2 Samuel 6
PATVer.l. J±GAIN,. David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. Having defeated the Philistines, and enjoying some peace, he thought it a seasonable time to fetch up the ark, and settle it in an honourable place: and for’ that end summoned the principal persons in Israel to attend it. Or, as others will have it, the most mighty men in all Israel, to the number of thirty thousand; to be a guard to it,. in case any of their enemies should attempt to disturb the solemnity he intended. Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.~\ There is no greater difference among interpreters about the signification of any word, than this word sametu, which we translate shook it. That which is nearest to the truth, Bochartus thinks, is our marginal translation, they stiimbled. Yet this is inerc guessing, for it hath no foundation either in the Hebrew or the neighbouring languages. But from the Arabic he takes this to be the sense; that the oxen, coining into a dirty place, stuck in the mire; and could not get out their feet: which Uzzah seeing, and fearing the king and the people, by this accident, might bo stopped too long in their procession, took hold of the ark: intending, perhaps, to carry it, together with his brethren, to Mount Zion, which was not far off: but this should have been done at first; and because he did it not, he was punished by God. Ver. -7. And the anger of the Lord teas kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him therefor his error.) Or, for his ^rashness, in touching the ark: some think it was because he was not a Levite, and therefore should not have touched it. But it is pretty plain that he was; being the brother of Elcazar, who was consccratedto look after the ark: which was the office of a Levite, (1 Sam. vii. 1.) But being a Levite, he was guilty of a double error: first, in not carrying the ark upon his shoulders, together with his brethren; and secondly, in touching it; which he ought not so much as to have seen: but it being covered by the priests, the Levites were to take hold of the staves, and carry it, (Numb. iv. 15.) And there he died by the ark of God.] Or, before the Lord, as it is expressed 1 Chron. xiii. 10. because the ark was the symbol of God s special presence. Some think he was suddenly choked; others that his arm and his shoulder, upon which he should have carried the ark, were dried up; others that he was blasted with lightning. But all these, and the like conjectures, are uncertain: it is enough to know, that he died suddenly, not from any natural cause, *b’ut struck by the hand of God. See Bochartus, in his Hierozoicon, par. i. lib. ii. cap. 13. who truly observes, that though his intention, perhaps, was good, yet that would not excuse an dffence against the express law of God. Abarbinel also adds this as a cause of his punishment, that he wanted faith in God: who would not have suffered his ark to fallinto the dirt; but supported it himself, without Uzzah’s help.
2 Samuel 6:2
And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him. Not only those thirty thousand, but a,vast« number of the common people, as we learn from 1 Chron. xiii. 2. 5. From Baale ofJudah.] Which is the same with Kirjathjearim, 1 Chron. xiii. G. called Baalah, Josh. xv. 9. and Kirjath-Baal, Josh, xv. 60. xviii. 14. and here Baale of Judah; because (as this place shews) it belonged to that tribe. But some think there is. a great difficulty here, where it is said they went from Baale, when in 1 Chron. xiii. G. it is said they went to Baalah. But there is no dis-. agreement in these two places: for they must go to it, before they could come from it: and here he speaks of their motion from thence, after they had. gone to it. And brought from thence the ark of God.] Where it had been a Jong time in the house of Abinadab, whose son was sanctified to attend it. (See 1 Sam. vii. 1.) Whose name is called by the name of The Lord of hosts.] Or, because of which the name is proclaimed, the name of the Lord of hosts. For. by reason.Of the mighty miracles which were done before the ark, the name of the Lord was highly extolled and magnified/ not only among the Israelites, but the Philistines. And by this, saith Abarbinel, it was made known, that God dwelt among the Israelites: so that not only the Philistines were affrighted when this ark of God’s presence came among them, (1 Sam. iv. 7, 8.) but the men of Beth-shemesh also, (vi« 20.) Tliat dwelleth between the cherubims.] The learned Lud. de Dieu thinks the most simple and genuine. construction of all these words to be, by referring the word ascher (which) not to the ark, but unto God, and translating them thus: who is called the name, the name of the Lord of hosts, sitting on the cherubims, upon it. Which, saith he, is an egregious commendation of the ark, that it is the ark of that God, who, being incomprehensible and unbounded in his essence, is called absolutely the name, (sec Lev, xxiv. 11.. 16.) even the name of the Lord of hosts, who sitteth on the cherubims over the ark.
