Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 6:2

"And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with the ark of Jehovah? show us wherewith we shall sent it to its place." — 1 Samuel 6:2 (ASV)

What shall we do to the ark of the Lord? — During the seven months that followed the great Philistine victory of Aphek, the Ark remained in the country of Israel's enemies. It was moved from temple to temple in the various cities, but the same doom always followed it.

The inhabitants of the city where the Ark was were smitten with deadly abscesses. In addition, according to the statement in 1 Samuel 6:5, a plague of field mice probably desolated the land during the same period.

In their distress, the Philistine rulers, determining to get rid of the fatal trophy of which they were once so proud, consulted their priests and diviners as to the most graceful and effective way of returning the captured Hebrew emblem. The “diviners” in the counsels of all the nations of antiquity occupy a distinguished place. We hear of them under different designations, such as magicians, sorcerers, soothsayers, augurs, oracles, etc.

They plied their strange trade, now with the aid of arrows, now with the entrails of slain animals, now with observation of the stars, now with the watching of natural signs, the flight of birds, etc. These men, who in one form or another dabbled in occult science, and perhaps here and there were aided by evil and unclean spirits, but who more frequently traded on the credulity and superstition of their fellows, occupied a considerable position among the nations of antiquity.

We hear of them frequently among the Israelites, who seem to have adopted this class of advisers from the heathen nations around them. Isaiah (Isaiah 3:2) specially mentions them and considers these diviners among the leading orders of the State. The English Version, however, with singular inconsistency, renders the word in that same passage as “prudent;” possibly, it has been ingeniously suggested, owing to the translators being displeased at finding the professors of a forbidden art ranked so highly among the chosen people.

In the first verse, the Septuagint adds, "and the land swarmed with mice," another of the many explanatory additions so common in the Greek translation of the Hebrew.