2 Samuel 6

VBL · Chapter 6/24

1Una vez más, David convocó a todos los hombres especialmente elegidos de Israel, y eran treinta mil en total.

2Entonces fue con todos sus hombres a Baalá, en Judá, para traer de vuelta el Arca de Dios, que pertenece al Señor Todopoderoso, que está sentado entre los querubines que están sobre el Arca.

3Colocaron el Arca de Dios en un carro nuevo y la trajeron desde la casa de Abinadab, que estaba en una colina. Uza y Ahío, hijos de Abinadab, dirigían el carruaje

4que transportaba el Arca de Dios, y Ahío caminaba delante de él.

5David y todos los israelitas estaban celebrando en presencia del Señor, cantando canciones acompañadas de cítaras, arpas, panderetas, sonajas y címbalos.

6Pero cuando llegaron a la era de Nachón, los bueyes tropezaron, por lo que Uza extendió la mano para evitar que el Arca de Dios cayera.

7El Señor se enojó con Uza, y Dios lo hirió allí mismo por su desobediencia, y murió junto al Arca de Dios.

8David se enfadó por el violento arrebato del Señor contra Uza. Llamó al lugar Perez-uza, que sigue siendo su nombre hasta hoy.

9Ese día, David tuvo miedo del Señor. “¿Cómo podré traer el Arca de Dios a mi casa?” , se preguntó.

10Al no querer traer el Arca del Señor para que estuviera con él en la Ciudad de David, la hizo llevar a la casa de Obed-edom el gitano.

11Entonces el Arca del Señor permaneció en la casa de Obed-edom durante tres meses, y el Señor bendijo a toda la familia de Obed-edom.

12Y le dijeron al rey David: “El Señor ha bendecido la casa de Obed-edom y todo lo que tiene a causa del Arca de Dios”. Así que David fue y mandó traer el Arca de Dios de la casa de Obed-edom a la Ciudad de David. Entonces hubo gran celebración.

13Cuando los hombres que llevaban el Arca del Señor dieron seis pasos, David sacrificó un toro y un ternero cebado.

14Luego, con un efod sacerdotal, David bailó con todas sus fuerzas ante el Señor

15mientras él y todos los israelitas llevaban el Arca del Señor, con muchos gritos y sonido de cuernos.

16Mientras el Arca del Señor era transportada a la ciudad de David, la hija de Saúl, Mical, miraba desde una ventana. Vio al rey David saltando y danzando ante el Señor, y realmente lo aborreció.

17Entonces trajeron el Arca del Señor y la colocaron en su lugar dentro de la tienda que David había montado para ella. Luego David ofreció holocaustos y ofrendas de paz ante el Señor.

18Cuando terminó de ofrecer los sacrificios, David bendijo al pueblo en nombre del Señor Todopoderoso.

19Entonces les dio a todos los israelitas, tanto a hombres como a mujeres, una hogaza de pan, una torta de dátiles y una torta de pasas. Luego los envió a todos a sus casas.

20Cuando David llegó a su casa para bendecir a su familia, Mical, la hija de Saúl, salió a su encuentro y le dijo: “¡Qué distinguido se ha puesto hoy el rey de Israel, quitándose la túnica para que lo vieran todas las sirvientas, como se expondría cualquier personal vulgar!”

21David le dijo a Mical: “Estuve bailando ante el Señor, que me eligió a mí en lugar de a tu padre y a toda su familia cuando me nombró gobernante del pueblo del Señor, Israel. Seguiré celebrando ante el Señor,

22de hecho voy a hacerme aún menos distinguido, me volveré aún más humilde. Sin embargo, seré respetado por esas siervas de las que hablaste”.

23Y Mical, la hija de Saúl, nunca tuvo hijos.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

David brings the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. Along the way, Uzzah touches the ark to steady it and dies instantly, frightening David, who leaves the ark in the house of Obed-Edom for three months before finally bringing it into the city with great celebration.

