2 Samuel 6

ARC · Chapter 6/24

1E tornou David a ajuntar todos os escolhidos de Israel, em numero de trinta mil.

2E levantou-se David, e partiu com todo o povo que tinha comsigo de Baalim de Judah, para levarem d'ali para cima a arca de Deus, sobre a qual se invoca o nome, o nome do Senhor dos exercitos, que se assenta entre os cherubins.

3E puzeram a arca de Deus em um carro novo, e a levaram da casa de Abinadab, que está em Gibeah: e Uza e Ahio, filhos de Abinadab, guiavam o carro novo.

4E levando-o da casa d'Abinadab, que está em Gibeah, com a arca de Deus, Ahio ia diante da arca.

5E David, e toda a casa de Israel, fazia alegrias perante o Senhor, com toda a sorte de instrumentos de pau de faia: como com harpas, e com psalterios, e com tamboris, e com pandeiros, e com cymbalos.

6E, chegando á eira de Nachon, estendeu Uza a mão á arca de Deus, e teve mão n'ella; porque os bois a deixavam pender.

7Então a ira do Senhor se accendeu contra Uza, e Deus o feriu ali por esta imprudencia: e morreu ali junto á arca de Deus.

8E David se contristou, porque o Senhor abrira rotura em Uza; e chamou aquelle logar Peres-uza, até ao dia d'hoje.

9E temeu David ao Senhor n'aquelle dia; e disse: Como virá a mim a arca do Senhor?

10E não quiz David retirar a si a arca do Senhor á cidade de David; mas David a fez levar á casa de Obed-edom, o getheo.

11E ficou a arca do Senhor em casa d'Obed-edom, o getheo, tres mezes: e abençoou o Senhor a Obed-edom, e a toda a sua casa.

12Então avisaram a David, dizendo: Abençoou o Senhor a casa d'Obed-edom, e tudo quanto tem, por amor da arca de Deus; foi pois David, e trouxe a arca de Deus para cima, da casa de Obed-edom, á cidade de David, com alegria.

13E succedeu que, quando os que levavam a arca do Senhor tinham dado seis passos, sacrificava bois e carneiros cevados.

14E David saltava com todas as suas forças diante do Senhor: e estava David cingido d'um ephod de linho.

15Assim subindo, levavam David e todo o Israel a arca do Senhor, com jubilo, e ao som das trombetas.

16E succedeu que, entrando a arca do Senhor na cidade de David, Michal, a filha de Saul, estava olhando pela janella: e, vendo ao rei David, que ia bailando e saltando diante do Senhor, o desprezou no seu coração.

17E introduzindo a arca do Senhor, a puzeram no seu logar, na tenda que David lhe armara: e offereceu David holocaustos e offertas pacificas perante o Senhor.

18E acabando David de offerecer os holocaustos e offertas pacificas, abençoou o povo em nome do Senhor dos exercitos.

19E repartiu a todo o povo, e a toda a multidão de Israel, desde os homens até ás mulheres, a cada um, um bolo de pão, e um bom pedaço de carne, e um frasco de vinho; então foi-se todo o povo, cada um para sua casa.

20E, voltando David para abençoar a sua casa, Michal, a filha de Saul, saiu a encontrar-se com David, e disse: Quão honrado foi o rei d'Israel, descobrindo-se hoje aos olhos das servas de seus servos, como sem pejo se descobre qualquer dos vadios.

21Disse porém David a Michal: Perante o Senhor, que me escolheu a mim antes do que a teu pae, e a toda a sua casa, mandando-me que fosse chefe sobre o povo do Senhor, sobre Israel: perante o Senhor tenho feito alegrias.

22E ainda mais do que isto me envilecerei, e me humilharei aos meus olhos: e das servas, de quem fallaste, d'ellas serei honrado.

23E Michal, a filha de Saul, não teve filhos, até ao dia da sua morte.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

David brings the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. Along the way, Uzzah touches the ark to steady it and dies instantly, frightening David, who leaves the ark in the house of Obed-Edom for three months before finally bringing it into the city with great celebration.

