He struck of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Yahweh, he struck of the people fifty thousand seventy men; and the people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter.
The meaning of this death of 70 men of Beth-shemesh was clear enough. "The Israelites, no less than the Philistines, must reverence the presence of Jehovah their God."[25]