Rashi on I Samuel Chapter 6
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בַּמֶּה נְשַׁלְּחֶנּוּ. בְּאֵיזֶה עִנְיָן נְשַׁלְּחֶנּוּ שֶׁלֹּא יֶחֱרֶה אַפּוֹ, וְיָשׁוּב חֲרוֹנוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ:
How we should send it back. In what manner should we send it away, so that He will not be angry, and so that His wrath will be removed from us.
אָשָׁם. הֶכֵּר דָּבָר שֶׁאַתֶּם מוֹדִים שֶׁמְּעַלְתֶּם בּוֹ:
A guilt-offering. As an indication that you confess that you have betrayed Him.
אָז. תֵּרָפְאוּ וְנוֹדַע לָכֶם שֶׁהוּא עָשָׂה, כִּי לָמָּה לֹא תָסוּר יָדוֹ אָז מִכֶּם:
Then you will be healed, and you will realize. That He did this, for why wouldn't His hand turn away from you then?
סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים. חֲמִשָּׁה הֵם, כְּמָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (יהושע יג:ג): ״הָעַזָּתִי וְהָאַשְׁדּוֹדִי הָאֶשְׁקְלוֹנִי הַגִּתִּי וְהָעֶקְרוֹנִי״:
Philistine rulers. They were five, as it is stated, "The Azites, the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites."¹
footnotes: ¹ Yehoshua 13:3.
עָלוֹת. מְנִיקוֹת:
Nursing cows. Nursing.
אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָלָה עֲלֵיהֶם עֹל. כָּל זֶה לְנִסָּיוֹן, שֶׁאֵין אֵלּוּ רְאוּיוֹת לִמְשׁוֹךְ, וְעוֹד שֶׁגּוֹעוֹת אַחַר בְּנֵיהֶם, וְאִם יְהֵא כֹּחַ בָּאָרוֹן שֶׁיּוֹלִיכוּ אוֹתוֹ מֵאֲלֵיהֶם, נֵדַע שֶׁהוּא עָשָׂה לָנוּ:
Which have not borne a yoke. All this is for the test. Since these cows are not capable of pulling [a load], and furthermore, they will yearn for their young. If the Ark will have the power to enable them to pull it by themselves, we shall know that He brought this upon us.
בָאַרְגָּז. שקריניי״ו בלע״ז:
In the box. Escrin in O. F.
כָּלוּ בַבָּיִת. לְשׁוֹן כֶּלֶא:
Confined in the house. 'כָּלוּ' is an expression of 'כֶּלֶא' [imprisonment].
וַיִּשַּׁרְנָה. הֲרֵי תֵּבָה זוֹ אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס, מְלַמֵּד שֶׁאַף הַוְּלָדוֹת הָיוּ אוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה: רֹנִּי רֹנִּי הַשִּׁטָּה הִתְנוֹפְפִי וכו׳, כִּדְאִיתָא בְּמַסֶּכֶת עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה (כד ב). וּלְפִי פְשׁוּטוֹ, ׳וַיִּשַּׁרְנָה׳, לְשׁוֹן ׳יְשַׁר דֶּרֶךְ׳, יָשָׁר הָיוּ הוֹלְכוֹת:
Set on a straight course. This word is a grammatical hermaphrodite.² This teaches us that even the young recited a song,³ "Sing aloud, sing aloud, O Ark of acacia wood! Exalt yourself…" as stated in Maseches Avodah Zorah.⁴ According to its simple meaning, 'וַיִשַּׁרְנָה' is an expression meaning 'straight,' i.e. they followed a straight path.
footnotes: ² The “י” of וַיִשַּׁרְנָה is the masculine form and the “נה” is indicative of the feminine form. ³ And, therefore, the combination of the masculine and feminine forms. ⁴ 24b. The cows literally sang an intelligible praise to ‘ה. They were given the miraculous power to sing just as Bilam’s donkey was given the power of speech in Bamidbar 22:28-30.
הָלֹךְ וְגָעוֹ. לְשׁוֹן צַעֲקַת בָּקָר, גְּעִיָּה:
Lowing as they walked. This is an expression of the cry [גְּעִיָה] of cattle.
בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ. יִשְׂרָאֵל הָיוּ שָׁם:
Beis Shemesh. Yisroel was there.⁵
footnotes: ⁵ Although בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ was one of the cities belonging to kohanim [Yehosua 21:16], nonetheless man Bnei Yisroel lived there and in adjacent areas.—Da’as Sofrim
וַיִּשְׂמְחוּ לִרְאוֹת. הָיוּ מִסְתַּכְּלִין הֵיאַךְ הוּא בָּא לְבַדּוֹ, וּמִשִּׂמְחָתָם נָהֲגוּ בּוֹ קַלּוּת רֹאשׁ, שֶׁלֹּא הָיוּ מִסְתַּכְּלִין בּוֹ בְּאֵימָה וְדֶרֶךְ כָּבוֹד:
And they rejoiced to see. They were going to see how it came alone, and out of their joy, they behaved with levity, for they did not gaze at it with awe and respect.⁶
footnotes: ⁶ They violated the commandment “and they shall not come in to see when the holy is being covered and [they will not] die,” in Bamidbar 4:20.
כְּפַר הַפְּרָזִי. כְּפָר שֶׁאֵין לוֹ חוֹמָה:
Open village. A village without a wall.
אָבֵל הַגְּדוֹלָה. הִיא הָאֶבֶן הַגְּדוֹלָה הָאֲמוּרָה לְמַעְלָה, שֶׁהַלָּמֶ״ד בָּאָה בִּמְקוֹם נוּ״ן, וְכֵן ׳נִשְׁכָּה׳ בִּמְקוֹם ׳לִשְׁכָּה׳, בְּסֵפֶר נְחֶמְיָה (יג:ז), וּמִפְּנֵי שֶׁאֵרַע לָהֶם אֲבֵלוּת בַּדָּבָר, קְרָאָהּ אָבֵל:
The large rock. This is the large rock previously mentioned, for the 'ל' comes in place of the 'נ' [in the word 'אָבֵל'], similar to 'נִשְׁכָּה' instead of 'לִשְׁכָּה' [chamber], in the book of Nechemyah.⁷ And because they experienced mourning there,⁸ they called it 'אָבֵל'.
footnotes: ⁷ 13:7. ⁸ See below verse 19.
שִׁבְעִים אִישׁ חֲמִשִּׁים אֶלֶף אִישׁ. תִּרְגֵּם יוֹנָתָן: ״וּקְטַל בְּסָבֵי עַמָּא שִׁבְעִין גַּבְרָא, וּבְקַהֲלָא חַמְשִׁין אַלְפֵי גַּבְרָא״. וְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ אָמְרוּ (סוטה לה ב): שִׁבְעִים אִישׁ, שֶׁכָּל אֶחָד הָיָה שָׁקוּל כַּחֲמִשִּׁים אֶלֶף, אוֹ חֲמִשִּׁים אֶלֶף אִישׁ, שֶׁכָּל אֶחָד שָׁקוּל כְּשִׁבְעִים סַנְהֶדְרִין:
Seventy men, fifty thousand men.⁹ Targum Yonoson renders, 'And He killed of the elders of the people seventy men, and of the community fifty thousand men.'⁹ Our Rabbis, however said, 'Seventy men, each of whom was equal to fifty thousand, or fifty thousand men each of whom was equal to the seventy of Sanhedrin.'¹⁰
footnotes: ⁹ Another opinion is that this figure also includes the number of Philistines that were killed as a result of their irreverence towards the Ark. ¹⁰ Maseches Sotah 35b.