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2 Samuel 6-7
New English Translation

David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem

6 David again assembled[a] all the best[b] men in Israel, 30,000 in number. 2 David and all the men who were with him traveled[c] to[d] Baalah[e] in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name[f] of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it. 3 They loaded the ark of God on a new cart and carried it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart. 4 They brought[g] it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab on the hill. Ahio was walking in front of the ark, 5 while David and all Israel[h] were energetically celebrating before the Lord, singing[i] and playing various stringed instruments,[j] tambourines, rattles,[k] and cymbals.

6 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon,[l] Uzzah reached out and grabbed hold of[m] the ark of God,[n] because the oxen stumbled. 7 The Lord was so furious with Uzzah,[o] he[p] killed him on the spot[q] for his negligence.[r] He died right there beside the ark of God.

8 David was angry because the Lord attacked[s] Uzzah; so he called that place Perez Uzzah,[t] which remains its name to this very day. 9 David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How will the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” 10 So David was no longer willing to bring the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. David left it in 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. The Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his family.[u] 12 King David was told,[v] “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David. 13 Those who carried the ark of the Lord took six steps and then David[w] sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf. 14 Now David, wearing a linen ephod, was dancing with all his strength before the Lord.[x] 15 David and all Israel[y] were bringing up the ark of the Lord, shouting and blowing trumpets.[z]

16 As the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him.[aa] 17 They brought the ark of the Lord and put it in its place[ab] in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before the Lord. 18 When David finished offering the burnt sacrifices and peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing over the people in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 19 He then handed out to each member of the entire assembly of Israel,[ac] both men and women, a portion of bread, a date cake,[ad] and a raisin cake. Then all the people went home.[ae] 20 When David went home to pronounce a blessing on his own house,[af] Michal, Saul’s daughter, came out to meet him.[ag] She said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished[ah] himself this day! He has exposed himself today before his servants’ slave girls the way a vulgar fool[ai] might do!”

21 David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord! I was celebrating before the Lord, who chose me over your father and his entire family[aj] and appointed me as leader over the Lord’s people Israel. 22 I am willing to shame and humiliate myself even more than this.[ak] But with the slave girls whom you mentioned, let me be distinguished.” 23 Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, had no children to the day of her death.

The Lord Establishes a Covenant with David

7 The king settled into his palace,[al] for the Lord gave him relief[am] from all his enemies on all sides.[an] 2 The king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a palace made from cedar, while the ark of God sits in the middle of a tent.” 3 Nathan replied to the king, “You should go[ao] and do whatever you have in mind,[ap] for the Lord is with you.” 4 That night the Lord’s message came to Nathan, 5 “Go, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord has said: Do you really intend to build a house for me to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house from the time I brought the Israelites up from Egypt to the present day. Instead, I was traveling with them and living in a tent.[aq] 7 Wherever I moved among all the Israelites, I did not say[ar] to any of their leaders[as] whom I appointed to care for[at] my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?”’

8 “So now, say this to my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd[au] to make you leader of my people Israel. 9 I was with you wherever you went, and I defeated[av] all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth.[aw] 10 I will establish a place for my people Israel and settle[ax] them there; they will live there and not be disturbed[ay] anymore. Violent men[az] will not oppress them again, as they did in the beginning 11 and during the time when I appointed judges to lead my people Israel. Instead, I will give you relief[ba] from all your enemies. The Lord declares[bb] to you that he himself[bc] will build a dynastic house[bd] for you. 12 When the time comes for you to die,[be] I will raise up your descendant, one of your own sons, to succeed you,[bf] and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He will build a house for my name, and I will make his dynasty permanent.[bg] 14 I will become his father and he will become my son. When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with wounds inflicted by human beings. 15 But my loyal love will not be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will stand before me[bh] permanently; your dynasty[bi] will be permanent.’” 17 Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him.[bj]

