Discovery Box2 Samuel 5:1--6:23
Context5:1 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron saying, “Look, we are your very flesh and blood! 1 5:2 In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the real leader in Israel. 2 The Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over Israel.’”
5:3 When all the leaders 3 of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them 4 in Hebron before the Lord. They designated 5 David as king over Israel. 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned for forty years. 5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem 6 he reigned for thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
5:6 Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem 7 against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites 8 said to David, “You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot invade this place!’”
5:7 But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the city of David). 5:8 David said on that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the ‘lame’ and the ‘blind’ who are David’s enemies 9 by going through the water tunnel.” 10 For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace.” 11
5:9 So David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. David built all around it, from the terrace inwards. 5:10 David’s power grew steadily, for the Lord God 12 who commands armies 13 was with him. 14
5:11 King Hiram of Tyre 15 sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons. They built a palace 16 for David. 5:12 David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that he had elevated his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel. 5:13 David married more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he arrived from Hebron. Even more sons and daughters were born to David. 5:14 These are the names of children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5:15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 5:16 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
5:17 When the Philistines heard that David had been designated 17 king over Israel, they all 18 went up to search for David. When David heard about it, he went down to the fortress. 5:18 Now the Philistines had arrived and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. 5:19 So David asked the Lord, “Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord said to David, “March up, for I will indeed 19 hand the Philistines over to you.”
5:20 So David marched against Baal Perazim and defeated them there. Then he said, “The Lord has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out.” So he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. 20 5:21 The Philistines 21 abandoned their idols 22 there, and David and his men picked them up.
5:22 The Philistines again came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. 5:23 So David asked the Lord what he should do. 23 This time 24 the Lord 25 said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees. 26 5:24 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, act decisively. For at that moment the Lord is going before you to strike down the army 27 of the Philistines.” 5:25 David did just as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Gibeon all the way to Gezer. 28
6:1 David again assembled 29 all the best 30 men in Israel, thirty thousand in number. 6:2 David and all the men who were with him traveled 31 to 32 Baalah 33 in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name 34 of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it. 6:3 They loaded the ark of God on a new cart and carried it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart. 6:4 They brought 35 it with the ark of God up from the house of Abinadab on the hill. Ahio was walking in front of the ark, 6:5 while David and all Israel 36 were energetically celebrating before the Lord, singing 37 and playing various stringed instruments, 38 tambourines, rattles, 39 and cymbals.
6:6 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, 40 Uzzah reached out and grabbed hold of 41 the ark of God, 42 because the oxen stumbled. 6:7 The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, 43 he 44 killed him on the spot 45 for his negligence. 46 He died right there beside the ark of God.
6:8 David was angry because the Lord attacked 47 Uzzah; so he called that place Perez Uzzah, 48 which remains its name to this very day. 6:9 David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How will the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” 6:10 So David was no longer willing to bring the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. David left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 6:11 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months. The Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his family. 49 6:12 David was told, 50 “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David. 6:13 Those who carried the ark of the Lord took six steps and then David 51 sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf. 6:14 Now David, wearing a linen ephod, was dancing with all his strength before the Lord. 52 6:15 David and all Israel 53 were bringing up the ark of the Lord, shouting and blowing trumpets. 54
6:16 As the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him. 55 6:17 They brought the ark of the Lord and put it in its place 56 in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before the Lord. 6:18 When David finished offering the burnt sacrifices and peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing over the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. 6:19 He then handed out to each member of the entire assembly of Israel, 57 both men and women, a portion of bread, a date cake, 58 and a raisin cake. Then all the people went home. 59 6:20 When David went home to pronounce a blessing on his own house, 60 Michal, Saul’s daughter, came out to meet him. 61 She said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished 62 himself this day! He has exposed himself today before his servants’ slave girls the way a vulgar fool 63 might do!”
6:21 David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord! I was celebrating before the Lord, who chose me over your father and his entire family 64 and appointed me as leader over the Lord’s people Israel. 6:22 I am willing to shame and humiliate myself even more than this! 65 But with the slave girls whom you mentioned let me be distinguished!” 6:23 Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, had no children to the day of her death.
[5:1] 1 tn Heb “look we are your bone and your flesh.”
[5:2] 2 tn Heb “you were the one leading out and the one leading in Israel.”
[5:3] 4 tn Heb “and the king, David, cut for them a covenant.”
[5:5] 4 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[5:6] 5 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[5:6] 6 tn The Hebrew text has “he” rather than “the Jebusites.” The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. In the Syriac Peshitta and some
[5:8] 6 tc There is some confusion among the witnesses concerning this word. The Kethib is the Qal perfect 3cp שָׂנְאוּ (sanÿ’u, “they hated”), referring to the Jebusites’ attitude toward David. The Qere is the Qal passive participle construct plural שְׂנֻאֵי (sÿnu’e, “hated”), referring to David’s attitude toward the Jebusites. 4QSama has the Qal perfect 3rd person feminine singular שָׂנְאָה (sanÿ’ah, “hated”), the subject of which would be “the soul of David.” The difference is minor and the translation adopted above works for either the Kethib or the Qere.
