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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 Samuel 6:1 - 6:11
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The First Attempt ends Sadly
v. 1. Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, the captains and leaders of the army, together with the best soldiers of the nation, thirty thousand.
v. 2. And David arose and went with all the people that were with him, from Baale of Judah, to Kirjath-baal or Kirjath-jearim, to bring up from thence the ark of God, which had been in the house of Abinadab some seventy years, since the time that the Philistines had returned this trophy, 1 Samuel 7, whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubim; for at the ark, before the ark, the name of Jehovah Sabaoth, who appeared over the cover of the ark, between the cherubim on the mercy-seat, was invoked.
v. 3. And they set the ark of God, literally, "let it ride," upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah, on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, here probably in the sense of grandsons of Abinadab, and sons of Eleazar, who had been the first guardian of the ark, drave the new cart. Strictly speaking, this mode of transporting the ark did not agree with the legal requirement, which demanded that the ark should always be carried by Levitical priests, Num_7:9.
v. 4. And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, on the hill, accompanying the ark of God, the two men acting as guardians; and Ahio went before the ark, while Uzzah walked along at the side of the cart.
v. 5. And David and all the house of Israel, the entire assembled multitude, played before the Lord, in His honor, on all manner of instruments made of fir-wood, with all their might, and with songs, 1Ch_13:8, even on harps, the Jewish zithers, and on psalteries, small harps held in the hand, and on timbrels, tabrets or hand-drums, and on cornets, sistrums, instruments which gave forth a musical sound when shaken in time with the rest of the music, and on cymbals, the well-known metal plates used to this day.
v. 6. And when they came to Nachon's threshing-floor, a permanent floor along the road leading to Jerusalem, probably covered with a roof, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it; in stepping to the side of the road or in slipping they jostled the ark, so that it seemed about to fall off.
v. 7. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, for the unauthorized touching of the ark, as of the throne of God's glory in the midst of Israel, was a profanation of the Lord's majesty; and God smote him there for his error, for his rash mistake in touching the ark; and there he died by the ark of God, he was struck down immediately.
v. 8. And David was displeased, becoming angry that his undertaking had resulted in such a misfortune, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah, by inflicting this stroke; and he called the name of the place Perez-uzzah (the breach of Uzzah) to this day.
v. 9. And David was afraid of the Lord that day, the anger over his misfortune gradually turned to apprehension and then to fear, as he considered that his disregard of the Lord's command about transporting the ark had evidently been the cause of the unfortunate happening, and said, How shall the ark of the Lord come to me? David felt that he was guilty before the Lord and unworthy of His presence.
v. 10. So David would not remove the ark of the Lord unto him in to the city of David, fearing that misfortune might strike his entire family if he proceeded with his plan; but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, who hailed from Gath-Rimmon, the Levitical city in Dan, a musician and also a porter at the Sanctuary in Jerusalem.
v. 11. And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-edom, the Gittite, three months; and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household. To the believers of the New Testament the most holy thing is God's Word and Sacrament, for where the means of grace are administered, there the Triune God dwells. To the believing Christians the Word of God is a savor of life unto life, but to those who despise His grace it is a savor of death unto death.