Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
The universal custom among ancient pagan peoples was to take any captured idols or other representations of their gods and to display them as trophies of victory in the shrines and temples of their false deities. To some extent, this custom even prevailed among the Israelites, as, for example, when David delivered the sword of Goliath to the priests at Nob.