2 Samuel 6
Ten Commandments arrive in Jerusalem
Ark of Covenant’s dead end
1David assembled his army of 30,000 men of Israel. 2Then he took them all to a town in Judah: Baalah, also known as Kiriath-jearim. [1] He went there to get the Ark of the Covenant, [2] the sacred chest that held the Ten Commandments. This Box of God was engraved with the name of the LORD who rules over everyone. God’s throne rests between the cherubim on the lid of the chest.3They 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. 4Ahio walked in front of the cart. 5David 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.
6But 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. 7The LORD got angry and killed Uzzah on the spot. [3]
Ark of Covenant parked for three months
8Then David 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.9Uzzah’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?” 10David decided not to take it into the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of a man known as Obed-edom from Gath. 11David kept the chest there for three months. During that time, the LORD blessed the host and his family with kindness.
Ark of the Covenant on parade
12Someone gave David the good news about that: “The LORD has been blessing Obed-edom because of the Box of God.” That encouraged David. So, he brought the box from Obed-edom’s house to the City of David. It was a happy parade. 13But it was slow. After every six steps the people took as they carried the Box, David made them stop so he could sacrifice an ox or a calf.14During the walk, David danced with all his enthusiasm, wearing only a linen loincloth. 15David and the others joyfully accompanied the Box of God, cheering and blowing ram’s horns to celebrate.
Michel disgusted with David
16When the Box of God reached the city, Saul’s daughter Michel looked out the palace window and saw David. He was jumping and dancing and whirling as he celebrated what the LORD was doing. But she despised David.17David put the Box in a tent he set up as a place of worship. Then he offered sacrifices: burnt offerings and peace offerings. [4]
18After David offered the sacrifices, he spoke hopeful and encouraging words of blessing [5] to the people on behalf of God. 19Then he passed out food to all the men and women. He gave them each a loaf of bread, a cut of meat, and a cake of pressed dates. Then the people went home.
20David went home, too. There, he spoke kind words of blessing to his family. But Saul’s daughter, Michel, wanted none of it. She scolded him. She said, “What an honorable way for a king to behave, exposing yourself to young slave girls, like some kind of pervert. That was shameful. You disgust me.” [6]
21David told Michel, “I was dancing to celebrate the LORD who chose me over your father and your family. He picked me to lead the people of Israel. I’ll dance to that for the LORD. 22And if you think that was disgusting, keep your eye on me. There’s more to come. I’ll humiliate myself, but those servants you’re talking about will respect me for it.
23Michal, Saul’s daughter, died without ever having children.
Footnotes
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.
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.
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.
A burnt offering was the most common animal sacrifice. Worshipers burned the entire animal. See Leviticus 1. A peace offering, described in Leviticus 3, is one of several other prescribed offerings in Jewish tradition. When Jewish people wanted to give thanks to God for something, such as good health or safety, they would sacrifice a sheep, goat, cow, or bull. They would burn part of the animal, including the kidneys and fat covering the intestines. They would eat the rest in celebration, often with family and friends. It takes a fair number of hungry people to eat a cow. But people were eager to eat meat because it was rare in Bible times for common folks to eat meat, many Bible scholars say.
A blessing is the opposite of a curse. Instead of wishing harm on people, it’s a wish and a prayer for good things to happen to them. It praises people. It encourages them. It asks God to show kindness to them. Many people seemed to believe that the words, with God’s help, had the power to make the wish come true.
This description sounds like David did more than dance in linen underwear. It suggests he danced and whirled so hard that people saw more of him than was intended.
Discussion Questions
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