1 Chronicles 15
Ark of Covenant comes to Jerusalem
David’s worship center
1David built a palace complex in his capital, the City of David. There were several buildings on the palace compound. He also prepared a room for the Ark of the Covenant inside a tent worship center.2David ordered that only Levite associates of the priests could carry the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred chest that held the Ten Commandments of God. David gave that order because God assigned Levites that job for the rest of time. [1]
Lining up Levites for a parade
3David invited everyone in Israel to join him in bringing the sacred Box of God to the worship center he prepared. 4David called in Aaron’s descendants, the priests, along with their associates, the Levites. [2] 5These are clans in Levi’s tribe that came for the event:Kohath clan, 130. Uriel led this clan.
6Merari clan, 220. Asaiah led them.
7Gershon clan, 130. Joel led them.
8Elizaphan clan, 200. Shemaiah led them.
9Hebron clan, 80. Eliel led them.
10Uzziel clan, 112. Amminadab led them.
David tells priests to spiritually purify themselves
11David met with the two priests Zadok and Abiathar, along with six Levites: Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.12David said, “You are leaders in your tribe of Levi. I want you to spiritually purify yourselves. [3] You’re going to bring the sacred Box of the LORD to the worship center I’ve prepared for it. 13The first time I tried to bring the chest here, you weren’t the ones carrying it. The LORD our God got angry. He certainly let us know that we handled it all wrong.”
14So the priests and their Levite associates got themselves spiritually ready to carry the Box of the LORD, the God of Israel. 15Levites lifted the two long poles that held the Box of God and placed the poles on their shoulders. That’s what Moses told Levites to do long ago, as God ordered.
David orders music
16David also told Levite leaders to choose their best musicians to accompany the chest and surround it with the music of singers and other musicians playing instruments such as harps, lyres, and cymbals. 17Levites chose these musicians and associates and assigned them the instruments they would play and any other work they would do for this special event.Cymbals: Heman son of Joel, his relative Asaph son of Berechiah, and Ethan son of Kushaiah, from the Marari clan.
18Harps: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the guards Obed-edom and Jeiel.
19Singers: Heman, Asaph, and Ethan. They also played the bronze cymbals.
20Accompanying harpists: These musicians would accompany [4] singers by playing their harps: Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah.
21Low-octave lyres. These musicians would play lyres in a lower octave: [5] Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah.
22Music director: Chenaniah would direct the music. He’s the music director for the Levite tribe. He understands the music.
23Security guards: Berechiah and Elkanah would guard the sacred chest.
24Ram’s horn trumpets: These priests would walk in front of the sacred chest and blow the ram’s horns: Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer.
Extra security guards: Obed-edom and Jehiah would also guard the sacred chest.
Ten Commandments come to Jerusalem
2 Samuel 6:12-22 25So David took Israel’s leaders, including his military commanders, to the house of Obed-edom. [6] That’s where the people of Israel decided to keep the Box of God that held the Ten Commandments. 26God gave the Levites the energy to carry the heavy [7] chest from Oded-edom’s house to Jerusalem. To thank him, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven male sheep.
27All the Levites dressed in fine linen. That included the men carrying the chest, Chenaniah the song leader, and the vocalists. David did, too. He added an ephod apron. [8]
28A happy crowd of Israelites escorted the sacred chest of the LORD, cheering to the sound of thundering ram’s horn trumpets, cymbals, and loud music accompanied by harps and lyres. 29As the Box of the LORD reached the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out of a window and saw her husband David jumping and dancing. She despised him. [9] 
Footnotes
115:2“Moses wrote down all the laws he taught the people. Then he gave it to the priests, Levites entrusted with carrying the sacred Box of Law” (Deuteronomy 31:9; see also Numbers 4:15, Joshua 3:3).
215:4Priests and Levites were all descended from Jacob’s son, Levi. But only descendants of Aaron in Levi’s tribe were allowed to serve as priests (Numbers 18:6-7).
315:12Purification rituals included washing the body, taking a ritual bath and completely submersing, putting on clean clothes, abstaining from sexual relations (Leviticus 15).
415:20The Hebrew text says the musicians would play their harps “according to Alamoth.” It’s uncertain what Alamoth means. It could be the tune to which the song is sung or recited. It might be a style of music, such as a soprano solo, which could be appropriate to the upbeat message in the lyrics of Psalm 46:1, where it appears. It might be the name of the songwriter. Guesses are based mainly on context clues, which are few and not especially helpful. (see also Psalm 48:15).
515:21“Low octave” is a guess. The Hebrew word, sheminith, is a mystery, like selah. The guess “low octave” is based on the idea that the lyrics of Psalm 6, where it also appears, are solemn. That makes the lyrics a good fit with music played in quiet tones and in a bass octave.
615:25Kiriath-jearim was where the people of Israel parked the Ark of the Covenant for 20 years after they got it back from the Philistines. The Philistines had stolen it after defeating Israel in a battle (1 Samuel 6:21; 7:2). Kiriath-jearim is usually associated with a ruin called Tell el-Azar, about 8 miles (13 km) west of Jerusalem, less than half a day’s walk.
