1 Chronicles 15

“Moses wrote down all the laws he taught the people. Then he gave it to the priests, Levites entrusted with carrying the sacred Box of Law” (Deuteronomy 31:9; see also Numbers 4:15, Joshua 3:3).

Priests and Levites were all descended from Jacob’s son, Levi. But only descendants of Aaron in Levi’s tribe were allowed to serve as priests (Numbers 18:6-7).

Purification rituals included washing the body, taking a ritual bath and completely submersing, putting on clean clothes, abstaining from sexual relations (Leviticus 15).

The Hebrew text says the musicians would play their harps “according to Alamoth.” It’s uncertain what Alamoth means. It could be the tune to which the song is sung or recited. It might be a style of music, such as a soprano solo, which could be appropriate to the upbeat message in the lyrics of Psalm 46:1, where it appears. It might be the name of the songwriter. Guesses are based mainly on context clues, which are few and not especially helpful. (see also Psalm 48:15).

“Low octave” is a guess. The Hebrew word, sheminith, is a mystery, like selah. The guess “low octave” is based on the idea that the lyrics of Psalm 6, where it also appears, are solemn. That makes the lyrics a good fit with music played in quiet tones and in a bass octave.

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.

Jewish scholars have calculated the weight of the chest at 183 pounds (83 kg). But the wood alone for the gold-plated Ark of the Covenant—which held the Ten Commandment stone tablets  and was topped with a golden lid holding two golden cherubim—weighed roughly 130-145 pounds (60-65 kg). That’s bare wood. With gold and stones, who knows? The wood chest measured 45 x 27 x 27 inches (1.25 m x .75 m x .75 m). That’s 3.75 feet long and 2 feet wide and high (Exodus 25:10-22). If the boards were one inch thick, the chest needed about 2.9 cubic feet of hard acacia wood. That wood weighs 45-50 pounds per cubic feet.

An ephod in the time of Moses, several centuries before David, was an apron or vest worn by the high priest. Scholars debate exactly what that looked like. Some describe it as a skirt or a shift-like garment that covered the body from about the waist to the mid-thigh. Priests used what was described as an ephod to store the sword of Goliath, after David killed this Philistine champion warrior (1 Samuel 23:9). Some scholars suggest the Hebrew word ephod was related to the Akkadian word epattu. Assyrian writings say epattu were idols dressed in expensive clothing worn by high officials.

Michal probably wasn’t upset with his dancing, though she did complain that he embarrassed himself by jumping so hard that he exposed his posterity and looked like a pervert (2 Samuel 6: 20). The real problem may have been that after he became king, he forced her to remarry. Earlier King Saul forced her to divorce David and marry another man who dearly loved her (2 Samuel 3:14-16). She did not want to leave her new husband for David. There’s no indication in the Bible that she ever had children with David.