[5:8] 7 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term has been debated. For a survey of various views, see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 139-40.
[5:8] 8 tn Heb “the house.” TEV takes this as a reference to the temple (“the Lord’s house”).
[5:10] 7 tc 4QSama and the LXX lack the word “God,” probably due to harmonization with the more common biblical phrase “the
[5:10] 8 tn Traditionally, “the
[5:10] 9 tn The translation assumes that the disjunctive clause is circumstantial-causal, giving the reason for David’s success.
[5:11] 8 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[5:17] 10 tn Heb “all the Philistines.”
[5:19] 10 tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the following verb.
[5:20] 11 tn The name means “Lord of the outbursts.”
[5:21] 12 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:21] 13 tc For “idols” the LXX and Vulgate have “gods.”
[5:23] 13 tn The words “what to do” are not in the Hebrew text.
[5:23] 14 tn The words “this time” are not in the Hebrew text.
[5:23] 15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[5:23] 16 tn Some translate as “balsam trees” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NJB, NLT); cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV “mulberry trees”; NAB “mastic trees”; NEB, REB “aspens.” The exact identification of the type of tree or plant is uncertain.
[5:24] 14 tn Heb “camp” (so NAB).
[5:25] 15 tn Heb “from Gibeon until you enter Gezer.”
[6:1] 16 tn The translation understands the verb to be a defective spelling of וַיְּאֱסֹף (vayyÿ’esof) due to quiescence of the letter א (alef). The root therefore is אסף (’sf, “to gather”). The Masoretes, however, pointed the verb as וַיֹּסֶף (vayyosef), understanding it to be a form of יָסַף (yasaf, “to add”). This does not fit the context, which calls for a verb of gathering.
[6:2] 17 tn Heb “arose and went.”
[6:2] 18 tn Heb “from,” but the following context indicates they traveled to this location.
[6:2] 19 tn This is another name for Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Chr 13:6).
[6:2] 20 tc The MT has here a double reference to the name (שֵׁם שֵׁם, shem shem). Many medieval Hebrew
[6:5] 19 tn Heb “all the house of Israel.”
[6:5] 20 tc Heb “were celebrating before the
[6:5] 21 tn Heb “with zithers [?] and with harps.”
[6:5] 22 tn That is, “sistrums” (so NAB, NIV); ASV, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT “castanets.”
[6:6] 20 tn 1 Chr 13:9 has “Kidon.”
[6:6] 22 tn Heb “and Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and grabbed it.”
[6:7] 21 tn Heb “and the anger of the
[6:7] 23 tc Heb “there.” Since this same term occurs later in the verse it is translated “on the spot” here for stylistic reasons.
[6:7] 24 tc The phrase “his negligence” is absent from the LXX.
[6:8] 22 tn Heb “because the
[6:8] 23 sn The name Perez Uzzah means in Hebrew “the outburst [against] Uzzah.”
[6:11] 23 tn Heb “house,” both here and in v. 12.
[6:12] 24 tn Heb “and it was told to David, saying.”
[6:13] 25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:14] 26 tn Heb “and David was dancing with all his strength before the
[6:15] 27 tc Heb “all the house of Israel.” A few medieval Hebrew
[6:15] 28 tn Heb “the shophar” (the ram’s horn trumpet).
[6:16] 28 tn The Hebrew text adds “in her heart.” Cf. CEV “she was disgusted (+ with him TEV)”; NLT “was filled with contempt for him”; NCV “she hated him.”
[6:17] 29 tc The Syriac Peshitta lacks “in its place.”
[6:19] 30 tn Heb “to all the people, to all the throng of Israel.”
[6:19] 31 tn The Hebrew word used here אֶשְׁפָּר (’espar) is found in the OT only here and in the parallel passage found in 1 Chr 16:3. Its exact meaning is uncertain, although the context indicates that it was a food of some sort (cf. KJV “a good piece of flesh”; NRSV “a portion of meat”). The translation adopted here (“date cake”) follows the lead of the Greek translations of the LXX, Aquila, and Symmachus (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).
[6:19] 32 tn Heb “and all the people went, each to his house.”
[6:20] 31 tn Heb “and David returned to bless his house.”
[6:20] 32 tn Heb “David.” The name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[6:20] 34 tn Heb “one of the foolish ones.”
[6:21] 32 tn Heb “all his house”; CEV “anyone else in your family.”
[6:22] 33 tn Heb “and I will shame myself still more than this and I will be lowly in my eyes.”
