2 Samuel 6:5

Uzzah Touches the Ark

5 David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, ^[a] harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals. ¹

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 set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart,

4 bringing with it the ark of God. And Ahio was walking in front of the ark.

5 David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen had stumbled.

7 And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there beside the ark of God.

Cross References

• 1. (1 Chronicles 13:8–14)

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally before the LORD with all woods of cypress; LXX playing before the Lord on well-tuned instruments mightily, and with songs; some of the instruments in this verse are uncertain; see 1 Chronicles 13:8.