II Samuel 6:1

Sa2 6:1 The ark fetched from Kirjath-jearim. - Sa2 6:1. "David assembled together again all the chosen men in Israel, thirty thousand." יסף for יאסף is the Kal of אסף, as in Sa1 15:6; Psa 104:29. עוד, again, once more, points back to Sa2 5:1, Sa2 5:3, where all Israel is said to have assembled for the first time in Hebron to anoint David king. It is true that that assembly was not convened directly by David himself; but this was not the point in question, but merely their assembling a second time (see Bertheau on Ch1 13:5). בּחוּר does not mean "the young men" here (νεάνια, lxx), or "the fighting men," but, according to the etymology of the word, "the picked men." Instead of thirty thousand, the lxx have seventy chiliads, probably with an intentional exaggeration, because the number of men in Israel who were capable of bearing arms amounted to more than thirty thousand. The whole nation, through a very considerable body of representatives, was to take part in the removal of the ark. The writer of the Chronicles gives a more elaborate account of the preparations for these festivities (Ch1 13:1-5); namely, that David took counsel with the heads of thousands and hundreds, and all the leaders, i.e., all the heads of families and households, and then with their consent collected together the whole nation from the brook of Egypt to Hamath, of course not every individual, but a large number of heads of households as representatives of the whole. This account in the Chronicles is not an expansion of the brief notice given here; but the account before us is a condensation of the fuller description given in the sources that were employed by both authors. Sa2 6:2 "David went with all the people that were with him to Baale-Jehuda, to fetch up the ark of God from thence." The words…

We have not heard a word of the ark since it was lodged in Kirjath-jearim, immediately after its return out of its captivity among the Philistines (Sa1 7:1, Sa1 7:2), except that, once, Saul called for it, Sa1 14:18. That which in former days had made so great a figure is now thrown aside, as a neglected thing, for many years. And, if now the ark was for so many years in a house, let it not seem strange that we find the church so long in the wilderness, Rev 12:14. Perpetual visibility is no mark of the true church. God is graciously present with the souls of his people even when they want the external tokens of his presence. But now that David is settled in the throne the honour of the ark begins to revive, and Israel's care of it to flourish again, wherein also, no doubt, the good people among them had been careful, but they lacked opportunity. See Phi 4:10. I. Here is honourable mention made of the ark. Because it had not been spoken of a great while, now that it is spoken of observe how it is described (Sa2 6:2): it is the ark of God whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubim, or at which the name, even the name of the Lord of hosts, was called upon, or upon which the name of the Lord of hosts was called, or because of which the name is proclaimed, the name of the Lord of hosts (that is, God was greatly magnified in the miracles done before the ark), or the ark of God, who is called the name (Lev 24:11, Lev 24:16), the name of the Lord of hosts, sitting on the cherubim upon it. Let us learn hence, 1. To think and speak highly of God. He is the name above every name, the Lord of hosts, that has all the creatures in heaven and earth at his command, and receives homage from them all, and yet is pleased to dwell between the c…

6:1-23 Except for the brief reference in 1 Sam 14:18 (see note), the Ark of the Covenant has not been mentioned since 1 Sam 7:1-2, when the Philistines returned the captured Ark to Beth-shemesh and then to Kiriath-jearim, where it was placed in Abinadab’s home. The Ark’s virtual absence during Saul’s forty-year reign highlights that Saul, in his spiritual insensitivity, did not seek the Lord (see 1 Chr 10:13-14; 13:3). David brought the Ark into Jerusalem, effectively acknowledging and enthroning (see 2 Sam 6:2) Yahweh as the true king over Israel in the new capital.