2 Samuel 6:3
And they set the ark of God upon a new cart. Which ought to have been carried upon the shoulders of.the Kohathites; (Numb. vii. 9.) for which reason no waggons were allowed to them, as there were to. the rest of the Levites, to carry several parts of the tabernacle. And so David himself. saith afterward it ought to be carried, 1 Chron. xv. 2. 15. And so, after the following miscarriage, it is plain from the thirteenth verse of this chapter it was so carried.’ How they came to forget themselves now, so as to put it upon a cart, one can but conjecture. They seem to have imitated the custom of other nations," who were wont to carry their mysteries in a chest upon a cart^ drawn by oxen, or kine, as the Philistines did the ark itself, (1 Sam.vi: 7, 8.) Whonot being punished for putting it upon a hew.cart, the Israelites followed their example the more securely. And, that they were wont also, to carry their mysteries in a great deal of pomp (as David here did,
2 Samuel 6:4
And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which teas at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God. That is, when it was brought out of his house, the people flocked together to attend it. And Ahio went before the ark.] He led the oxen, I sup-.pose; and Uzzah went behind the cart, to take care the ark fell not out. *… ■
2 Samuel 6:5
) is manifest from abundance of authors. Sanchoniathon mentions an image in a shrine in Phoenicia, drawn after the same manner; in Eusebius’s Prsepar. Evangel, lib. i. cap. 15.’. (See pur very learned Dr. Spencer, p. 816.) But that they learnt this from the Jews, not the Jews from ■them, seems to me most probable: though I can give no account how they came to put the ark now upon a new cart, unless it were in imitation of the Philistines. And brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah.] Or, on the hill, as we read 1 Sam. vii. 1. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sotis of Abinadab, drave the new cart.] It seems Eleazar (who was sanctified to take care of the ark, as we read in* the abovenamed place) was dead, or stayed at home to look after his father, who was •now grown aged: so these two took upon them to be the bubttlci (as Bochart calls them) who drave the oxen. And David, and all the house of Israel, played before the; Lord.] Who was present where the ark was. On all manner of instruments made of fir-wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and, on cymbals.] Where Rasi notes, that these words becol atze beroshim, do not signify any particular instrument, but (as we translate it) the wood of, which the following instruments are made; viz. either fir or box. As for the instru-r ments themselves, it will be to no purpose to describe them. The learned reader may see an account of every one of them, inBartoloccius’s Kirjath-sepher, torn. ii. p. 10.0, &c.
2 Samuel 6:6
And when they came to Nachoris’thrashing-floor. It is commonly thought that Nachon was the name of a man: but Bochartus thinks it rather the name of a place; so called by anticipation, for the stroke upon Uzzah. For.nacha signifies to smite, and Nachon signifies percussion; so this floor was called ever after the floor of percussion; because God smote Uzzah in this place. And accordingly t in 1 Chron. xiii; 9. it is called the floor of Chidon; wbicji is the very same: for Chid signifies destruction,
2 Samuel 6:8
And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah. He took it very heavily: and was angry (as the word signifies), that there was any cause for such a breach; that is, such a destruction. For it detracted much from’his authority and esteem, to have such an accident in the beginning of his reign, and at such a solemnity of great joy: which was hereby disturbed and interrupted. Perhaps he was troubled, being afraid that he also might suffer, for taking no better care about the carrying of the ark. And he called the name of the place Percz-Uzzah to this day’.] In memory of this dreadful stroke: whereby the Levites and all others might be admonished of their duty.‘Ver. 9. And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and Said, How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?] By this it appears he had some fear, that he himself was in danger: and therefore durst not bring the ark into his city. Either < Digitized by thinking, in great humility, that he was unworthy to have it so near him: or that he did not sufficiently understand how to treat it. Which he understood better afterward, as wc learn from 1 Chron. xv. 2. 13 — 15.