David Offers a Prayer to God

18 King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family,[bk] that you should have brought me to this point? 19 And you didn’t stop there, O Lord God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family.[bl] Is this your usual way of dealing with men,[bm] O Sovereign Lord? 20 What more can David say to you? You have given your servant special recognition,[bn] O Sovereign Lord! 21 For the sake of your promise and according to your purpose[bo] you have done this great thing in order to reveal it to your servant.[bp] 22 Therefore you are great, O Sovereign Lord, for there is none like you. There is no God besides you! What we have heard is true.[bq] 23 Who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation[br] on the earth? Their God[bs] went[bt] to claim[bu] a nation for himself and to make a name for himself! You did great and awesome acts for your land,[bv] before your people whom you delivered for yourself from the Egyptian empire and its gods.[bw] 24 You made Israel your very own people for all time.[bx] You, O Lord, became their God. 25 So now, O Lord God, make this promise you have made about your servant and his family a permanent reality.[by] Do as you promised,[bz] 26 so you may gain lasting fame,[ca] as people say,[cb] ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is God over Israel!’ The dynasty[cc] of your servant David will be established before you, 27 for you, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, have told[cd] your servant, ‘I will build you a dynastic house.’[ce] That is why your servant has had the courage[cf] to pray this prayer to you. 28 Now, O Sovereign Lord, you are the true God.[cg] May your words prove to be true![ch] You have made this good promise to your servant.[ci] 29 Now be willing to bless your servant’s dynasty[cj] so that it may stand permanently before you, for you, O Sovereign Lord, have spoken. By your blessing may your servant’s dynasty be blessed from now on into the future!”[ck]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 6:1 tn The translation understands the verb to be a defective spelling of וַיֶּאֱסֹף (vayyeʾesof) due to quiescence of the letter א (alef). The root therefore is אָסַף (ʾasaf, “to gather”). The Masoretes, however, pointed the verb as וַיֹּסֶף (vayyosef), understanding it to be a form of יָסַף (yasaf, “to add”). This does not fit the context, which calls for a verb of gathering.
  2. 2 Samuel 6:1 tn Or “chosen.”
  3. 2 Samuel 6:2 tn Heb “arose and went.”
  4. 2 Samuel 6:2 tn Heb “from,” but the following context indicates they traveled to this location.
  5. 2 Samuel 6:2 tn This is another name for Kiriath Jearim (see 1 Chr 13:6).
  6. 2 Samuel 6:2 tc The MT has here a double reference to the name (שֵׁם שֵׁם, shem shem). Many medieval Hebrew mss in the first occurrence point the word differently and read the adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”). This is also the understanding of the Syriac Peshitta (Syr., taman). While this yields an acceptable understanding to the text, it is more likely that the MT reading results from dittography. If the word did occur twice, one might have expected the first occurrence to have the article. The present translation therefore reads שֵׁם only once.
  7. 2 Samuel 6:4 tn Heb “lifted.”
  8. 2 Samuel 6:5 tn Heb “all the house of Israel.”
  9. 2 Samuel 6:5 tc Heb “were celebrating before the Lord with all woods of fir” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). If the text is retained, the last expression must be elliptical, referring to musical instruments made from fir wood. But it is preferable to emend the text in light of 1 Chr 13:8, which reads “were celebrating before the Lord with all strength and with songs.”
  10. 2 Samuel 6:5 tn Heb “with zithers [?] and with harps.”
  11. 2 Samuel 6:5 tn That is, “sistrums” (so NAB, NIV); ASV, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT “castanets.”
  12. 2 Samuel 6:6 tn 1 Chr 13:9 has “Kidon.”
  13. 2 Samuel 6:6 tn Or “steadied.”
  14. 2 Samuel 6:6 tn Heb “and Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and grabbed it.”
  15. 2 Samuel 6:7 tn Heb “and the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah.”
  16. 2 Samuel 6:7 tn Heb “God.”
  17. 2 Samuel 6:7 tc Heb “there.” Since this same term occurs later in the verse it is translated “on the spot” here for stylistic reasons.
