Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 6:14

"And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine for a burnt-offering unto Jehovah." — 1 Samuel 6:14 (ASV)

The field of Joshua, a Beth-shemite. —The great stone—most likely a mass of natural rock rising from the soil—was the reason the cart stopped there, since Beth-shemesh and its suburbs were a city of the priests (Joshua 21:16).

The presence of Levites, among whom were undoubtedly priests, was natural. These were, of course, the principal men of the city and its suburbs, and they were familiar with all sacrificial rites prescribed by the Law. The offering of these sacrifices at Beth-shemesh, although the Tabernacle had never been stationed there, was not a transgression against the Law, because the Ark of the Covenant was now present, the occasional throne of the glory-presence of the Eternal, before which the sacrifices were truly offered.