2 Samuel 6:5

5 David and all the Israelites were dancing and singing with all their might to honor the Lord. They were playing harps, lyres, drums, rattles, and cymbals.

2 Samuel 6:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 6:5

And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord,
&c.] That is, before the ark, which was a symbol of the presence of the Lord:

on all manner of [instruments made of] fir wood:
which is a general expression, the particulars follow; though instruments of different sorts are mentioned, and even some of metal, as cymbals, which were vessels of brass, they struck one against another, and gave a very acute sound, being hollow ^F7;

even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and
on cymbals;
harps, psalteries, and timbrels, are frequently met with; cornets, according to Kimchi, are such sort of instruments, that in playing upon them it required an agitation of the whole body. Now it was that David penned the sixty eighth psalm, which begins, "let God arise" ( Psalms 68:1-35 ) , words used by Moses when the ark set forward, ( Numbers 10:35 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Suidas in voce (kumbala) .

2 Samuel 6:5 In-Context

3 They took it from Abinadab's home on the hill and placed it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart,

4 with Ahio walking in front.

5 David and all the Israelites were dancing and singing with all their might to honor the Lord. They were playing harps, lyres, drums, rattles, and cymbals.

6 As they came to the threshing place of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Covenant Box.

7 At once the Lord God became angry with Uzzah and killed him because of his irreverence. Uzzah died there beside the Covenant Box,

Footnotes

• [a]. [One ancient translation (and see 1 Ch 13.8)] and singing with all their might; [Hebrew] with all the fir trees.