1 Chronicles 15:2

2 Then David said, "No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before Him forever."^[a]

1 Chronicles 15:2 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 15:2

Then David said
Either within himself, or to his ministers and courtiers about him:

none ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites;
he saw his former mistake in employing those that were not Levites in bringing up the ark from Kirjathjearim, and bringing it in a cart, and not on the shoulders of the Levites, and so miscarried in his attempt, ( 2 Samuel 6:1 ) and, perhaps, had since more diligently consulted the law of God about this matter:

for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister
unto him for ever;
as long as the Levitical dispensation lasted, as appears from ( Numbers 1:50 ) ( 4:15 ) ( 7:9 ) .

1 Chronicles 15:2 In-Context

1 David 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, "No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before Him forever."

3 David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring the ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it.

4 Then he gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites:

5 From the Kohathites, Uriel the leader and 120 of his relatives;

Footnotes

• [a]. Dt 10:8