1 Chronicles 15 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

1 Chronicles 15

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

15:1 David¹ built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. 2 Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD had chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him forever. 3 And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place, which he had prepared for it. 4 And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites: 5 of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his brothers; 6 of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 of his brothers; 7 of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 of his brothers; 8 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 of his brothers; 9 of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 of his brothers; 10 of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 of his brothers. 11 Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, 12 and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. 13 Because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.” 14 So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. 15 And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD.

16 David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. 17 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; 18 and with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. 19 The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals; 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth; 21 but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith. 22 Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark.

25 So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing. 26 And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.

29 And as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

Footnotes

[1] 15:1 Hebrew He

Commentary

v1: There was a three month gap since 13.14, while the ark remained at the house of Obed-Edom. David had a tent pitched for the ark of God, its initial resting place in Jerusalem, see 16.1. The tabernacle was still at Gibeon, see 21.29.

v2: The lesson had been learned; Num 1.50; 4.4-6; Deut 17.18-19. David was rebuked and corrected by the Word of God. No resort to popular methods, nor convenience, nor pragmatism; David's conviction was that God's work had to be done in God's way.

Well-meaning Uzza was replaced by Levites, 'joined' to the Lord.

v3: Again, all the people gathered to share in the occasion.

v4-10: The Levites involved;

Uriel, from Kohath, with 120;

Asaiah, from Merari, with 220;

Joel, from Gershon, with 130;

Shemaiah, from Elizaphan, son of Kohath, with 200;

Eliel, from Hebron, son of Kohath, with 80; and

Ammindab, from Uzziel, son of Kohath, with 112.

In total 868 were involved. We are not told who actually carried the ark; there was no place for the exaltation of any individual in the public eye. The attention was on the mighty God.

v11-15: The priests and the Levites had to bear some responsibility for the failure the first time. The consecrated themselves, and they were careful to do what Scripture commanded.

v16-24: The Levites gathered to accompany the ark. There were singers and musicians, and doorkeepers. There were lyres (according to alamoth, v20; Ps 46); and harps (according to sheminith, v21; Ps 6). There were different types of music, presumably being appropriate to the occasion, and to the words being sung.

Later, ch25, regular worship included singing and music. David was particularly responsible for introducing music into worship, and organising the Levites accordingly. There are very few references to music and the use of instruments before this period.

v25-28: Special time of rejoicing, in which all Israel shared.

v29: In contrast to the harmony in worship, there was nor harmony in David's home. It is essential that we keep close to our partners (Amos 3.3), especially in spiritual things.