Chapter XV

=1‒24.=
DAVID’S PREPARATIONS FOR BRINGING THE ARK TO JERUSALEM.

There is no parallel in Samuel to this section.

In 2 Samuel vi. 12 the reason given for the renewal of David’s attempt to bring the Ark to Jerusalem is the report of the blessing which was said to have befallen Obed-edom, in whose house the Ark had been left. The Chronicler is not ignorant of this tradition since he refers to it incidentally in xiii. 14, but it would be very far from his sense of the fitness of things to adduce it as the motive for David’s action. On the contrary he declares in this section that David was prompted by a realisation that the ill-success of the first attempt was due to failure to observe the regulations of the Levitical Law. Full attention now being given to the prescribed ritual, David succeeds in his pious purpose.

¹And _David_ made him houses in the city of David; and he
prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.

=1.= _made him houses_] Compare 2 Samuel v. 9.

_a tent_] a new tent, not the old tabernacle which the Chronicler believed to be at Gibeon (see xvi. 39).

²Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the
Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God,
and to minister unto him for ever.

=2.= _None ... but the Levites_] Numbers i. 50, vii. 9. Nothing is said in the parallel place (2 Samuel vi. 13) of the Levites, but bearers (and not a cart) are spoken of with regard to this second attempt. Compare 2 Chronicles v. 4, note.

³And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the
ark of the LORD unto its place, which he had prepared for it.
⁴And David gathered together the sons of Aaron, and the Levites:

=3.= _assembled all Israel_] It was a solemn religious _assembly_ (Hebrew _Ḳāhāl_, Greek ἐκκλησία).

⁵of the sons of Kohath; Uriel the chief, and his brethren an
hundred and twenty: ⁶of the sons of Merari; Asaiah the chief,
and his brethren two hundred and twenty: ⁷of the sons of Gershom;
Joel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and thirty: ⁸of
the sons of Elizaphan; Shemaiah the chief, and his brethren
two hundred: ⁹of the sons of Hebron; Eliel the chief, and his
brethren fourscore: ¹⁰of the sons of Uzziel; Amminadab the chief,
and his brethren an hundred and twelve.

=5‒10.= Remark that besides the three great Levitical divisions, Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites, three additional classes (sons of Elizaphan, of Hebron, and of Uzziel) are given in verses 8‒10. This unusual sixfold division, and the smallness of the numbers of Levites have been taken as indicating that the whole passage xv. 1‒15 is drawn by the Chronicler from an earlier source, but the argument is not convincing. “The text does not imply that Elizaphan, Hebron, and Uzziel were coordinated with Kohath, Gershom, and Merari”; and the small numbers are accounted for by the view that only selected Levites were chosen for the task (so Curtis, _Chronicles_, p. 127).

=5.= _the sons of Kohath; Uriel_] Kohath had four sons (Exodus vi. 18 = 1 Chronicles vi. 18): Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Here the descendants of Amram (exclusive of the priests, the Aaronites) represented by Uriel head the list (verse 5), and the descendants of Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel appear in verses 8, 9, 10 respectively. _Elizaphan_ (verse 8) either stands for the _Izhar_ of Exodus vi. 18, or is the name of some prominent descendant of Izhar after whom the whole family was named. He is mentioned again in 2 Chronicles xxix. 13. As regards number the Kohathites were 512 against 350 of the sons of Merari and the sons of Gershom combined. In vi. 60‒63 (45‒48, Hebrew) 23 cities are reckoned to Kohath against 25 to Merari and Gershom combined. The Kohathites formed the largest and most important of the three divisions of the Levites.

¹¹And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for
the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel,
and Amminadab,

=11.= _Zadok and Abiathar_] This double priesthood (2 Samuel viii. 17, xv. 29, 35, xix. 11, xx. 25) came to an end in the reign of Solomon (1 Kings ii. 27, 35). _Zadok_ is always mentioned first as being descended from Eleazar the third son of Aaron, while Ithamar from whom _Abiathar_ (Ahimelech) was descended through Eli (1 Kings ii. 27) was the fourth son (xxiv. 1, 3). In two of the passages quoted in this note _Abiathar_ (probably being confused with his father) is called _Ahimelech_ or _Abimelech_ (2 Samuel viii. 17 = 1 Chronicles xviii. 16; 1 Chronicles xxiv. 3). Conversely in Mark ii. 26 _Ahimelech_ is called _Abiathar_. In the Chronicler’s list of high-priests (vi. 4‒14) _Zadok_ alone is mentioned, the line of Eleazar alone being given.