Explanation

The ark represented God's presence among the people, and there were specific instructions for how it was to be carried (with poles, borne by Levite priests, never touched directly — see Numbers 4). Uzzah's death, though disturbing, teaches that God's holiness is not something to be handled casually, even with good intentions. When David finally follows the correct procedure, the celebration is enormous. Michal's contempt for David's exuberant dancing shows the tension between genuine devotion and social appearances — David chooses to honor God even at the risk of his royal dignity.

Fun facts

  • According to 1 Chronicles 15, the reason for Uzzah's death was precisely the improper transport of the ark on an ox cart (as the Philistines had done) instead of it being carried on the shoulders of Levites, as God had commanded.
  • Michal, Saul's daughter and David's first wife, never had children — a detail Jewish tradition interprets as a consequence of her contempt for David's exuberant worship.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Samuel 6:1David again gathers the best men of Israel, about thirty thousand, for an important mission that follows.
  2. 2 Samuel 6:2David sets out with the people to bring back the ark of God, the symbol of the presence of the LORD of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim.
  3. 2 Samuel 6:3The ark is set on a new cart and brought out of the house of Abinadab; Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, drive the cart.
  4. 2 Samuel 6:4As the cart carries the ark out of Abinadab’s house, Ahio walks in front of it.
  5. 2 Samuel 6:5David and all the house of Israel celebrate before the LORD with every kind of instrument: harps, psalteries, timbrels, cornets, and cymbals.
  6. 2 Samuel 6:6The ark was meant to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites by fixed poles, never touched directly or hauled on an ox-drawn cart—Uzzah is struck down precisely for touching it to steady it, breaking that rule in the middle of the journey, even with good intentions.
  7. 2 Samuel 6:7The anger of the LORD burns against Uzzah for this act, and he dies right there, beside the ark.
  8. 2 Samuel 6:8David is displeased over Uzzah’s death and calls that place Perez-uzzah, a name that remained to the day the text was written.
  9. 2 Samuel 6:9After what happened, David becomes afraid of the LORD and wonders whether he should really bring the ark near himself.
  10. 2 Samuel 6:10David decides not to bring the ark to the city of David for now, and leaves it at the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
  11. 2 Samuel 6:11The ark stays three months at the house of Obed-edom, and the LORD blesses him and his whole household because of it.
  12. 2 Samuel 6:12On hearing that Obed-edom was blessed because of the ark, David decides at last to bring it up to the city of David, this time with joy.
  13. 2 Samuel 6:13As soon as those carrying the ark have gone six paces, David offers sacrifices of oxen and fatlings, marking the solemnity of the moment.
  14. 2 Samuel 6:14David dances, girded with “a linen ephod,” a garment normally worn by priests, rather than royal robes—a king dancing half-dressed before the people, without the usual symbols of power, is what shocks Michal later on.
  15. 2 Samuel 6:15David and all Israel bring up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.
  16. 2 Samuel 6:16Watching David leaping and dancing before the LORD through the window, Michal, Saul’s daughter, despises him in her heart.
  17. 2 Samuel 6:17The ark is set in the tent David had pitched for it, and he offers burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
  18. 2 Samuel 6:18After offering the sacrifices, David blesses all the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
  19. 2 Samuel 6:19David gives every person in the crowd, men and women alike, a loaf of bread, a good piece of meat, and a cake of raisins, before everyone heads home.
  20. 2 Samuel 6:20Michal goes out to meet David, mocking him for dancing like “one of the vain fellows” in front of the servants’ eyes—to her, a king should keep up appearances; to David, joy before God mattered more than image.
  21. 2 Samuel 6:21David answers Michal that it was before the LORD he danced, the LORD who chose him over her father to be ruler over His people Israel—for him, the joy was before God, not a matter of royal image.
  22. 2 Samuel 6:22David goes further, saying he is willing to make himself even more lightly esteemed in his own eyes, and that it is precisely by the servants Michal mentioned that he would be held in honor.
  23. 2 Samuel 6:23The text closes Michal’s story by saying she had no child to the day of her death—without explaining whether this is a direct punishment for despising David or simply the natural result of a marriage that had by then gone cold; scholars read it differently.

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