ark about from one place to another, only spreading the evil wherever it goes, until they end the unequal conflict by its restoration to the Israelite territory.

But not only did their idol suffer at the hand of God: the people themselves were afflicted by an epidemic of painful hemorrhoids, or boils. The evidence was so clear that this was all connected with the presence of the ark among them that they wanted this removed somewhere else immediately. They decide on Gath, further inland from Ashdod, perhaps because it had no temple of Dagon, as did Ashdod and Gaza. Where it was put in Gath we are not told, but its presence in the city was quickly felt by a great destruction and an epidemic of hemorrhoids that left the whole city in consternation.

Nor was that all. The Lord's hand was heavy on the men of the place. He destroyed them, and smote them with tumours, even Ashdod, and the borders thereof (v. 6). Now this was not a general epidemic visiting the land. The tumours only attacked those where the Ark was held captive. God was teaching the Ashdodites that His presence and power were solemn realities. Aware of it - made aware in this distressing way - they desired to be rid of the presence of the Ark. So long as it remained so long would disease and death make havoc among them. In an agony of distress they said, "The Ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for His hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our God." What a confession from the conquerors of the Israelites!

Nor was this all that was wrought. "But the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof. And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god." And so they carry about the ark from one place to another. And then the hand of Jehovah is stretched out in every place among the enemies of Jehovah, and we are told, "he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. Therefore 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 about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people." What could be a more illustrious testimony to the living power as well as to the truth of the God of Israel than this very fact? Granted that Israel ought to be in the dust; granted that they were incapable of striking a blow; granted that they were smitten most heavily when they most dishonoured the ark of Jehovah. But God watched over His own ark, which Israel's sin had so wantonly betrayed and lost; and the fact was that so marked a destruction went forth that all the lords of the Philistines could not but feel their utter weakness in the presence of the God of Israel. "And the cry of the city," we are told, "went up to heaven."

The presence of the ark also draws judgment down on the men who had thought to prevail over God, as we have said. For the Philistines there is misery and death. Anguish, secret pain, a shameful sore, the result of divine wrath (cf. Deut. 28:27) fall on them — ”the cry of the city went up to heaven.” It went up to a heaven which was empty for them, while God was in their midst without their realizing it, judging them on earth. The result is, not that they turn to God, but that they send Him away, hoping to rid themselves of Him. At the same time we see here the egoism that characterizes the world. As long as Ashdod is undisturbed, what does it matter that Gath be tormented? As long as Gath is undisturbed, what does it matter that Ekron be tormented? They do not want to die, but that does not prevent death, accompanied by deadly dismay, from coming (vv. 11-12).

So they make to themselves images, five golden emerods and five golden mice — both things unclean — the emerods, unclean in themselves, like a running sore; and the mice, unclean ceremonially (see Lev. 11:29; Isa. 66:17). Thus, in their blindness, instead of propitiating, they were offering insult to the Holy One of Israel with their unclean offering. Therefore it is, "peradventure He will lighten his hand from off you."

Death could not hold the Lord Jesus any more than could the Philistines the ark of Jehovah; they were compelled to send it away, remembering what happened to Pharaoh, who hardened his heart when plagued by the God of Israel. On the advice of the priests and diviners they offered a trespass offering, five golden mice and five golden emerods, according to the number of the five lords of the Philistines, for God's hand had been, and still was, upon their lords as upon the people. The mice had destroyed their land, and the emerods had smitten their persons.

Nor is this the only means whereby God maintains His majesty. He has poured contempt on the idol; He will now deal in judgment with the idolaters. "The hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod." Many are destroyed and others are smitten with disease. In their distress the Philistines of Ashdod seek the counsel of their lords, who advise them to send the ark to Gath.

The city of Gath was famous as the dwelling place of the last of the Anakims — a race of giants (Joshua 11:21-22; 1 Sam. 17:4). However, the might of man proves to be of no avail against the power of God, for we read, "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" (1 Sam. 5:9).

Finally the ark is sent to Ekron, the seat of their idol Baalzebub — a god that was credited with the power to heal diseases — in the hope, it may be, that their god can bring relief from the scourge. Vain hope, for here again God's judgment falls with increased severity, for we read, "There was a deadly destruction throughout all the city: the hand of God was very heavy there." Thus God maintains His glory and manifests the impotency of demons to relieve men of chastisements.

How solemn the divine commentary of Psalm 78 on the events of this chapter. Having said of Israel, "Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation," the Psalmist states, "Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouts by reason of wine. And he smote His enemies in the hinder parts: He put them to perpetual reproach." If man, in his folly, seeks to identify the glory of God with idols, God will maintain His glory by judgment. Nevertheless, in judgment God remembers mercy, God is the Creator, and though His creatures may be sunk in darkness and idolatry, yet when they cry to Him in their distress, their cry will reach "up to heaven." Yet how often man takes occasion, by the providential character of God's dealings in judgment, to harden his heart against God. It was thus with the Philistines. Seven months are allowed to pass until, compelled by their desperate straits, they seek for some deliverance. Not only are the people smitten with disease but their land is marred with a plague of mice.