Chapter Fifteen

1–29. The bringing of the covenant ark from the house of Obed-edom the Gittite to Zion.

Instead of the brief description of the bringing of the covenant ark in (2 Sam 6:11-23), the author of Chronicles offers a detailed account of this event. It comprises: 1) an enumeration of the preliminary actions – the setting up of a tent (1 Chr 15:1), David’s consultation with the priests and Levites (1 Chr 15:2-16), and the appointment of some of them for the bringing of the ark (1 Chr 15:16-24); 2) the description of the act of bringing itself (1 Chr 15:25)–(1 Chr 16:3) and the first solemn worship before the ark (1 Chr 16:4-43), which consisted of the performance of a special song composed by David himself.

1 Chronicles 15:1. And he built houses for himself in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and set up a tent for it. The author does not explain what these houses built by David were. It is supposed that they were intended for his wives (1 Chr 14:3). Since the tent of Moses was in Gibeon (1 Chr 16:39), and for particular reasons David did not move it to Zion, it is obvious that a new one was built here according to its model.

1 Chronicles 15:2. Then David said: No one shall carry the ark of God except the Levites, for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of God and to serve him forever. Explaining the death of Uzza (1 Chr 13:10) by the failure to follow the law concerning the carrying of the tent and its furnishings by the Levites (1 Chr 15:13), David now issues a corresponding order in accordance with the ordinances of Moses (Num 4:15).

1 Chronicles 15:3. And David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it. The Israelites – not the whole people, but its representatives, the elders and commanders of thousands (1 Chr 15:25) – were merely present at the bringing of the covenant ark; they did not take a direct part in it; this was the work of the Levites and priests, of whose summons there is now to be spoken.

1 Chronicles 15:4. And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites: 1 Chronicles 15:5. Of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief and his brothers – one hundred twenty men; 1 Chronicles 15:6. Of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief and his brothers – two hundred twenty men; 1 Chronicles 15:7. Of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief and his brothers – one hundred thirty men; 1 Chronicles 15:8. Of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief and his brothers – two hundred; 1 Chronicles 15:9. Of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief and his brothers – eighty; 1 Chronicles 15:10. Of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief and his brothers – one hundred twelve. Having determined to bring the covenant ark according to the prescriptions of the law of Moses, David invites for this purpose those Levitical families who were obligated by Moses’ ordinance to carry the tent and its furnishings. Namely, the family of Kohath with its representative Uriel (1 Chr 6:24), whose duty was the preparation for carrying and the actual carrying of the holy furnishings (Num 4:4-15); the family of Merari under the leadership of Asaiah (1 Chr 6:30), obligated to carry the bars of the tent, their bases – poles and such-like (Num 4:31-32); and, finally, the descendants of Gershom, with their chief Joel (1 Chr 6:28), who carried the coverings of the tent, curtains, and such-like (Num 4:25-26). To them David joins also Levites from three other families descended from Kohath: Elizaphan, grandson of Kohath (1 Chr 6:22), Hebron, the third son of Kohath (1 Chr 6:18), and Uzziel, the fourth son of Kohath (1 Chr 6:18). For the bringing of the covenant ark, therefore, four families of Koathites (verses 5, 8–10) and one family each of the descendants of Merari and Gershom are assembled.

1 Chronicles 15:11. And David called for the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and for the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, 1 Chronicles 15:12. And said to them, You are the heads of the Levitical families. Sanctify yourselves, you and your brothers, and bring the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it; The bringing of the covenant ark – the dwelling place of God himself (Exod 25:22) – required from the Levites and priests cleanness, among other things, the washing of their clothes (Exod 19:10); (2 Chr 30:3).

1 Chronicles 15:13. For as we did not seek him the first time, the Lord our God broke out upon us, because we did not inquire of him as was fitting. See the comments on (1 Chr 15:2).

1 Chronicles 15:17. And the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel, and from his brothers Asaph son of Berechiah, and from the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan son of Kushaiah; See (1 Chr 6:33).

1 Chronicles 15:18. And with them their brothers of the second rank: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and Obed-edom and Jeiel, the gatekeepers. Jaaziel is Aziel (1 Chr 15:20), Jeiel (1 Chr 16:5).

1 Chronicles 15:19. Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals loudly, 1 Chronicles 15:20. And Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play on harps, in a high key. 1 Chronicles 15:21. Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead on lyres, to make it louder. The division of the aforementioned men (1 Chr 15:17-18) into three choirs according to the musical instruments on which they played. The second choir played “on harps in a high key,” literally from the Hebrew (“alamoth”) “like maidens,” in maiden-like, thin voice – soprano or alto. The third choir – “on lyres, to make it louder” (“al-hassheminith”) “on the eighth, the last and lowest string,” that is, in the lowest voice.

1 Chronicles 15:22. And Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, was the instructor of the singing, because he was skillful in it. “Chenaniah... was the instructor of the singing” – the reading of the LXX. From the subsequent narrative it is not evident that the bringing of the covenant ark was accompanied by singing. Therefore, some (Prof. Gulyaev) render the whole passage thus: “Chenaniah was the leader of the Levites in this undertaking. He began the music because he was skillful in it.” Others (Zockler) assign him the role of the principal conductor of the entire procession of bringing the covenant ark.

1 Chronicles 15:23. Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. Since there was no need for gatekeepers at the bringing of the ark and no need for them when it was set in place, it is supposed that the term “gatekeeper” has in this passage, as well as in the next verse, some special meaning. Did not two of them lead the procession and two close it?

1 Chronicles 15:24. Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were gatekeepers for the ark. The command to blow the trumpets was given, evidently, in fulfillment of the prescription (Num 10:10).

1 Chronicles 15:26. And when God helped the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. The word “helped” hardly indicates success at the beginning of the procession. Contrasting the second bringing of the ark with the first, as is evident from the chapter (1 Chr 13), which was unsuccessful, the author wishes to indicate by the word “helped” the favorable outcome, the completion of it. In that case, the sacrifices mentioned in the present verse occurred at the end of the bringing. In this respect, the narrative of Chronicles differs from the account of the Book of Kings. According to the latter, every six steps a bull and a calf were sacrificed (2 Sam 6:13). But if it is difficult to suppose that with a great multitude of people it was possible to count such a small number of steps, it will be more natural to consider the probability on the side of Chronicles. The sevenfold number of sacrifices mentioned in it indicates a special solemnity.

1 Chronicles 15:27. David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the singers. And on David was a linen ephod. The author omits the statement (2 Sam 6:14) that David “danced” before the covenant ark, but as is evident from (1 Chr 15:29), he was aware of this fact. Omitting the statement of the Book of Kings, he supplements its account with a remark that David and all the Levites were clothed in a linen ephod. Since the meile was the clothing of priests (Exod 28:31), this remark indicates that the entire procession had an ecclesiastical and liturgical character.