1 Chronicles 15: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

David builds houses in the City of David and sets up a tent for the ark of God. He orders that only the Levites may carry the ark, since the first attempt went wrong, and he organizes the priests, Levite family heads, singers, musicians, and gatekeepers for the move. The Levites carry the ark on their shoulders with its poles, bulls and rams are sacrificed, and all Israel brings the ark up with shouting and music. As the ark enters the city, Michal, Saul's daughter, watches David dancing from a window and despises him.

Claim by Claim

1. 15:1
   • David built houses for himself in the city of David.
   • David prepared a place for the ark of God.
   • David pitched a tent for the ark.
2. 15:2
   • David then said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God.
   • David said the LORD had chosen the Levites to carry the ark of the LORD.
   • David said the LORD had chosen the Levites to minister to him forever.
3. 15:3
   • David gathered all Israel to Jerusalem.
   • The purpose of the gathering was to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place.
   • David had prepared that place for the ark.
4. 15:4
   • David assembled the descendants of Aaron.
   • David assembled the Levites.
5. 15:5
   • Of the sons of Kohath, Uriel was the chief.
   • Uriel had 120 kinsmen with him.
6. 15:6
   • Of the sons of Merari, Asaiah was the chief.
   • Asaiah had 220 kinsmen with him.
7. 15:7
   • Of the sons of Gershom, Joel was the chief.
   • Joel had 130 kinsmen with him.
8. 15:8
   • Of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah was the chief.
   • Shemaiah had 200 kinsmen with him.
9. 15:9
   • Of the sons of Hebron, Eliel was the chief.
   • Eliel had 80 kinsmen with him.
10. 15:10
    • Of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab was the chief.
    • Amminadab had 112 kinsmen with him.
11. 15:11
    • David summoned Zadok and Abiathar, who were priests.
    • David summoned the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.
12. 15:12
    • David said to them that they were the heads of the fathers' households of the Levites.
    • David told them to consecrate themselves, both they and their kinsmen.
    • David told them the purpose was to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.
    • David said he had prepared a place for the ark.
13. 15:13
    • David said that because they were not involved the first time, the LORD their God broke out against them.
    • David said the reason was that they had not sought him according to the prescribed rule.
    • It is unclear whether the fault named is that the Levites were absent the first time or that the people did not do it properly the first time.
14. 15:14
    • The priests consecrated themselves.
    • The Levites consecrated themselves.
    • The consecration was in order to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.
15. 15:15
    • The Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders.
    • They carried it with the poles upon them.
    • This was as Moses had commanded.
    • Moses' command was according to the word of the LORD.
16. 15:16
    • David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites.
    • David told them to appoint their kinsmen as singers.
    • The singers were to have musical instruments: harps, lyres, and cymbals.
    • The singers were to sound out, raising the voice with joy.
17. 15:17
    • The Levites appointed Heman son of Joel.
    • From Heman's kinsmen they appointed Asaph son of Berechiah.
    • From the sons of Merari, their kinsmen, they appointed Ethan son of Kushaiah.
18. 15:18
    • With them were their kinsmen of the second rank.
    • Those of the second rank were Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel.
    • These men were the gatekeepers.
    • It is unclear whether Ben is a separate person or belongs to the name preceding it.
19. 15:19
    • Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were the singers.
    • They were to sound bronze cymbals.
20. 15:20
    • Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah played harps.
    • They played according to Alamoth, a musical designation whose sense is not stated.
21. 15:21
    • Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah played lyres.
    • They played according to the Sheminith, a musical designation whose sense is not stated.
    • They played to lead or direct.
22. 15:22
    • Chenaniah was chief of the Levites.
    • Chenaniah was in charge of the carrying, which may equally mean he was in charge of the music.
    • Chenaniah instructed others in it.
    • Chenaniah was skilled.
23. 15:23
    • Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.
24. 15:24
    • Shebaniah, Jehoshaphat, Nethaneel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer were priests.
    • These priests blew the trumpets before the ark of God.
    • Obed-edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.
25. 15:25
    • David, the elders of Israel, and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
    • The ark was brought from the house of Obed-edom.
    • They went with joy.
26. 15:26
    • God helped the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
    • Because of this they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
27. 15:27
    • David was clothed in a robe of fine linen.
    • All the Levites who carried the ark were likewise clothed.
    • The singers were likewise clothed.
    • Chenaniah was the officer in charge of the carrying, or of the music, with the singers.
    • David also wore a linen ephod.
28. 15:28
    • All Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
    • They did so with shouting.
    • They did so with the sound of the ram's horn.
    • They did so with trumpets.
    • They did so with cymbals.
    • They made music with harps and lyres.
29. 15:29
    • The ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David.
    • Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out through a window.
    • Michal saw King David dancing and celebrating.
    • Michal despised him in her heart.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

15:1

The City of David was the old hilltop fortress David had captured from the Jebusites; it formed the original core of Jerusalem, on a ridge below the site where the temple would later stand. The "ark of God" was a gold-covered wooden chest, carried on poles, that held the stone tablets of the covenant; it was Israel's most sacred object and was treated as the place where the LORD's presence met his people. Since there was as yet no temple, David housed it in a tent, as it had been housed since the wilderness years.

