2 Samuel 6:2

_AND DAVID AROSE, AND WENT WITH ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WERE WITH HIM FROM BAALE OF JUDAH, TO BRING UP FROM THENCE THE ARK OF GOD, WHOSE NAME IS CALLED BY THE NAME OF THE LORD OF HOSTS THAT DWELLETH BETWEEN THE CHERUBIMS._ FROM BAALE OF JUDAH - or Baalah (Joshua 15:9; Joshua 15:11; Joshua 15:60), or Kirjath-baal (2 Samuel 18:14); i:e., Kirjath-jearim, now Kuryet el-Enab (see the notes at these passages, and 1 Chronicles 2:50; 1 Chronicles 2:52).

1-5 God is present with the souls of his people, when they want the outward tokens of his presence; but now David is settled in the throne, the honour of the ark begins to revive. Let us learn hence, to think and to speak highly of God; and to think and speak honourably of holy ordinances, which are to us as the ark was unto Israel, the tokens of God's presence, Matthew 28:20. Christ is our Ark; in and by him God manifests his favour, and accepts our prayers and praises. The ark especially typified Christ and his mediation, in which the name of Jehovah and all his glories are displayed. The priests should have carried the ark upon their shoulders. Philistines may carry the ark in a cart without suffering for it; but if Israelites do so, it is at their peril, because this was not what God appointed....

Verse 2 Samuel 6:2. _FROM BAALE OF JUDAH_] This is supposed to be the same city which, in Joshua 15:60, is called _Kirjah-baal_ or _Kirjath-jearim_; (see 1 Chronicles 13:6;) or _Baalah_, Joshua 15:9. _WHOSE NAME IS CALLED BY THE NAME OF THE LORD_] That is, The ark is called _the ark of the Lord of hosts_. But this is not a _literal_ version; the word שם _shem_, NAME, occurs twice together; probably one of them should be read שם _sham_, THERE. There the name of the Lord of hosts was invoked, c....

FROM BAALE OF JUDAH - See the margin and 1 Samuel 6:21 note. WHOSE NAME ... - The literal rendering is, “Upon which is called the Name, the Name of Yahweh of Hosts, who sits upon the cherubim,” i. e. the ark which is called after the Lord of Hosts and bears His Name (see Deuteronomy 28:10; 1 Kings 8:43; Isaiah 4:1)....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 6:1 AND DAVID GATHERED TOGETHER. The long subjection to the Philistines was at an end, and David's first care is to bring the ark of Jehovah from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem. In this he had a twofold object. For, first, it was an act of piety, testifying David's gratitude to God, who had so quickly raised him from the condition of a despairing fugitive hiding away in the cave of Adullam to that of a victorious king reigning over an independent and free people. But David had also a political purpose. The weakness of Israel in the past was the result of its divisions, he would heal this by giving it a capital, whither the tribes would come up for worship, and where they would feel that they formed one nation. David had seen the evils of a divided sovereignty, when he and Ishbosheth were wasting the strength of Israel in

AND DAVID AROSE, AND WENT WITH ALL THE PEOPLE THAT [WERE] WITH HIM,.... The thirty thousand chosen men gathered together, and as many else as chose to go: FROM BAALE OF JUDAH, TO BRING UP FROM THENCE THE ARK OF GOD; that is, they first went to this place, as in 1 Chronicles 13:6; in order to fetch the ark from thence, as here expressed, and then they came from thence with it; this place is the same that is called Baalah and Kirjathbaal, a city in the tribe of Judah; hence Judah is added to it, and the same with Kirjathjearim, Joshua 15:9; the place where it was brought to when fetched from Bethshemesh, 1 Samuel 7:1; and had been here now near fifty years; nor was it any where else during this time, on

3. THE ARK BROUGHT TO ZION CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The ark fetched by David (2 Samuel 6:1)_ 2. Uzzah: his error and death (2 Samuel 6:6) 3. The ark in the house of Obed-edom (2 Samuel 6:10) 4. The ark brought into David's city (2 Samuel 6:12) 5. Michal's mockery of David (2 Samuel 6:20) It is of importance to read 1 Chronicles 13 for a better understanding of how the ark was brought from Kirjathjearim to David's c

2 SAMUEL 6. DAVID BRINGS THE ARK TO JERUSALEM. MICHAL'S SCORN. HER PUNISHMENT (J). (_Cf._ p. 286.) Nothing has been heard of the Ark since 1 Samuel 7:2, before the accession of Saul. The introduction of the Ark in I S 2 Samuel 14:18, is due to corruption of the text. This silence is sometimes accounted for by supposing that the Ark was under the control of the Philistines and inaccessible to the Israelites (_cf._ Cent.B, and EBi, Ark). David's action gave added importance to the new capital; and the building of Solomon's Temple probably provided Jerusalem with the chief sanctuary in Israel. 2 SAMUEL 6:1. David and the people go to Baal, or Baalah, Judah (not Baale), to fetch the Ark. This place is

BAALE. The old Canaanite name of _Kirjath-jearim_. Compare 1 Samuel 6:21. 1Sa 7:2. 1 Chronicles 13:6. GOD. Hebrew. _Elohim_. App-4. WHOSE NAME IS CALLED BY THE NAME. Some codices, with Aramaean and Vulgate, read "whereupon is called the name", &c. THE LORD OF HOSTS. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ Sebaioth. One of the Jehovah titles. App-4. Compare 2 Samuel 5:10, and see note on 1 Samuel 1:3....

Removal of the Ark from Kirjath-jearim. Uzzah smitten for his irreverence 1. _Again, David gathered together_ AND DAVID GATHERED TOGETHER AGAIN. "Again" refers either to the assembly convened for David's coronation (ch. 2 Samuel 5:1-3), or to the muster for the Philistine war recorded in the verses immediately preceding (ch. 2 Samuel 5:17-25). A more elaborate account of David's preparations for this ceremony is given in 1 Chronicles 13:1-5. We are there told how David consulted with the representatives of the people, and gathered a general assembly of the whole nation. This important step towards the re-establishment of religious worship must be a _national_act. T