2 Samuel 6:10
So David would not remove the ark of the Lord unto him into the city of David; but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. He is not called a Gittite from his being born or dwelling in Gath (which was a city of the Philistines), but from Gath-rimraon, a Levitical city, (Josh. xxi. 24, 25.) For it is certain Obed- Edom was a Levite, (1 Chron. xv. 18. 21. 24. xvi. 5.) who, 1 suppose, was willing to entertain the ark: resolving to treat it with such reverence,, that ho might not offend the Divine Majesty.
2 Samuel 6:11
And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-Edom three months. A short time, in comparison with that which it continued at Kirjath-jearim. But all this time it was without the tabernacle. Which from.Gilgal being Tcmoved to Shiloh, after the death of Eli, was carried to Nob; and after the death of Samuel, toGibcon: where it remained till Solomon’s temple was built, and then earned thither, as wc read 1 Chron. xvi. 39. and 2 Chron. i. 3. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom, and his household^] Made them exceeding prosperous in all their affairs..
2 Samuel 6:12
And it was told David, saying, Tlie Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that pertahieth to him, because of the ark of God.". They could not tell to >vhat to impute the extraordinary happiness that attended him, but to his religious care about the ark.. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into the city of David.] Hoping God would bless him, and his city, as he had done Obed-Edom, and his house. With gladness.] All the people, I suppose, again accompanied him, playing on all manner of musical instruments, as they did before, ver, 5…
2 Samuel 6:13
Andit was so, that, when they that bare the ark had gone six paces. Without any mark of God’s displeasure, as before, ver. 7. He sacrificed oxen and fatlings.] As a thanksgiving to God for his goodness, upon an altar erected on purpose, on this extraordinary. occasion. Some think he repeated these sacrifices seven times, at the end of every six paces. The woTd we translate fatlings, is, in the Hebrew, meri: whose signification is uncertain. For some take it for a lamb, others for a ram, and others put a different meaning on it. But Bochartus,.with great probability, thinks it was a kind of ox, being. commonly joined with oxen in Scripture, not only here, but in 1 Kings i. 9. 19.. 25. Isa. i. 11. xi. 6. Nor. doth 1 Chron. xv. 2G. contradict this, where it is said, they offered btdlocks and rams. For those are not the same sacrifices as these, which were offered by David; whereas.those in the Chronicles were offered by theLevites. (See his Hierozoicon, par. i. lib. ii. cap. 19.)
2 Samuel 6:14
And David dancedbefore the Lord with all his might; and David was g irded with a linen ephodJ. He laid aside his royal ornaments, and was girded only with a simple ephod: which was,. I observed upon 1 Sam. ii. 18. an honorary garment, used by.those who were no priests. He is saidto dance before the Lord, because the ark was the symbol of the Divine jpresencc. And from hence, it is Microsoft ® CtfAP. VX,] THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. jh*bbable, the heathen learnt to dance before their gods: as Callimachus mentions the chori, and dancings of youth at’ tile altar of Apollo. And as there were irat&icol x°9°h so there were also avSptKoi, and among the Lacedemonians Of old, men also. And Plato observes, that, among the Egyptians, all kinds of music, and songs, and dances, were consecrated to their gods, (lib.iii. de Legibus, p. 799.) See that great man, Ezek. Spanhemius’s observations on Callim, Hymn; in Apollinem, ver. 8,
2 Samuel 6:15
So David and all the lioase of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. Such’OAoAvyjuoi, as the Greeks call them, were used before their gods: of which the great man now mentioned, gives a large account in his observations upon Callimachus’s hymn ad Delum, ver. 258. where he observes, that 6XoXu?€(v anciently signified to shout for joy: and in like manner the Latin word ulalare is used by Statius for exultare. And this sort of rejoicing is at this day used by the Abyssines, in the evening of our Lord’s resurrection: when men and women clap their hands, and dance to several instruments of music, till morning light: and all this in their churches. Which in all likelihood came from the’ Jews, who still dance ift some of their festivals. See Ludolphus, in his comment upon his Historia Ethiopia, p, 381. where he observes, that David, in all probability, did not now dance alone, but in company. Ver. 1G. And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal, SauVs daughter, looked out through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart J] Imagining that he debased himself, by stripping himself of the ornaments of majesty, and dancing among the common people,. But she understood not, as Procopius Gazseus here glosses, ardoris stimulos, those stmgs of Divine love which David declared to her afterward. "
2 Samuel 6:17
And he brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it. The ancient tabernacle made by Moses remained still, as I observed before, at Gibeon: from whence David did not.think fit to fetch it, because he intended shortly (as Pellicanus well’ observes) to build a temple to settle it in. For the present, therefore, he only hung some curtains round about it, after the fashion of the tabernacle. (See vii.2.) And David offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord.] To implore the continuance of his mercies to them; and to thank him for those they had received,
2 Samuel 6:18
And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. He prayed God to bless them; and pronounced them blessed in his name.
