And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth-she'mesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.
Bethshemesh - i:e., 'house of the sun,' now Ain Shems (Robinson), a city of the priests (Joshua 21:16) in Judah, in the southeast border of Dan, lying in a beautiful and extensive valley. Josephus says they were set agoing near a place where the road divided into two-the one leading back to Ekron, where were their calves; and the other to the sacerdotal city, Beth-shemesh, a distance from Ekron (Akir) of somewhat more than twelve miles, and situated on the Israelite border. Their frequent lowings attested their ardent longing for their young, and at the same time the supernatural influence that controlled their movements in a contrary direction.