1 Chronicles 13

David talked things over with the officers in charge of thousands of men and of hundreds of men, and with every leader.

1And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader.

NoteIsrael's fighting force was organized in nominal units of a thousand and a hundred, rather like regiments and companies; the numbers are conventional labels for units, not exact head counts.

2David said to the whole assembly of Israel, "If this seems good to you, and if it is from the LORD our God, let us send word out in every direction to the rest of our fellow Israelites all through the land of Israel. Let us also send word to the priests and Levites in their towns and pasturelands, so they can come and join us.

2And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the LORD our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us:

Note"The LORD" printed in capitals stands in for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew consonants usually written YHWH. Jewish readers came to avoid pronouncing it, saying "Lord" instead, and English Bibles keep that substitution. The Levites were the tribe set apart for duties around the sanctuary, assisting the priests. Instead of a territory of their own they were given scattered towns, each with a ring of open pasture land around it for their livestock, what the King James calls "suburbs."

3Then let us bring the ark of our God back to us, because we did not go to it to seek God's guidance while Saul was king."

3And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at it in the days of Saul.

NoteThe ark was a gold-covered wooden chest, the most sacred object Israel possessed, holding the stone tablets of the covenant and regarded as the place where God was present with his people. It had been captured in battle by the Philistines, returned by them, and then left at Kiriath-jearim for roughly a generation. "We did not inquire of it" means they did not come to the ark to seek God's decisions, the usual way of putting a question to God through the priesthood. Some translators read the Hebrew instead as "we did not concern ourselves with it," that is, we neglected it.

4The whole assembly agreed to do this, because the plan seemed right to all the people.

4And all the congregation said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

5So David gathered all Israel together, from the Shihor River in Egypt all the way to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

5So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjathjearim.

NoteShihor is a waterway on the Egyptian frontier, and Lebo-hamath lies far north in the Beqa valley region. Naming the two together is a stock phrase for the whole country from one end to the other, the way "from coast to coast" works in English.

6David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belonged to Judah. They went to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD, who sits enthroned between the cherubim, the ark that is called by his name.

6And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kirjathjearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God the LORD, that dwelleth between the cherubims, whose name is called on it.

NoteBaalah and Kiriath-jearim are two names for the same town, about nine miles west of Jerusalem; the writer gives the older name and then the current one. The cherubim were not infants with wings but powerful winged creatures; two of them, worked in gold, faced each other on the lid of the ark, and the space above the lid between them was pictured as God's throne. For something to be "called by his name" was a claim of ownership, the way a conquered city renamed after a king was thereafter his.

7They moved the ark of God out of the house of Abinadab on a new cart, with Uzza and Ahio guiding the cart.

7And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart.

NoteA cart was how the Philistines had sent the ark back after capturing it. Israel's own instructions were that the ark be lifted by poles slid through rings at its corners and carried on the shoulders of Levites, and that no one touch the chest itself.

8David and all Israel celebrated before God with all their strength, with singing and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.

8And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.

9When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled.

9And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.

NoteA threshing floor was a flat, hard, open patch of ground (often bare rock on a rise where the wind could catch) where grain was trodden out by oxen and tossed in the air to separate it from the chaff. Every settlement had one, so they served as landmarks.

10The LORD became angry with Uzza and struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. He died there, in God's presence.

10And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.

11David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzza. That is why the place is called Perez-uzza to this day.

11And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzza: wherefore that place is called Perezuzza to this day.

NoteThe Hebrew word covers both anger and distress, so it is unclear whether David was furious or simply devastated; translators divide over it. Perez-uzza means "the breaking out against Uzza." "Broke out" is the image of a river bursting its banks or an army breaching a wall, a sudden violent rupture. "To this day" means the name was still in use when the writer was writing, centuries later.

12That day David was afraid of God. He said, "How can I ever bring the ark of God home to me?"

12And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?

13So David did not take the ark home with him to the City of David. Instead, he had it turned aside to the house of Obed-edom, a man from Gath.

13So David brought not the ark home to himself to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite.

NoteThe City of David was the fortified ridge of old Jerusalem that David had captured and made his capital. Gath was one of the five main Philistine cities, so "Gittite" ordinarily marks a foreigner; but there was also a Levite town called Gath-rimmon, and later chapters count Obed-edom among the Levites, so which is meant here is disputed.

14The ark of God stayed with Obed-edom's family in his house for three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-edom's household and everything he owned.

14And the ark of God remained with the family of Obededom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obededom, and all that he had.