_the priests_] Only the two chief priests are mentioned here. Other priests blew with the trumpets in front of the Ark (verse 24).

¹²and said unto them, Ye are the heads of the fathers’ _houses_
of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren,
that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel,
unto _the place_ that I have prepared for it.

=12.= _sanctify yourselves_] Compare 2 Chronicles xxix. 5. For the method of sanctifying compare Exodus xix. 10, 15.

¹³For because ye _bare it_ not at the first, the LORD our God
made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not according
to the ordinance. ¹⁴So the priests and the Levites sanctified
themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.

=13.= _made a breach_] xiii. 11, xiv. 11 (compare margin).

_we sought him not_] i.e. God; but a better rendering is =we sought not unto it=. Compare note on xiii. 3.

_according to the ordinance_] For its observance, see verse 15.

¹⁵And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their
shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according
to the word of the LORD.

=15.= _the children of the Levites bare ... upon their shoulders_] in accordance with the regulation of Numbers i. 50, vii. 9, which was not observed in the first attempt when the Ark was placed in a cart, xiii. 7.

_the staves_] Exodus xxv. 13, 14.

¹⁶And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their
brethren the singers, with instruments of music, psalteries and
harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with
joy.

=16.= _psalteries_] See note on xiii. 8.

¹⁷So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his
brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari
their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;

=17.= _Heman the son of Joel_] a descendant of Samuel the prophet; vi. 33 (vi. 18, Hebrew). Compare Psalms lxxxviii. (title). As _Heman_ was descended from Kohath, _Asaph_ from Gershom, and _Ethan_ from Merari, each division of the Levites was represented by a chief musician. _Heman_ was king’s seer (xxv. 5).

_Asaph the son of Berechiah_] a descendant of Gershom; vi. 39‒43 (24‒28, Hebrew). Asaph was the chief of the musicians; xvi. 5, 7. One of the small collections of Psalms from which our Psalter was compiled was named after him; compare the titles of Psalms l., lxxiii.‒lxxxiii.

_Ethan the son of Kushaiah_] a descendant of Merari; vi. 44‒47. Compare Psalms lxxxix. (title). He is apparently called _Jeduthun_ in xxv. 1‒6. See also the note on xvi. 41.

=18‒24.= These verses present several obscurities which can hardly be explained except by the supposition that the original text of the Chronicler has been added to by a later writer with intricate results. Several reconstructions are possible, the most plausible being that of Curtis which is followed in these notes.

¹⁸and with them their brethren of the second degree, Zechariah,
Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab,
and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and
Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers.

=18.= _their brethren of the second degree_] Read rather =their twelve brethren=: twelve being the number of names from Zechariah to Mikneiah. The last two, Obed-edom and Jeiel, were “doorkeepers,” not “singers,” although they were mistakenly supposed to belong to the list of singers by the author of verses 19‒21 (see further regarding Obed-edom the note on xvi. 38).

_Ben_] This word, which means “son,” is an error. Read probably =Bani=.

_the doorkeepers_] See the notes on ix. 17.

¹⁹So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, _were appointed_,
with cymbals of brass to sound aloud;

=19‒21.= Probably an addition interpolated by someone interested in the detailed organisation of the Levitical choirs. The names are taken from verse 18, except that _Ben_ is omitted, and a new name Azaziah is added at the end of the list. Since Obed-edom and Jeiel are included among the singers here, the reading “of the second degree” (which is regarded above as an error for an original “twelve”: a slight change in Hebrew) must have been found in the text of verse 18 which the interpolator used.

_to sound aloud_] The cymbals mark the time for the other instruments.

