Tumours were one of the covenant curses that God promised to send upon Israel and thus a sign of his wrath (see Deuteronomy 28:58–60).1 Most commentators think that the tumours refers to a bubonic plague that was spread by rats,2 though it could also be anal ulcers or haemorrhoids caused by dysentery.3 Literally translated, the Hebrew phrase refers to mounds or bulges and it could be that some kind of genital affliction was in view. Since there were also rats present (1 Samuel 6:4–5, NIV), perhaps the rats were destroying their crops and the mounds were affecting fertility. With Dagon being a god associated with grain and harvest, a plague that impacts fertility would be a direct assault against his supposed authority.
6 The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.