Summary: David gathered his men to get the Ark of God (v.2). Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart back home (v.3). Uzzah tried to balance the Ark when it stumbled, and God killed him for it (v.6). After a three-month hiatus (v.12), David musters up the courage to take the Ark back to Jerusalem. David showed excitement and zeal when the Ark was returned to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:12-14), which led all the people of God to show joy and shouts of excitement (v.15). In the midst of this, Michal (his wife) judges her husband for his zeal, excitement, and dancing (v.16, 20). David responded to her by telling her that she was in the wrong (vv.21-22), and she died childless (v.23)! This narrative tells us that we shouldn’t cast negativity and cynicism on those who are showing emotion and excitement in what God is doing.
Psalm 24 and Psalm 68 were written during this time. The parallel account for this event is found in 1 Chronicles 13:5ff and 15:23-16:3, 43.
(6:1) David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand.
The parallel passage states that David conferred with his military officials before he made this decision (1 Chron. 13:5-8). By gathering 30,000 men, David was showing that he was sparing no expense.
(6:2) He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark.
The Ark of the Covenant hasn’t been mentioned since 1 Samuel 14:18. When we add up the time from 1 Samuel 7:2 (20 years) and Saul’s reign in 1 Samuel 13:1 (40 years), we realize that the Ark had been gone for over 60 total years.[] Saul didn’t have interest in seeking the Ark (1 Chron. 13:3), but David wanted it back.
(6:3-4) They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it.
Abinadab was one of David’s brothers (1 Sam. 16:8). He had held the Ark for this extended period of time (1 Sam. 7:1).
“They set the ark of God on a new cart.” They were supposed to carry it with poles (Exod. 25:12-14). They weren’t supposed to touch the Ark, or they would die (Num. 4:15; 7:9). This mention of a “new cart” is parallel with how the Philistines transported the Ark (1 Sam. 6:7-8). This could be foreshadowing for what will happen with Uzzah (v.7).
Abinadab’s sons (or grandsons?) were responsible for carrying the Ark. They would have (or should have) known of the seriousness of this task.
(6:5) David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.
David begins to throw a party that they are going to bring the Ark home. But this seems to be counting your chickens before they hatch. Was this really the right time to start throwing a party?
(6:6) When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled.
The oxen didn’t dump the Ark off the cart. Instead, they “nearly upset” the Ark (NASB).
(6:7) The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.
Put simply, God’s severity was in reaction to the flippancy with which David chose to transport the Ark.
For one, David formerly looked for counsel in big decisions (2 Sam. 5:19, 23), but we do not find those words here in this section. Instead, the parallel account in 1 Chronicles states that “David consulted with the captains… even with every leader” (1 Chron. 13:1). David later reflected, “Because you did not carry it at the first, the LORD our God made an outburst on us, for we did not seek Him according to the ordinance” (1 Chron. 15:13).
Second, God was very clear on his stipulations for carrying the Ark. God warned the priests, “They will not touch the holy objects [or they will] die” (Num. 4:15; cf. vv.19-20). The Levites weren’t supposed to transport the Ark on a “cart” but on their shoulders with polls (Ex. 25:12-15; Num. 4:6; 7:9). This was strenuous, but it would ensure that no one would touch the Ark. Instead of doing it the right way, Uzzah wanted the oxen to carry the load. It’s outrageously lazy to treat God’s Ark in this way, and truly an “irreverent act” (NIV).
Third, the Ark didn’t fall. It was “nearly upset” (2 Sam. 6:6 NASB). Besides, even if it did, the ground isn’t sinful, but Uzzah’s hands were.
Fourth, David should’ve known better. When the Philistines moved the Ark, none of them were killed (1 Sam. 5:1). God didn’t judge the Philistines, because they didn’t know better. But the people of Israel were judged because they did know better.
Human beings typically try to coerce religious objects to perform their will. While we do not know Uzzah’s motive for reaching for the Ark, his actions could have led to further consequences of which he was unaware. This was a new era in Israel’s history, and as a result, God was acting in a particularly strict fashion to ensure that they followed his directions. Walter Kaiser writes, “Surely this passage warns that it is not enough to have a worthy purpose and a proper spirit when we enter into the service of God; God’s work must also be performed in God’s way. Pursuing the right end does not automatically imply using the right means.”[]
(6:8-9) Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. 9 David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?”
Someone must have checked Uzzah’s pulse and screamed, “He’s dead!” The music stopped, and the party came crashing to a halt. Just imagine how silent the musicians must have become after Uzzah was struck down by God. David was angry and afraid of God as a result.
Bergen holds that David was angry with Uzzah—not with God: “[David] was upset that Uzzah had acted in such a way as to cause God to bring fatal judgment to bear.”[] However, we agree with Baldwin who thinks that David was angry with God. She writes, “David in his humiliation blamed God for the incident and opted out of the task of taking the ark on to Jerusalem, partly because he was also afraid of the Lord.”[]
“Perez-Uzzah” means “Uzzah’s Breach” or “The Outburst against Uzzah.”[]
(6:10-11) He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.
David took three months to reconsider how to move the Ark. He was apparently feeling gun shy in moving it. Obed-Edom was a Levite (1 Chron. 15:17-18), so he would’ve been a good candidate for holding or moving the Ark
(6:12-15) Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
Much is different in this second opportunity:
David had the priests carry the Ark with poles (1 Chron. 15:5; cf. Ex. 25:14). This shows that he had learned his lesson. Moreover, David brought the elders and commanders with him this time (1 Chron. 15:25).
David offers sacrifices, rather than throwing a party. He sacrificed a total of seven bulls and seven rams (1 Chron. 15:26).
