1 Chronicles 13
Retrieving Israel’s most sacred object
David meets with military
2 Samuel 6:1-12 1David met with his military leaders—generals, company commanders, and battalion commanders. 2David told them, “I’d like to do something, if you agree to it and if the LORD God approves. I’d like to invite the people of Israel, including the priests and their Levite associates, to meet with us. 3I’d like for us all to go and get the Ark of the Covenant, [1] the sacred chest that holds the Ten Commandments. We ignored it when Saul was king.”
4The soldiers liked his idea. 5Israelites came from as far south as the normally dry riverbed called Shihor, in Egypt, to Lebo-hamath [2] in the northland. They were going to Kiriath-jearim [3] to get the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred chest of God. Israel takes a walk to Ark of Covenant
6So, David took the crowd to Kiriath-jearim, also known as Baalah, in the tribal territory of Judah. They were going to get the Box of God, engraved with the name of the LORD who rules over everyone. God’s throne rests between the cherubim on the lid of the chest.
7They carried the chest out of the hilltop home of Abinadab, where it had remained in storage. Then they put it on a new cart. Abinadab’s sons, Uzzah and Ahio, managed the cart. 8David and the people with him danced for joy, and with a lot of energy. Some sang. Some played instruments, such as lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. It was a joyful noise.
9But oxen pulling the cart lurched forward when they reached a threshing floor. This was a flat area where a farmer named Nacon knocked grain kernels loose from the stalks. Uzzah grabbed hold of the Box of God, to steady it. 10The LORD got angry and killed Uzzah on the spot. [4] Ark of covenant parked for three months
11David got mad about the LORD getting mad and killing Uzzah. After that, people have been calling that spot Perez Uzzah, which means Outburst at Uzzah.
12Uzzah’s death put the fear of God into David. He asked, “How can I protect the chest if I can’t move it to a safe location?” 13David decided not to take it into the City of David. [5] Instead, he took it to the house of a man known as Obed-edom from Gath. 14David kept the chest there for three months. During that time, the LORD blessed the host and his family with kindness. Footnotes
113:3The Ark of the Covenant was a wooden chest plated with gold all over. Inside that chest was a golden jar with some manna, Aaron’s almond wood staff that budded, and stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. Covering the chest was a lid with figures representing glorious celestial beings called cherubim. This was the place where God’s people found forgiveness (Exodus 25:10-22; Hebrews 9:4-5). It was lost to history, perhaps stolen by invaders such as the Assyrians from what is now northern Iraq or the Babylonians of southern Iraq who leveled Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BC.
213:5The Hebrew language calls the location lebo Hamath. This could mean the city of Lebo-hamath, in Lebanon, near where the Orontes River begins at the foot of Mount Hermon and Mount Lebanon. Or it could mean “entrance into Hamath” since lebo means “entrance.” Hamath was the name of a gateway into a mountain pass near Mount Hermon and Mount Lebanon. The idea is that people came from all over Israel, north to south.
313:5Kiriath-jearim was where the people of Israel parked the Ark of the Covenant for 20 years after they got it back from the Philistines. The Philistines had stolen it after defeating Israel in a battle (1 Samuel 6:21; 7:2). Kiriath-jearim is usually associated with a ruin called Tell el-Azar, about 8 miles (13 km) west of Jerusalem, less than half a day’s walk.
413:10Some scholars argue that God didn’t kill the man for trying to protect the chest. They say it’s more likely the writer only presumed God killed Uzzah, since in Bible times many seemed to believe that God controlled every detail of whatever happened. If it happened, God was behind it.
513:13The City of David was the original part of town before Solomon expanded up the hill to add the Temple and palace complexes.
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Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant comes to Jerusalem
King David dances by Ark of CovenantVideos
4The soldiers liked his idea. 5Israelites came from as far south as the normally dry riverbed called Shihor, in Egypt, to Lebo-hamath [2] in the northland. They were going to Kiriath-jearim [3] to get the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred chest of God.
Israel takes a walk to Ark of Covenant
6So, David took the crowd to Kiriath-jearim, also known as Baalah, in the tribal territory of Judah. They were going to get the Box of God, engraved with the name of the LORD who rules over everyone. God’s throne rests between the cherubim on the lid of the chest.7They carried the chest out of the hilltop home of Abinadab, where it had remained in storage. Then they put it on a new cart. Abinadab’s sons, Uzzah and Ahio, managed the cart. 8David and the people with him danced for joy, and with a lot of energy. Some sang. Some played instruments, such as lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. It was a joyful noise.
9But oxen pulling the cart lurched forward when they reached a threshing floor. This was a flat area where a farmer named Nacon knocked grain kernels loose from the stalks. Uzzah grabbed hold of the Box of God, to steady it. 10The LORD got angry and killed Uzzah on the spot. [4]
Ark of covenant parked for three months
11David got mad about the LORD getting mad and killing Uzzah. After that, people have been calling that spot Perez Uzzah, which means Outburst at Uzzah.12Uzzah’s death put the fear of God into David. He asked, “How can I protect the chest if I can’t move it to a safe location?” 13David decided not to take it into the City of David. [5] Instead, he took it to the house of a man known as Obed-edom from Gath. 14David kept the chest there for three months. During that time, the LORD blessed the host and his family with kindness.
Footnotes
The Ark of the Covenant was a wooden chest plated with gold all over. Inside that chest was a golden jar with some manna, Aaron’s almond wood staff that budded, and stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. Covering the chest was a lid with figures representing glorious celestial beings called cherubim. This was the place where God’s people found forgiveness (Exodus 25:10-22; Hebrews 9:4-5). It was lost to history, perhaps stolen by invaders such as the Assyrians from what is now northern Iraq or the Babylonians of southern Iraq who leveled Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BC.
The Hebrew language calls the location lebo Hamath. This could mean the city of Lebo-hamath, in Lebanon, near where the Orontes River begins at the foot of Mount Hermon and Mount Lebanon. Or it could mean “entrance into Hamath” since lebo means “entrance.” Hamath was the name of a gateway into a mountain pass near Mount Hermon and Mount Lebanon. The idea is that people came from all over Israel, north to south.
Kiriath-jearim was where the people of Israel parked the Ark of the Covenant for 20 years after they got it back from the Philistines. The Philistines had stolen it after defeating Israel in a battle (1 Samuel 6:21; 7:2). Kiriath-jearim is usually associated with a ruin called Tell el-Azar, about 8 miles (13 km) west of Jerusalem, less than half a day’s walk.
Some scholars argue that God didn’t kill the man for trying to protect the chest. They say it’s more likely the writer only presumed God killed Uzzah, since in Bible times many seemed to believe that God controlled every detail of whatever happened. If it happened, God was behind it.
The City of David was the original part of town before Solomon expanded up the hill to add the Temple and palace complexes.
Discussion Questions
- Sorry, there are currently no questions for this chapter.
Maps/Guides