2 Samuel 6:19
And he, dealt among the people, even among the whole viultitude of Israel, as well women as men, to every’ one a cake of bread,’ and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. The Talmudists have a conceit, that the Hebrew word eshpar, which we translate a good piece of flesh, signifies the sixth part of a bullock: deriving it from three words put into one; viz.echad one, shesh six, and par a bullock. But every one sees thi& is a very. forced fancy;, and it is not in itself credible, that he could, among such a multitude, deal a sixth part of a bullock to every one;" or that they c6uld well carry it away, with the bread and wine. Bbchartus more reasonably thinks (atg so^ne 6f the Jews do) the word is derived from shapar, which signifies decdrus: and so the meaning is/ as we translate ijt, he gave to r every one a handsome or decent portion of flesh, (See his Hierozoicori, par, i. lib. ii’. cap, 18.), So all the people departed every one to his house.] Well satisfied with their prince’s bounty to them, and his piety to God.
2 Samuel 6:20
Tlien David returned to bless his household,. As he had done the people. And Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to-day.] This she spake ironically, by way of derision and conteriipt. Who uncovered himself to-day,] Stripped himself of his royal robes, and put on a linen ephod, (ver, 14.) In the eyes of the handmaids of his servants.] The women, perhaps, bare a part in these dances, as. they did in Exod, xv’. or at least were spectators of all the solemnity: from which none were excluded, though ever so mean. As one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!] Throws oiFall his clothes, and cares not who sees him, nor with what company he dances. This was spoken by way of reproach, that he mixed himself with the multitude; and seems to intimate that he had immodestly exposed himself, as shameless fellows do: which is not credible. But thus in a fit of passion she aggravates this action as very mean," yea, base, and much below himself. For no doubt David kept himself within the rules of modesty, when he was thus jocund, being about a sacred business; and did according to the command of God, who required the Israelites to rejoice in their feasts, (Deut. xii. 7. xvi. 1.) not with a futilous, lascivious, and petulant joy, but with a pious and moderate: as having God himself present. And thus Plato* observes, lib. vii. de Legibus, that some dances are cjUjueXwc, with modest and decent motions of the body: others irXri/1- fit\u>G, immodest and wanton. The latter of which, none can imagine David would be guilty of before God:, but* danced with composed and decent, not desultorious and light motions, such as vain fellows are wont to* use. For’ as it is joy that excites men to leap and dance,‘so Divine joy moves them to do it after a manner becoming the Divine Majesty. T
2 Samuel 6:21
And David said to Michal, It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, and appointed me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord.] Who had done so much for him, that he thought he could not shew himself thankful enough to so great a benefactor. He thought fit to take down her pride, by putting her in mind, how God had rejected all her family, and advanced him to the throne of Israel.
2 Samuel 6:22
And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will, be base in my own eyes. He, thought nothing too mean for him to stoop unto; if thereby he could do any honour unto God. Otherwise, to dance in the streets before all the people had been very unbecoming the majesty of a kin<y: as Nero (wo are told by Suetonius) and Caligula were con-; demned for it, among the Romans. For among them it was not usual, nor was it done in honour of their gods. \Vhen> as in David’s time the greatest persons thus expressed their joy and thankfulness to God, by public leaping/dancing, shouting, and clapping their hands.