David wears an ephod to this event (much like Samuel, 1 Sam. 2:18; 22:18). David was a priest-king.
“David was dancing before the Lord with all his might.” The expression “with all his might” (mĕkarkēr) only occurs here. It means “whirling.”[] He must’ve been locked arm-in-arm with the other priests as they danced through the streets of Jerusalem.
(6:16) As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.
Earlier, Michal had helped David escape through a “window” (1 Sam. 19:12). Now, she is “despising” him through another “window.” Baldwin writes, “She despised him for the very qualities that made him great, namely devotion to the Lord and spontaneity in worship.”[]
(6:17-18) They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty.
David offered sacrifices and offerings to the Lord, and blessed the people, acting like a king-priest. This sort of offering was before God, but it was eaten by the people (Lev. 7:11-18).
(6:19) Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.
This was a common custom in the ancient Near East during times of celebration.[] Like a man ordering drinks for everyone in the bar, David was yelling, “Date cakes on the house!”
(6:20) When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
David’s heart was filled with happiness. But Michal had another attitude entirely. Youngblood comments, “Michal’s words drip with the ‘How’ of sarcasm.”[] Bergen writes, “Implicitly she suggested that immoral sexual urges, not zeal for the Lord, had motivated his enthusiastic activities in the festivities of the day.”[]
Michal had been in love with the warrior, but not the lover of God (1 Sam. 18:20-27). Baldwin writes, “What had her hopes been when she first fell in love with David, who killed two hundred Philistines for the privilege of marrying her (1 Sam. 18:20-27)? She preferred the ‘brave warrior’ image to that of the humble, worshipping king, stripped of all his royal regalia, and, as she saw it, uncovering himself, or maybe ‘showing off’.”[]
(6:21) David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord.”
“It was before the Lord.” It was not before the women!
David wasn’t exposing himself. This was an exaggeration of Michal—a terrible twist on what he was doing. Bergen writes, “Assuming he was dressed as a properly outfitted Yahwistic priest, David’s energetic dancing could not have exposed his nakedness and so violated the Torah’s requirements (cf. Exod 20:26) since he was wearing a linen undergarment.”[] Michal is twisting the story to make David look bad. Yet her words were actually “symptomatic of an underlying problem in her relationship with God.”[]
(6:22) “I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”
David is willing to show even more zeal and excitement, and he is willing to look like a fool “in his [own] eyes.”
“I will be humiliated.” This doesn’t refer to bizarre behavior. Rather, the term “humiliated” (šāpal) appears elsewhere “as a virtue signifying proper humility before the Lord.”[]
(6:23) And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.
In the ancient world and specifically in Israel, barrenness was a sign of God’s judgment, and fertility was a sign of God’s blessing (Ex. 23:26; Deut. 7:14; 28:11). Youngblood comments, “In ancient times childlessness, whether natural or enforced, was the ultimate tragedy for a woman (see comment on 1 Sam 1:2).”[]
By taking away Michal’s offspring, Saul’s line would be “forever separate from Israel’s eternal royal dynasty.”[]
Did God judge Michal or did David? Bergen[] holds that God caused Michal to be barren. Baldwin,[] however, holds that David merely stopped having sexual intercourse with Michael.
David certainly had a rich emotional life. He showed anger (2 Sam. 6:8), fear (2 Sam. 6:8), joy (2 Sam. 6:5), dancing (2 Sam. 6:14), leaping (2 Sam. 6:16), shouting (2 Sam. 6:15), throwing parties (2 Sam. 6:18-19).
There’s nothing strange about showing emotion. People showing emotion all the time (e.g. hyper-masculine athletes weeping over victory or defeat). Why is it appropriate to show emotion for a game, but not for eternity?
God commands us to show emotion (Romans 12:15; Ephesians 4:32).
We can get weird with emotional displays, but David’s emotions weren’t bizarre or out of bounds. His emotions matched what they were seeing. They didn’t possess the Ark for 60 years. It was a good time to celebrate! Moreover, the vast majority of us are light years away from going overboard in this area! If you think you’re going overboard, you’re probably only halfway to where you should be.
David watched God’s promises being fulfilled: “They anointed David king over Israel” (2 Sam. 5:3).
David experienced God from following him: “The LORD God Almighty was with him” (2 Sam. 5:10).
David wanted God to lead his life: “David inquired of the LORD” (2 Sam. 5:19, 23).
David enjoyed being with God’s people: “Thirty thousand in all” (2 Sam. 6:1) and “David and all Israel were energetically celebrating before the Lord” (2 Sam. 6:5) and “he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets” (2 Sam. 6:15) and “he blessed the people in the name of the LORD” (2 Sam. 6:18).
David celebrated what God was doing with the Ark: sacrifices (2 Sam. 6:15, 17), dancing (2 Sam. 6:16), prayer (2 Sam. 6:18), and food (2 Sam. 6:19).
David didn’t let the cynics and judgers hold his joy hostage (2 Sam. 6:21-22).
Michal was aloof and standing at a distance: “Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window” (2 Sam. 6:16).
Michal’s problem started in her heart: “She despised him in her heart” (2 Sam. 6:16).
Michal developed a twisted narrative about David’s joy—that it was perverted and sexual (2 Sam. 6:20). But David was wearing an ephod (2 Sam. 6:14). You’d have an easier time flashing someone while wearing a Carhartt or a snowsuit!
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 867.
Kaiser, Walter C. Hard Sayings of the Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1988. See “2 Samuel 6:6-7 Why Did God Destroy Uzzah?”
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 330.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 222-223.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 330.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 223.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 224.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 876.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 876.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 333.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 225.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 333.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 333.
See Proverbs 29:23. Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 333-334.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 878.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 334.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 334.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 226.
James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.
