2 Samuel 6:1-12
Context6:1 David again assembled 1 all the best 2 men in Israel, thirty thousand in number. 6:2 David and all the men who were with him traveled 3 to 4 Baalah 5 in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name 6 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 7 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 8 were energetically celebrating before the Lord, singing 9 and playing various stringed instruments, 10 tambourines, rattles, 11 and cymbals.
6:6 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, 12 Uzzah reached out and grabbed hold of 13 the ark of God, 14 because the oxen stumbled. 6:7 The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, 15 he 16 killed him on the spot 17 for his negligence. 18 He died right there beside the ark of God.
6:8 David was angry because the Lord attacked 19 Uzzah; so he called that place Perez Uzzah, 20 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. 21 6:12 David was told, 22 “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.
[6:1] 1 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] 3 tn Heb “arose and went.”
[6:2] 4 tn Heb “from,” but the following context indicates they traveled to this location.
[6:2] 5 tn This is another name for Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Chr 13:6).
[6:2] 6 tc The MT has here a double reference to the name (שֵׁם שֵׁם, shem shem). Many medieval Hebrew
[6:5] 8 tn Heb “all the house of Israel.”
[6:5] 9 tc Heb “were celebrating before the
[6:5] 10 tn Heb “with zithers [?] and with harps.”
[6:5] 11 tn That is, “sistrums” (so NAB, NIV); ASV, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT “castanets.”
[6:6] 12 tn 1 Chr 13:9 has “Kidon.”
[6:6] 14 tn Heb “and Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and grabbed it.”
[6:7] 15 tn Heb “and the anger of the
[6:7] 17 tc Heb “there.” Since this same term occurs later in the verse it is translated “on the spot” here for stylistic reasons.
[6:7] 18 tc The phrase “his negligence” is absent from the LXX.
[6:8] 19 tn Heb “because the
[6:8] 20 sn The name Perez Uzzah means in Hebrew “the outburst [against] Uzzah.”