  18. 2 Samuel 6:7 tc The phrase “his negligence” is absent from the LXX.
  19. 2 Samuel 6:8 tn Heb “because the Lord broke out [with] a breaking out [i.e., an outburst] against Uzzah.”
  20. 2 Samuel 6:8 sn The name Perez Uzzah means in Hebrew “the outburst [against] Uzzah.”
  21. 2 Samuel 6:11 tn Heb “house,” both here and in v. 12.
  22. 2 Samuel 6:12 tn Heb “and it was told to King David, saying.”
  23. 2 Samuel 6:13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  24. 2 Samuel 6:14 tn Heb “and David was dancing with all his strength before the Lord, and David was girded with a linen ephod.”
  25. 2 Samuel 6:15 tc Heb “all the house of Israel.” A few medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta lack the words “the house.”
  26. 2 Samuel 6:15 tn Heb “the shofar” (the ram’s horn trumpet).
  27. 2 Samuel 6:16 tn The Hebrew text adds “in her heart.” Cf. CEV “she was disgusted (+ with him TEV)”; NLT “was filled with contempt for him”; NCV “she hated him.”
  28. 2 Samuel 6:17 tc The Syriac Peshitta lacks “in its place.”
  29. 2 Samuel 6:19 tn Heb “to all the people, to all the throng of Israel.”
  30. 2 Samuel 6:19 tn The Hebrew word used here אֶשְׁפָּר (ʾespar) is found in the OT only here and in the parallel passage found in 1 Chr 16:3. Its exact meaning is uncertain, although the context indicates that it was a food of some sort (cf. KJV “a good piece of flesh”; NRSV “a portion of meat”). The translation adopted here (“date cake”) follows the lead of the Greek translations of the LXX, Aquila, and Symmachus (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).
  31. 2 Samuel 6:19 tn Heb “and all the people went, each to his house.”
  32. 2 Samuel 6:20 tn Heb “and David returned to bless his house.”
  33. 2 Samuel 6:20 tn Heb “David.” The name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  34. 2 Samuel 6:20 tn Heb “honored.”
  35. 2 Samuel 6:20 tn Heb “one of the foolish ones.”
  36. 2 Samuel 6:21 tn Heb “all his house”; CEV “anyone else in your family.”
  37. 2 Samuel 6:22 tn Heb “and I will shame myself still more than this and I will be lowly in my eyes.”
  38. 2 Samuel 7:1 tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).
  39. 2 Samuel 7:1 tn Or “rest.”
  40. 2 Samuel 7:1 tn The translation understands the disjunctive clause in v. 1b as circumstantial-causal.
  41. 2 Samuel 7:3 tc Several medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta lack this word.
  42. 2 Samuel 7:3 tn Heb “all that is in your heart.”
  43. 2 Samuel 7:6 tn Heb “in a tent and in a dwelling.” The expression is a hendiadys, using two terms to express one idea.
  44. 2 Samuel 7:7 tn Heb “Did I speak a word?” In the Hebrew text the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question.
  45. 2 Samuel 7:7 tn Heb “tribes of Israel” (so KJV, NASB, NCV), but the parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:6 has “judges of Israel.”
  46. 2 Samuel 7:7 tn Heb “whom I commanded to shepherd” (so NIV, NRSV).
  47. 2 Samuel 7:8 tn Heb “and from after the sheep.”
  48. 2 Samuel 7:9 tn Heb “cut off.”
  49. 2 Samuel 7:9 tn Heb “and I will make for you a great name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.”
  50. 2 Samuel 7:10 tn Heb “plant.”
  51. 2 Samuel 7:10 tn Heb “shaken.”
  52. 2 Samuel 7:10 tn Heb “the sons of violence.”
  53. 2 Samuel 7:11 tn Or “rest.”
  54. 2 Samuel 7:11 tn In the Hebrew text the verb is apparently perfect with vav consecutive, which would normally suggest a future sense (“he will declare”; so the LXX, ἀπαγγελεῖ [apangelei]). But the context seems instead to call for a present or past nuance (“he declares” or “he has declared”). The synoptic passage in 1 Chr 17:10 has וָאַגִּד (vaʾaggid, “and I declared”). The construction used in 2 Sam 7:11 highlights this important statement.
  55. 2 Samuel 7:11 tn Heb “the Lord.”
  56. 2 Samuel 7:11 tn Heb “house,” but used here in a metaphorical sense, referring to a royal dynasty. Here the Lord’s use of the word plays off the literal sense that David had in mind as he contemplated building a temple for the Lord. To reflect this in the English translation the adjective “dynastic” has been supplied.
  57. 2 Samuel 7:12 tn Heb, “when your days are full and you lie down with your ancestors.”
