1 Chronicles 13

1 King David consulted with all the officers in command of units of a thousand men and units of a hundred men.

2 Then he announced to all the people of Israel, "If you give your approval and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send messengers to the rest of our people and to the priests and Levites in their towns, and tell them to assemble here with us.

3 Then we will go and get God's Covenant Box, which was ignored while Saul was king."

4 The people were pleased with the suggestion and agreed to it.

5 So David assembled the people of Israel from all over the country, from the Egyptian border in the south to Hamath Pass in the north, in order to bring the Covenant Box from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem. ¹

6 David and the people went to the city of Baalah, that is, to Kiriath Jearim, in the territory of Judah, to get the Covenant Box of God, which bears the name of the Lord enthroned above the winged creatures. ²

7 At Abinadab's house they brought out the Covenant Box and put it on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart,

8 while David and all the people danced with all their might to honor God. They sang and played musical instruments - harps, drums, cymbals, and trumpets.

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

10 At once the Lord became angry with Uzzah and killed him for touching the Box. He died there in God's presence,

11 and so that place has been called Perez Uzzah ever since. David was furious because the Lord had punished Uzzah in anger.

12 Then David was afraid of God and said, "How can I take the Covenant Box with me now?" ³

13 So David did not take it with him to Jerusalem. Instead, he left it at the house of a man named Obed Edom, a native of the city of Gath.

14 It stayed there three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom's family and everything that belonged to him. ⁴

1 Chronicles 13 Commentary

Chapter 13

David consults about the ark. (1-5) The removal of the ark. (6-14)

Verses 1-5 David said not, What magnificent thing shall I do now? or, What pleasant thing? but, What pious thing? that he might have the comfort and benefit of that sacred oracle. Let us bring the ark to us, that it may be a blessing to us. Those who honour God, profit themselves. It is the wisdom of those setting out in the world, to take God's ark with them. Those are likely to go on in the favour of God, who begin in the fear of God.

Verses 6-14 Let the sin of Uzza warn all to take heed of presumption, rashness, and irreverence, in dealing with holy things; and let none think that a good design will justify a bad action. Let the punishment of Uzza teach us not to dare to trifle with God in our approaches to him; yet let us, through Christ, come boldly to the throne of grace. If the gospel be to some a savour of death unto death, as the ark was to Uzza, yet let us receive it in the love of it, and it will be to us a savour of life unto life.

Cross References

• 1. 13.5 1 Samuel 7.1, 2.
• 2. 13.6Exodus 25.22.
• 3. +213.122 Maccabees 7.19.
• 4. 13.141 Chronicles 26.4, 5.

Footnotes

• [a]. perez uzzah: [This name in Hebrew means "Punishment of Uzzah."]

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 13

The contents of this chapter are the same with 2Sa 6:1-11, only David's consultation with the principal men of Israel concerning the affair herein transacted is premised in the first four verses of this.