And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-je'arim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.
They sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim - `the city of woods,' called also Kirjath-baal (Joshua 15:60; Joshua 18:14; 1 Chronicles 13:6-7). This was the nearest town to Beth-shemesh, and being a place of strength, was a fitter place for the residence of the ark. The inhabitants belonging to the Hivite tetrapolis were the sacred servants of the sanctuary, and therefore the proper parties to whom, in the emergency, the custody of the ark should be committed. What a sad degeneracy for the Levitical house of Aaron in Beth-shemesh to be less fitted, from their ignorance and irreligion, to act as the servants of Yahweh than the Hivites of Kirjath-jearim! Beth-shemesh being in a low plain, and, Kirjath-jearim on a hill, explains the message, "Come ye down, and fetch it up to you."