1 Kings 8:3

3 All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark.

1 Kings 8:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 8:3

And all the elders of Israel came
To Zion, the city of David:

and the priests took up the ark;
from thence; in ( 2 Chronicles 5:4 ) it is said the Levites did it, whose business it was, ( Deuteronomy 31:25 ) , and so the priests might be called; for every priest was a Levite, though every Levite was not a priest, and the priests did at all times bear the ark; see ( Joshua 3:15 ) ( 6:4 ) ( 2 Samuel 15:29 ) .

1 Kings 8:3 In-Context

1 At that time, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the {families} of the {Israelites} before King Solomon, in order to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, that is, Zion.

2 All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the festival in the month of Ethnaim, that is, the seventh month.

3 All the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark.

4 So they brought up the ark of Yahweh and the tent of assembly and all of the holy vessels that [were] in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.

5 King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel who were assembling with him in the presence of the ark [were] sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted nor numbered because of abundance.