not sure what these were), both of which were associated with the plague (perhaps like the bubonic plague, which was spread by rats). They place this gold in a cart with the ark and hook it to two cows who had never pulled a cart before. Without any human drivers involved, this cart with the ark of the covenant on it, along with quite a bit of gold, makes its way by itself back to Israel (6:7–7:1). Ironically, this story reads like a military campaign. God first goes to Ashdod, slays their god Dagon,