2 Samuel 6:14

14 David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod.

2 Samuel 6:14 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 6:14

And David danced before the Lord with all [his] might
That is, before the ark of the Lord; not a set dance, or along with others; but he leaped and skipped as "car", a lamb, does, and that for joy that the ark was like to be brought home to his house, without any token of the divine displeasure, as before; the Targum is,

``he praised before the Lord with all his might;''

exerted himself to the uttermost in singing the praises of God vocally, or by playing on an instrument; to which sense are the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, which is approved of by Castel F16; who observes, it nowhere appears to have been a custom to dance before the ark; but it might be now done, though not usual, and therefore was observed by Michal with contempt, ( 2 Samuel 6:16 ) ; a later writer F17 shows that dancing is the proper sense of the word:

and David [was] girded with a linen ephod;
which others, besides priests, sometimes wore, as Samuel did, and which David might choose to appear in, rather than in his royal robes, as being more agreeable to the service of God, and lighter for him both to walk and dance in on this occasion.


FOOTNOTES:

F16 Lexic. col. 1793.
F17 Hackman. Praecidan. Sacr. p. 156, 157.

2 Samuel 6:14 In-Context

12 It was told King David, "The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing;
13 and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
14 David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod.
15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
16 As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.