Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 5:11

"They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that is slay us not, and our people. For there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there." — 1 Samuel 5:11 (ASV)

Send away the ark. —The lords of the Philistines took a long time to make up their minds to get rid of this deadly trophy of their victory. They had grown up with an undefined awe of the “golden chest,” which, as they supposed, had so often in the days of the famous Hebrew conqueror, Joshua, led the armies of Israel to victory; and now at last it was their own. It was indeed a source of deep distress for them to surrender it to their enemies again; to see the historical sacred treasure of Israel, so long veiled in awe-inspiring mystery, at the feet of their fish-god idol, was a perpetual renewal for Philistia of the glorious triumph of Aphek, which avenged so many years of bitter humiliation.

The plague and misery which afflicted the cities of Philistia when the sacred Ark resided as an unhonored guest among them suggest many and grave thoughts. Is there not an unseen power always protecting God’s institutions, His ordinances, and His ritual, the sacred House dedicated to His solemn worship, the vessels of the sanctuary, the very lands and gold consecrated to His service, even though all these things, owing to the faults and errors of His servants, have apparently lost their holy and beneficial influence over the hearts and homes of men?

Does not this old, beloved story warn rash and careless souls against laying rough hands on any ark of the Lord, though the ark in question seem to be abandoned by God, and destitute of power and dignity?