²⁰and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and
Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries set
to Alamoth;

=20.= _set to Alamoth_] an obscure phrase, its musical significance being uncertain; compare Psalms xlvi. (title), Revised Version.

²¹and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom,
and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps set to the Sheminith, to lead.

=21.= _set to the Sheminith_] As in the case of _Alamoth_, the precise musical significance of _Sheminith_ is obscure. Compare Psalms vi. (title, Revised Version margin).

²²And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was over the song¹: he
instructed about the song¹, because he was skilful.

¹ Or, _the carrying_ of the ark Hebrew _the lifting up_.

=22.= _was over the song_] The Hebrew word (_massa_) here twice rendered “song” means “uplifting,” either of the voice in song, or in a physical sense = “burden”; hence margin _was over the carrying_ of the ark.

²³And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.

=23.= _were doorkeepers for the ark_] The same statement is made in verse 24 concerning _Obed-edom_ and _Jehiah_ (= Jeiel)! On Curtis’ view, this verse was added by the same writer as verses 19‒21, who, having taken Obed-edom and Jeiel as part of the list of singers in verse 18 no doubt thought that the names of the doorkeepers (the last word of verse 18) had somehow been omitted. He supplied therefore here the names Berechiah and Elkanah (taken perhaps from ix. 16). A still later writer has attempted to put matters straight by further adding at the conclusion of verse 24 “and Obed-edom and Jehiah (Jeiel) were doorkeepers for the ark.”

²⁴And Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and
Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow with
the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-edom and Jehiah
were doorkeepers for the ark.

=24.= _the priests_] In Numbers x. 1‒10 it is enjoined to make two silver trumpets to be blown by the priests on days of joy and on feast-days. This festal trumpet was different from the “cornet” (verse 28), properly a ram’s horn, which was freely used for secular purposes. See Driver, _Amos_, pp. 144 ff. (with illustrations).

=25‒XVI. 3= (compare 2 Samuel vi. 12‒20).
THE BRINGING HOME OF THE ARK. MICHAL DESPISES DAVID.

²⁵So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the house of Obed-edom with joy: ²⁶and it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that they sacrificed seven bullocks and seven rams.

=26.= _when God helped the Levites_] In 2 Samuel vi. 13, _when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces_. The Chronicler interprets the safe start as a sign of Divine assistance.

_seven bullocks and seven rams_] In Samuel _an ox and a fatling_ (so Revised Version, not, _oxen and fatlings_ as Authorized Version). The smaller sacrifice of Samuel is represented as the king’s own offering, the larger sacrifice of Chronicles as that of the king and his elders combined.

²⁷And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the
Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the
master of the song¹ _with_ the singers: and David had upon him
an ephod of linen.

¹ Or, _the carrying_ of the ark Hebrew _the lifting up_.

=27.= _of the song_] margin, _of the carrying_ of the ark. Compare verse 22, note.

_an ephod of linen_] worn exceptionally by David for the purpose of the religious procession. A linen ephod was the ordinary vestment for all priests (1 Samuel xxii. 18). The high-priest’s ephod was a more elaborate garment (Exodus xxviii. 6‒12), fitted with the means of divination (1 Samuel xxiii. 6, 9‒12).

²⁸Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD
with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets,
and with cymbals, sounding aloud with psalteries and harps.

=28.= _with shouting_] The Hebrew word (_tĕrū‘ah_) is technical in the sense of _a blast_ with the festal trumpets (Numbers x. 1‒10), and in this sense it should be taken here, since the Chronicler has expanded the account given in Samuel by introducing a mention of these trumpets.

²⁹And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the LORD
came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul
looked out at the window, and saw king David dancing and playing;
and she despised him in her heart.

=29.= _playing_] a synonym of _dancing_, obsolete in modern English. The closest rendering is perhaps, =leaping as in sport=. The unrestrained joyousness of this action might easily degenerate (as in idolatrous worship) into licence. The Chronicler omits to say that the dancing was “before the Lord” (2 Samuel vi. 16). David’s subsequent interview with Michal (2 Samuel vi. verses 20‒23) is also passed over in Chronicles.