  58. 2 Samuel 7:12 tn Heb “your seed after you who comes out from your insides.”
  59. 2 Samuel 7:13 tn Heb “and I will establish the throne of his kingdom permanently.”
  60. 2 Samuel 7:16 tc Heb “before you.” A few medieval Hebrew mss read instead “before me,” which makes better sense contextually. (See also the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta.) The MT reading is probably the result of dittography (note the כ [kaf] at the beginning of the next form), with the extra כ then being interpreted as a pronominal suffix.
  61. 2 Samuel 7:16 tn Heb “throne.”
  62. 2 Samuel 7:17 tn Heb “according to all these words and according to all this revelation, so Nathan said to David.”
  63. 2 Samuel 7:18 tn Heb “house.”
  64. 2 Samuel 7:19 tn Heb “and this was small in your eyes, O Lord God, so you spoke concerning the house of your servant for a distance.”
  65. 2 Samuel 7:19 tn Heb “and this [is] the law of man”; KJV “is this the manner of man, O Lord God?”; NAB “this too you have shown to man”; NRSV “May this be instruction for the people, O Lord God!” This part of the verse is very enigmatic; no completely satisfying solution has yet been suggested. The present translation tries to make sense of the MT by understanding the phrase as a question that underscores the uniqueness of God’s dealings with David as described here. The parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:17 reads differently (see the note there).
  66. 2 Samuel 7:20 tn Heb “and you know your servant.” The verb here refers to recognizing another in a special way and giving them special treatment (see 1 Chr 17:18). Some English versions take this to refer to the Lord’s knowledge of David himself: CEV “you know my thoughts”; NLT “know what I am really like.”
  67. 2 Samuel 7:21 tn Heb “for the sake of your word and according to your heart.”
  68. 2 Samuel 7:21 tn Heb “to make known, your servant.”
  69. 2 Samuel 7:22 tn Heb “in all which we heard with our ears.” The phrase translated “in all” בְּכֹל (bekhol) should probably be emended to “according to all” כְּכֹל (kekhol).
  70. 2 Samuel 7:23 tn Heb “a nation, one.”
  71. 2 Samuel 7:23 tn Heb “whose God” or “because God.” In the Hebrew text this clause is subordinated to what precedes. The clauses are separated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  72. 2 Samuel 7:23 tn The verb is plural in Hebrew, agreeing grammatically with the divine name, which is a plural of degree.
  73. 2 Samuel 7:23 tn Heb “redeem.”
  74. 2 Samuel 7:23 tn Heb “and to do for you [plural form] the great [thing] and awesome [things] for your land.”
  75. 2 Samuel 7:23 tn Heb “from Egypt, nations and their gods.” The LXX has “nations and tents,” which reflects a mistaken metathesis of letters in אֶלֹהָיו (ʾelohayv, “its gods”) and אֹהָלָיו (ʾohalayv, “its tents”).
  76. 2 Samuel 7:24 tn Heb “and you established for yourself your people Israel for yourself for a people permanently.”
  77. 2 Samuel 7:25 tn Heb “and now, O Lord God, the word which you spoke concerning your servant and concerning his house, establish permanently.”
  78. 2 Samuel 7:25 tn Heb “as you have spoken.”
  79. 2 Samuel 7:26 tn Heb “and your name might be great permanently.” Following the imperative in v. 23b, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result.
  80. 2 Samuel 7:26 tn Heb “saying.” The words “as people” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
  81. 2 Samuel 7:26 tn Heb “the house.” See the note on “dynastic house” in the following verse.
  82. 2 Samuel 7:27 tn Heb “have uncovered the ear of.”
  83. 2 Samuel 7:27 tn Heb “a house.” This maintains the wordplay from v. 11 (see the note on the word “house” there) and is continued in v. 29.
  84. 2 Samuel 7:27 tn Heb “has found his heart.”
  85. 2 Samuel 7:28 tn Heb “the God.” The article indicates uniqueness here.
  86. 2 Samuel 7:28 tn The translation understands the prefixed verb form as a jussive, indicating David’s wish/prayer. Another option is to take the form as an imperfect and translate “your words are true.”
  87. 2 Samuel 7:28 tn Heb “and you have spoken to your servant this good thing.”
  88. 2 Samuel 7:29 tn Heb “house” (again later in this verse). See the note on “dynastic house” in v. 27.
  89. 2 Samuel 7:29 tn Or “permanently”; cf. NLT “it is an eternal blessing.”
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