1 Samuel 6:14
ESV
The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.
NIV
The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.
NASB
And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stopped there where there was a large stone; and they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.
CSB
The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.
NLT
The cart came into the field of a man named Joshua and stopped beside a large rock. So the people broke up the wood of the cart for a fire and killed the cows and sacrificed them to the Lord as a burnt offering.
KJV
And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the Lord.
NKJV
Then the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there; a large stone was there. So they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.
What does 1 Samuel 6:14 mean?
The two milk cows pulling the cart carrying the ark of the Lord (Exodus 25:10–16) finally come to a stop on their own in the field of a man named Joshua outside of the town of Beth-shemesh (1 Samuel 6:7–12). The people gathered in the valley for the wheat harvest are overwhelmed with joy that the ark of the Lord has returned to Israel after seven months in the hands of the Philistines (1 Samuel 6:1, 13).The people feel the need to worship the Lord immediately, so they slaughter the two milk cows and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord on a large stone in the field, using the wood from the cart as fuel.
This was not the normal procedure for making an offering to the Lord. For one thing, the Law called for male cows to be sacrificed, not milk cows (Leviticus 1:3). It seems that spontaneous sacrifices were made to the Lord during this time, and the Lord generally received them. However, it will soon become clear that the people of Beth-shemesh treated the ark without proper respect and reverence in this moment (1 Samuel 6:19). Neither sincerity nor gratitude are an excuse for violating God's Law.
