2 Samuel 6
6
The Ark Brought to Jerusalem. 1#1 Chr 13:1–14. David again assembled all the picked men of Israel, thirty thousand in number. 2Then David and all the people who were with him set out for Baala of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which bears the name “the Lord of hosts enthroned above the cherubim.”#Ex 25:10; Jos 15:9; 1 Chr 13:6; Ps 132:8–10. 3They transported the ark of God on a new cart and took it away from the house of Abinadab on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart,#1 Sm 4:3–4; 6:7–8; 7:1; Dn 3:55. 4with Ahio walking before it, 5while David and all the house of Israel danced before the Lord with all their might, with singing, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.#Ps 68:24–25; 150:3–5. 6As they reached the threshing floor of Nodan, Uzzah stretched out his hand to the ark of God and steadied it, for the oxen were tipping it. 7Then the Lord became angry with Uzzah; God struck him on that spot, and he died there in God’s presence. 8David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah. Therefore that place has been called Perez-uzzah#Perez-uzzah: this Hebrew phrase means “the breaking out against Uzzah”; see note on 5:20. even to this day. 9David became frightened of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 10So David was unwilling to take the ark of the Lord with him into the City of David. David deposited it instead at the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
11The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.#1 Chr 26:4. 12#1 Chr 15:1–29; Ps 24:7–10. When it was reported to King David that the Lord had blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he possessed because of the ark of God, David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with joy.#1 Kgs 8:1. 13As soon as the bearers of the ark of the Lord had advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. 14Then David came dancing before the Lord with abandon, girt with a linen ephod.#Girt with a linen ephod: the ephod was some sort of priestly vestment (probably like an apron); cf. Ex 28:4; Jgs 17:5; 1 Sm 2:18, 28; 14:3; 22:18; 23:6. The cultic procession that accompanies the ark to the holy mountain, Zion, is led by King David, dancing ecstatically and wearing a priestly vestment. #1 Sm 2:18. 15David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and sound of horn. 16As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal, daughter of Saul, looked down from her window, and when she saw King David jumping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. 17#Lv 1:1–17; 3:1–17; 1 Chr 16:1–3. They brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place within the tent which David had pitched for it. Then David sacrificed burnt offerings and communion offerings before the Lord. 18When David had finished sacrificing burnt offerings and communion offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, 19and distributed among all the people, the entire multitude of Israel, to every man and every woman, one loaf of bread, one piece of meat, and one raisin cake. Then all the people returned to their homes.
20#Michal’s reaction to David’s dancing comes from her conception of how a king should comport himself. David rejects this understanding, saying he needs no instruction from the house of the failed king, Saul. When David went home to bless his own house,#1 Chr 16:43. Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him and said, “How well the king of Israel has honored himself today, exposing himself to the view of the slave girls of his followers, as a commoner might expose himself!” 21But David replied to Michal: “I was dancing before the Lord. As the Lord lives, who chose me over your father and all his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people, Israel, not only will I make merry before the Lord,#1 Sm 13:14; 15:28. 22but I will demean myself even more. I will be lowly in your eyes, but in the eyes of the slave girls you spoke of I will be somebody.” 23Saul’s daughter Michal was childless to the day she died.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
2 Samuel 6
6
David Brings the Sacred Chest Back to Jerusalem
(1 Chronicles 13.1-14; 15.1—16.3,43)
1David brought together 30,000 of Israel's best soldiers and 2#Ex 25.22. led them to Baalah in Judah, which was also called Kiriath-Jearim. They were going there#6.2 to Baalah … there: The Dead Sea Scrolls and 1 Chronicles 13.6; the Standard Hebrew Text “from Baalah in Judah. They had gone there.” to get the sacred chest and bring it back to Jerusalem. The throne of the Lord All-Powerful is above the winged creatures#6.2 winged creatures: Two golden statues of winged creatures were on top of the sacred chest and were symbols of the Lord's throne on earth (see Exodus 25.18). on top of this chest, and he is worshiped there.#6.2 he is worshiped there: Or “the chest belongs to him.”
3 #
1 S 7.1,2. They put the sacred chest on a new ox cart and started bringing it down the hill from Abinadab's house. Abinadab's sons Uzzah and Ahio were guiding the ox cart, 4with Ahio#6.3,4 Ahio … Ahio: Or “his brother … his brother.” walking in front of it. 5Some of the people of Israel were playing music on small harps and other stringed instruments, and on tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. David and the others were happy, and they danced for the Lord with all their might.
6But when they came to Nacon's threshing-floor, the oxen stumbled, so Uzzah reached out and took hold of the sacred chest. 7The Lord God was very angry with Uzzah for doing this, and he killed Uzzah right there beside the chest.
8David got angry with God for killing Uzzah. He named that place “Bursting Out Against Uzzah,”#6.8 Bursting … Uzzah: Or “Perez-Uzzah.” and that's what it's still called.
9David was afraid of the Lord and thought, “Should I really take the sacred chest to my city?” 10He decided not to take it there. Instead, he turned off the road and took it to the home of Obed Edom, who was from Gath.#6.10 Gath: Or perhaps, “Gittaim.”
11-12 #
1 Ch 26.4,5. The chest stayed there for three months, and the Lord greatly blessed Obed Edom, his family, and everything he owned. Then someone told King David, “The Lord has done this because the sacred chest is in Obed Edom's house.”
At once, David went to Obed Edom's house to get the chest and bring it to David's City. Everyone was celebrating. 13The people carrying the chest walked six steps, then David sacrificed an ox and a choice cow. 14He was dancing for the Lord with all his might, but he wore only a linen cloth.#6.14 only a linen cloth: The Hebrew word is “ephod,” which can mean either a piece of clothing like a skirt that went from the waist to the knee or a garment like a vest or a jacket that only the priests wore. 15He and everyone else were celebrating by shouting and blowing horns while the chest was being carried along.
16Saul's daughter Michal looked out her window and watched the chest being brought into David's City. But when she saw David jumping and dancing for the Lord, she was disgusted.
17They put the chest inside a tent that David had set up for it. David worshiped the Lord by sacrificing animals and burning them on an altar,#6.17 sacrificing … altar: The Hebrew mentions two kinds of sacrifices. In one kind of sacrifice, the whole animal was burned on the altar. In the other kind, only part was burned, and the worshipers ate the rest, as in verse 19 (see Leviticus 1.2-17; 3.1-17). 18then he blessed the people in the name of the Lord All-Powerful. 19#1 Ch 16.43. He gave all the men and women in the crowd a small loaf of bread, some meat, and a handful of raisins, then everyone went home.
Michal Talks to David
20David went home so he could ask the Lord to bless his family. But Saul's daughter Michal went out and started yelling at him. “You were really great today!” she said. “You acted like a dirty old man, dancing around half-naked in front of your servants' slave-girls.”
21David told her, “The Lord didn't choose your father or anyone else in your family to be the leader of his people. The Lord chose me, and I was celebrating in honor of him. 22I'll show you just how great I can be! I'll even be disgusting to myself. But those slave-girls you talked about will still honor me!”
23Michal never had any children.
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© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.