Explanation

The ark represented God's presence among the people, and there were specific instructions for how it was to be carried (with poles, borne by Levite priests, never touched directly — see Numbers 4). Uzzah's death, though disturbing, teaches that God's holiness is not something to be handled casually, even with good intentions. When David finally follows the correct procedure, the celebration is enormous. Michal's contempt for David's exuberant dancing shows the tension between genuine devotion and social appearances — David chooses to honor God even at the risk of his royal dignity.

Fun facts

  • According to 1 Chronicles 15, the reason for Uzzah's death was precisely the improper transport of the ark on an ox cart (as the Philistines had done) instead of it being carried on the shoulders of Levites, as God had commanded.
  • Michal, Saul's daughter and David's first wife, never had children — a detail Jewish tradition interprets as a consequence of her contempt for David's exuberant worship.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Samuel 6:1David again gathers the best men of Israel, about thirty thousand, for an important mission that follows.
  2. 2 Samuel 6:2David sets out with the people to bring back the ark of God, the symbol of the presence of the LORD of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim.
  3. 2 Samuel 6:3The ark is set on a new cart and brought out of the house of Abinadab; Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, drive the cart.
  4. 2 Samuel 6:4As the cart carries the ark out of Abinadab’s house, Ahio walks in front of it.
  5. 2 Samuel 6:5David and all the house of Israel celebrate before the LORD with every kind of instrument: harps, psalteries, timbrels, cornets, and cymbals.
  6. 2 Samuel 6:6The ark was meant to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites by fixed poles, never touched directly or hauled on an ox-drawn cart—Uzzah is struck down precisely for touching it to steady it, breaking that rule in the middle of the journey, even with good intentions.
  7. 2 Samuel 6:7The anger of the LORD burns against Uzzah for this act, and he dies right there, beside the ark.
  8. 2 Samuel 6:8David is displeased over Uzzah’s death and calls that place Perez-uzzah, a name that remained to the day the text was written.
  9. 2 Samuel 6:9After what happened, David becomes afraid of the LORD and wonders whether he should really bring the ark near himself.
  10. 2 Samuel 6:10David decides not to bring the ark to the city of David for now, and leaves it at the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
  11. 2 Samuel 6:11The ark stays three months at the house of Obed-edom, and the LORD blesses him and his whole household because of it.
  12. 2 Samuel 6:12On hearing that Obed-edom was blessed because of the ark, David decides at last to bring it up to the city of David, this time with joy.
  13. 2 Samuel 6:13As soon as those carrying the ark have gone six paces, David offers sacrifices of oxen and fatlings, marking the solemnity of the moment.
  14. 2 Samuel 6:14David dances, girded with “a linen ephod,” a garment normally worn by priests, rather than royal robes—a king dancing half-dressed before the people, without the usual symbols of power, is what shocks Michal later on.
  15. 2 Samuel 6:15David and all Israel bring up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.
  16. 2 Samuel 6:16Watching David leaping and dancing before the LORD through the window, Michal, Saul’s daughter, despises him in her heart.
  17. 2 Samuel 6:17The ark is set in the tent David had pitched for it, and he offers burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
  18. 2 Samuel 6:18After offering the sacrifices, David blesses all the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
  19. 2 Samuel 6:19David gives every person in the crowd, men and women alike, a loaf of bread, a good piece of meat, and a cake of raisins, before everyone heads home.
  20. 2 Samuel 6:20Michal goes out to meet David, mocking him for dancing like “one of the vain fellows” in front of the servants’ eyes—to her, a king should keep up appearances; to David, joy before God mattered more than image.
  21. 2 Samuel 6:21David answers Michal that it was before the LORD he danced, the LORD who chose him over her father to be ruler over His people Israel—for him, the joy was before God, not a matter of royal image.
  22. 2 Samuel 6:22David goes further, saying he is willing to make himself even more lightly esteemed in his own eyes, and that it is precisely by the servants Michal mentioned that he would be held in honor.
  23. 2 Samuel 6:23The text closes Michal’s story by saying she had no child to the day of her death—without explaining whether this is a direct punishment for despising David or simply the natural result of a marriage that had by then gone cold; scholars read it differently.

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