1 Chronicles 13:1

_AND DAVID CONSULTED WITH THE CAPTAINS OF THOUSANDS AND HUNDREDS, AND WITH EVERY LEADER._ David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, ... Gratitude for the high and splendid dignity to which he had been elevated would naturally, at this period, impart a fresh animation and impulse to the habitually fervent piety of David; but, at the same time, he was animated by other motives: he fully understood his position as ruler under the theocracy, and, on entering on his duties, was resolved to fulfill his mission as a constitutional king of Israel. Accordingly, his first act as a sovereign related to the interests of religion, and the ark being then the grand instrument and ornament of it, he takes the opportunity of the official representatives of the nation being with him, to consult them about the propriety of establishing it in a more public and accessible locality. The as...

1-5 David said not, What magnificent thing shall I do now? or, What pleasant thing? but, What pious thing? that he might have the comfort and benefit of that sacred oracle. Let us bring the ark to us, that it may be a blessing to us. Those who honour God, profit themselves. It is the wisdom of those setting out in the world, to take God's ark with them. Those are likely to go on in the favour of God, who begin in the fear of God....

CHAPTER XIII _David consults with his officers, and resolves to bring back_ _the ark from the house of Abinadab_, 1-4. _They place it on a new cart, and Uzza and Ahio drive the cart;_ _the oxen stumbling, Uzza puts forth his hand to save the ark_ _from falling, and he is smitten by the Lord_, 5-10. _David is displeased, and orders the ark to be carried to the_ _house of Obed-edom the Gittite_, 11-13. _The ark abides there three months, and the Lord blesses_ _Obed-edom_, 14. NOTES ON CHAP. XIII Verse...

THE CAPTAINS ... - Such an organisation had probably been established generally through the tribes prior to the time of David: but David seems to have been the first to recognize in these officers of the host representatives of the people, to consult them on public affairs, and to give them a certain political position....

EXPOSITION The opening verses of this chapter explain and amplify the compressed announcement of 2 Samuel 6:1, "Again, David gathered together all the chosen of Israel, thirty thousand." And the remaining verses (6-14) cover the same ground as 2 Samuel 6:2. 1 CHRONICLES 13:1 There can be little doubt that the CAPTAINS OF THOUSANDS AND HUNDREDS... WITH EVERY LEADER, here spoken of, represented what had become by this time a confirmed institution, although in embryo, dating from the time of Moses at least (Numbers 31:14;...

AND DAVID CONSULTED WITH THE CAPTAINS OF THOUSANDS, AND HUNDREDS, AND WITH EVERY LEADER. With the chiliarchs and centurions, and every officer in that large body of armed men in every tribe, who met to make and crown him king: for at that time was this consultation had, and therefore is connected with it; though the affair advised about was not yet done, as Dr. Lightfoot h observes, and was not done until some considerable time afterwards. Advice being taken, the several officers went with their men to their respective countries, to meet again at a certain time and place to put the thing projected into execution; and between this and that time were Hiram's message to David on his accession to the throne, the taking of Jerusalem, and the two battles with the Philistines, as the same writer notes; most of which are recorded before this in the book of Samuel, and follow here. h Works, vol....

1 Chronicles 13:1. _And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader. And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the LORD our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us: and let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at it in the days of Saul._ It had lain neglected at Kirjathjearim, «in the fields of the wood,» as David writes in the 132 nd Psalm. 1 Chronicles 13:4. And all the congregation said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

3. THE ARK REMOVED FROM KIRJATH-JEARIM CHAPTER 13 _ 1. The consultation about the ark (1 Chronicles 13:1)_ 2. The attempt and the failure (1 Chronicles 13:6) The first thing after the coronation which concerned David was the ark. This reveals the fact that the king had the things of the Lord upon his heart. He at once consulted with the captains about bringing the ark from Kirjath-jearim. The ark is mentioned forty-six times in the two books of Chronicles. (The titles are the following: ark, 15 times; the ark of God, 12 times; the ark of the Covenant of the LORD, 11 times; the ark of the LORD, 4 times; the ark of the Covenant of God, of Thy Strength, of our God and Thy holy ark, each once.) In Chronicles David's gracious words are recorded, which he

THE BRINGING UP OF THE ARK FROM KIRIATH-JEARIM TO THE HOUSE OF OBED-EDOM (_cf._ 2 Samuel 6:1). The event here mentioned is put in its wrong place by the Chronicler (see 2 Samuel 5:11) with the object of emphasizing David's zeal for the worship of Yahweh, which is represented as his first care after being made king and the taking of Jerusalem. 1 Chronicles 13:1. An introduction inserted by the Chronicler setting forth his own point of view. 1 Chronicles 13:5. Shihor: conceived of as the southern boundary of ancient Israel; there is, of course, no mention of this in the parallel accoun

_David consulted with the captains_etc.] The Chronicler is fond of associating the people with the king in religious measures so as to minimise the appearance of arbitrary power which is suggested by the language of the books of Samuel and of Kings; cp. 1 Chronicles 13:4 (_the assembly said that they would do so_), also 2 Chronicles 30:2; 2 Chronicles 30:4. Similarly in 1 Chronicles 28:2 the king addresses the elders as _My brethren_. Doubtless the Chronicler had in mind Deuteronomy 17:20....