Kings II 6:2

2 And David arose, and went, he and all the people that were with him, and some of the rulers of Juda, on an expedition , to bring back thence the ark of God, on which the name of the Lord of Host who dwells between the cherubs upon it is called.

Kings II 6:2 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 6:2

Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan
Which, according to Josephus ^F1, was fifty furlongs, or upwards of six miles, distant from Gilgal:

and take thence every man a beam;
by cutting down the trees that grew there; for Mr. Maundrell says ^F2, the banks of Jordan are beset with bushes and trees, which are an harbour for wild beasts; and another traveller ^F3 observes, that it is shadowed on both sides with poplars, alders and who speaks of their cutting down boughs from the trees when there:

and let us make us a place there where we may dwell:
near the banks of Jordan, which they might choose for the seclusion and pleasantness of the situation, or because Elijah was taken up to heaven near it, as Abarbinel thinks; from whence it appears that these scholars were far from living an idle life; for they were not only trained up in useful learning, but were employed in trades and manufactures, to which they had been brought up, and knew how to fell timber, and build houses:

and he answered, go ye;
he gave them leave, without which they did not choose to do anything.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F1 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 4.
F2 Journey from Aleppo p. 82, 83.
F3 Sandys's Travels, l. 3. p. 110.

Kings II 6:2 In-Context

1 And David again gathered all the young men of Israel, about seventy thousand.

2 And David arose, and went, he and all the people that were with him, and some of the rulers of Juda, on an expedition , to bring back thence the ark of God, on which the name of the Lord of Host who dwells between the cherubs upon it is called.

3 And they put the ark of the Lord on a new waggon, and took it out of the house of Aminadab who lived on the hill, and Oza and his brethren the sons of Aminadab drove the waggon with the ark.

4 And his brethren went before the ark.

5 And David and the children of Israel playing before the Lord on well-tuned instruments mightily, and with songs, and with harps, and with lutes, and with drums, and with cymbals, and with pipes.