15:2

The Levites were one of the twelve tribes, set apart to take charge of the sanctuary and its furniture instead of receiving territory of their own. Within that tribe, the descendants of Aaron served as priests; the rest handled transport, guarding, music and maintenance. "Serve him always" means the arrangement was permanent, not that individual men served without a break.

15:4

Aaron was Moses' brother and Israel's first priest. Only his direct descendants could serve as priests, offering sacrifices and handling the holiest objects. The rest of the Levites, though from the same tribe, did the supporting work: carrying, guarding, singing, and maintenance.

15:5

Verses 5 to 10 list six family groups. Kohath, Merari and Gershom were the three sons of Levi, from whom all Levites descended; Elizaphan, Hebron and Uzziel head sub-branches within the Kohath line. The numbers are the fighting-age or duty-age men available from each group, not the size of the families.

15:9

The King James says "fourscore." A score is twenty, so fourscore means four twenties, which is eighty.

15:11

Two men held the office of chief priest at this time, Zadok and Abiathar, an unusual double arrangement that lasted through David's reign.

15:12

To "make yourselves clean and set apart" (older translations say "sanctify") was a set of physical preparations required before handling holy objects: washing the body, laundering clothes, avoiding contact with anything that made a person ritually unclean, and abstaining from sex for a stated period. It was about ceremonial fitness for a task, not about moral guilt.

15:13

This refers back to the first attempt to move the ark, described two chapters earlier: it was loaded onto a new ox cart rather than carried by Levites, and when Uzzah put out his hand to steady it he died on the spot. The King James "made a breach upon us" uses "breach" in its old sense of a sudden violent break, like water bursting through a dam.

15:15

The instructions in Exodus specified that the ark be fitted with rings at its corners through which carrying poles were permanently threaded, so that the chest itself was never touched by hand and was borne on men's shoulders rather than on a vehicle.

15:16

The instruments are stringed instruments of two sizes, usually rendered harps and lyres, plus cymbals. The King James "psaltery" is an old English name for a plucked stringed instrument and has nothing to do with the book of Psalms.

15:18

"Ben" is a puzzle in the text. The Hebrew word simply means "son," it is missing from several ancient manuscripts and from the parallel list in verse 20, and many scholars take it as a copyist's stray word rather than a man's name. It is left standing here because the Hebrew as received contains it. "Gatekeepers" (King James "porters") were Levites assigned to guard the entrances to the sanctuary and control who could approach.

15:19

The King James word "brass" almost always means bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. True brass was not in common use in the ancient Near East.

15:20

"Alamoth" is a musical direction whose meaning is lost. The word is related to the Hebrew for young women, so it is often guessed to mean a high pitch or a soprano range, but this is not certain. It also appears in the heading of Psalm 46.

15:21

"Sheminith" means "the eighth" and is likewise an unexplained musical term, perhaps a lower octave, perhaps an eight-stringed instrument, perhaps a particular tune. It appears in the headings of Psalms 6 and 12. "To excel" in the King James translates a word for leading or directing the performance.

15:23

The King James "doorkeepers" were gatekeepers, Levites posted on guard duty at the entrances to sacred space. The job was security, controlling who was permitted to approach, not simply opening a door.

15:24

These trumpets were the straight silver trumpets described in the law of Moses, blown by priests to signal assembly, marching and festivals. They are a different instrument from the curved ram's horn mentioned in verse 28.

15:25

"Commanders of thousands" were officers over the largest units of Israel's militia. The ark had been left at Obed-edom's house for three months after the failed first attempt to move it, described two chapters earlier.

15:26

Seven bulls and seven rams was an unusually large offering, marking the occasion as a major public event; seven was the conventional number for a complete or full-measure act.

15:27

The ephod was a sleeveless linen garment tied at the waist, the working dress of those serving at the sanctuary. The plain linen ephod worn here is a simpler item than the elaborate embroidered ephod reserved for the chief priest. David, though a king and not a priest, wears it as a man taking part in the sacred procession.

15:28

The King James "cornet" does not mean the modern brass instrument. It is the shofar, a ram's horn used as a signaling instrument, capable of only a few loud notes and blown to mark major public moments.

15:29

Michal was Saul's daughter and David's first wife. Saul had given her to David, then taken her back and married her to another man during the years the two were at war; David had recently reclaimed her. The contempt described here is therefore loaded with the history between David and her father's house. The narrative gives her reaction without stating what she objected to.