1 Samuel 6:9
And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth-shemesh, 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. And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth-shemesh, 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.
The Philistines devised a test to decide whether Israel's God had caused their suffering by what happened to the ark on its way to Beth-shemesh. If it went up by its own coast to Beth-shemesh, they would know He had done them this great evil and brought the affliction upon them. If it did not go that way by itself, they would conclude it was not His hand that struck them but that what happened to them was a chance that happened by chance.
The kine took the ark straight and directly to Beth-shemesh by its own course toward Israel, and that direct course confirmed the sign. By going straight there, they proved that the calamity had come from God and that the affliction was not chance. The return was divinely directed, for although the cows had left their calves behind and went without human guidance, they carried the ark back to Israel to its proper place. Their course showed that God's power guided the ark's return, that the Lord was guiding the work, and that His presence accompanied the ark.