715:26Jewish scholars have calculated the weight of the chest at 183 pounds (83 kg). But the wood alone for the gold-plated Ark of the Covenant—which held the Ten Commandment stone tablets and was topped with a golden lid holding two golden cherubim—weighed roughly 130-145 pounds (60-65 kg). That’s bare wood. With gold and stones, who knows? The wood chest measured 45 x 27 x 27 inches (1.25 m x .75 m x .75 m). That’s 3.75 feet long and 2 feet wide and high (Exodus 25:10-22). If the boards were one inch thick, the chest needed about 2.9 cubic feet of hard acacia wood. That wood weighs 45-50 pounds per cubic feet.
815:27An ephod in the time of Moses, several centuries before David, was an apron or vest worn by the high priest. Scholars debate exactly what that looked like. Some describe it as a skirt or a shift-like garment that covered the body from about the waist to the mid-thigh. Priests used what was described as an ephod to store the sword of Goliath, after David killed this Philistine champion warrior (1 Samuel 23:9). Some scholars suggest the Hebrew word ephod was related to the Akkadian word epattu. Assyrian writings say epattu were idols dressed in expensive clothing worn by high officials.
915:29Michal probably wasn’t upset with his dancing, though she did complain that he embarrassed himself by jumping so hard that he exposed his posterity and looked like a pervert (2 Samuel 6: 20). The real problem may have been that after he became king, he forced her to remarry. Earlier King Saul forced her to divorce David and marry another man who dearly loved her (2 Samuel 3:14-16). She did not want to leave her new husband for David. There’s no indication in the Bible that she ever had children with David.
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27All the Levites dressed in fine linen. That included the men carrying the chest, Chenaniah the song leader, and the vocalists. David did, too. He added an ephod apron. [8]
28A happy crowd of Israelites escorted the sacred chest of the LORD, cheering to the sound of thundering ram’s horn trumpets, cymbals, and loud music accompanied by harps and lyres. 29As the Box of the LORD reached the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out of a window and saw her husband David jumping and dancing. She despised him. [9]
Footnotes
“Moses wrote down all the laws he taught the people. Then he gave it to the priests, Levites entrusted with carrying the sacred Box of Law” (Deuteronomy 31:9; see also Numbers 4:15, Joshua 3:3).
Priests and Levites were all descended from Jacob’s son, Levi. But only descendants of Aaron in Levi’s tribe were allowed to serve as priests (Numbers 18:6-7).
Purification rituals included washing the body, taking a ritual bath and completely submersing, putting on clean clothes, abstaining from sexual relations (Leviticus 15).
The Hebrew text says the musicians would play their harps “according to Alamoth.” It’s uncertain what Alamoth means. It could be the tune to which the song is sung or recited. It might be a style of music, such as a soprano solo, which could be appropriate to the upbeat message in the lyrics of Psalm 46:1, where it appears. It might be the name of the songwriter. Guesses are based mainly on context clues, which are few and not especially helpful. (see also Psalm 48:15).
“Low octave” is a guess. The Hebrew word, sheminith, is a mystery, like selah. The guess “low octave” is based on the idea that the lyrics of Psalm 6, where it also appears, are solemn. That makes the lyrics a good fit with music played in quiet tones and in a bass octave.
Kiriath-jearim was where the people of Israel parked the Ark of the Covenant for 20 years after they got it back from the Philistines. The Philistines had stolen it after defeating Israel in a battle (1 Samuel 6:21; 7:2). Kiriath-jearim is usually associated with a ruin called Tell el-Azar, about 8 miles (13 km) west of Jerusalem, less than half a day’s walk.
Jewish scholars have calculated the weight of the chest at 183 pounds (83 kg). But the wood alone for the gold-plated Ark of the Covenant—which held the Ten Commandment stone tablets and was topped with a golden lid holding two golden cherubim—weighed roughly 130-145 pounds (60-65 kg). That’s bare wood. With gold and stones, who knows? The wood chest measured 45 x 27 x 27 inches (1.25 m x .75 m x .75 m). That’s 3.75 feet long and 2 feet wide and high (Exodus 25:10-22). If the boards were one inch thick, the chest needed about 2.9 cubic feet of hard acacia wood. That wood weighs 45-50 pounds per cubic feet.
An ephod in the time of Moses, several centuries before David, was an apron or vest worn by the high priest. Scholars debate exactly what that looked like. Some describe it as a skirt or a shift-like garment that covered the body from about the waist to the mid-thigh. Priests used what was described as an ephod to store the sword of Goliath, after David killed this Philistine champion warrior (1 Samuel 23:9). Some scholars suggest the Hebrew word ephod was related to the Akkadian word epattu. Assyrian writings say epattu were idols dressed in expensive clothing worn by high officials.
Michal probably wasn’t upset with his dancing, though she did complain that he embarrassed himself by jumping so hard that he exposed his posterity and looked like a pervert (2 Samuel 6: 20). The real problem may have been that after he became king, he forced her to remarry. Earlier King Saul forced her to divorce David and marry another man who dearly loved her (2 Samuel 3:14-16). She did not want to leave her new husband for David. There’s no indication in the Bible that she ever had children with David.
Discussion Questions
- Sorry, there are currently no questions for this chapter.
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