1 Chronicles 15

ANd David made him houses A Palace consisting of many Houses or Apartments for his several Wives and Children. in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent Qu. Why did he not first fetch the tabernacle of Moses from Gibeon, where it now was, that so he might put the Ark into its proper place? Ans. Partly because he had no motion or direction from God concerning the Tabernacle, as he had concerning the Ark: and partly because he thought the Tabernacle was not so necessary for that end as formerly, seing he intended forthwith to set upon the building of the Temple, as appears from chap. 17..

Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites And that upon their Shoulders: of which see Numb. 4. 15. & 7. 9. and not in a Cart, as it was before to our great grief and loss.: for them the LORD has chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever i. e. So long as the Ark is to be removed and as that Worship continues..

And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD unto his place which he had prepared for it.

And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites.

Of the sons of Kohath To wit, of Amram or Izhar, Kohaths Sons, Numb. 3. 27. Otherwise Elizaphan, v. 8. and Hebron, v. 9. and Uzziel, v. 10. were Kohaths Children; of which see Exod. 6. 17, 18, 22; Uriel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twenty.

Of the sons of Merari; Asajah the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty.

Of the sons of Gershom; Joel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and thirty.

Of the sons of Elizaphan; Shemajah the chief, and his brethren two hundred.

Of the sons of Hebron; Eliel the chief, and his brethren sourscore.

Of the sons of Uzziel; Amminadab the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twelve.

And David called for Zadok, and Abiathar the priests i. e. The Chief Priests, Abiathar the High-Priest, and Zadok the second Priest, see Numb. 3. 32., and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asajah, and Joel, Shemajah, and Eliel, and Amminadab;

And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctifie your selves By solemn Purification and Preparation of your selves, both in Soul and Body. See on Exod. 19. 10. 15., both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.

For because ye did it not at the first Because you did not sanctifie and prepare your selves by solemn Prayer and seeking Counsel from God, and by a serious consideration of Gods Will as to the Manner of carrying it; which it was your Duty more than others to observe and see it executed., the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we He takes a part of the guilt to himself, because it was his Duty as well as theirs diligently to read the Law and Word of God and to see it executed, and their oversight did not excuse his. sought him not after the due order According to the Rules which he appointed..

So the Priests and the Levites sanctified themselves, to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel.

And the children of the Levites To wit, the Kohathites, Numb. 4. 4. bare the ark of God upon their shoulders, with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded, according to the word of the LORD.

And David spake to the chief of the Levites, to appoint their brethren to be the singers, with instruments of musick, psalteries, and harps, and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.

So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel: and of his brethren, and Asaph the son of Berechiah, and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Elthan the son of Kushajah.

And with them their brethren of the second degree The first rank or degree of Sacred Musicians being those three famous Persons named v. 17. next unto whom were these here named., Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benajah, and Maasiah, and Mattithlah, and Eliphalet, and Mikniah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel the porters Who were to keep the Doors of the Tabernacle and Courts, but withal were instructed in Musick and singing, that when they were free from Attendance upon their proper Office, they might not be idle nor unprofitable persons in Gods House..

So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass.

And Zechariah In this Catalogue Ben is omitted, who was mentioned v. 18. Yet others think him to be the same who is called Azariah, v. 21. But Ben might be some other person, who was indeed appointed for this Work as is related, v. 17, 18. and yet he might be taken off by death or sickness, or some sudden and extraordinary Accident which hindred his Execution of the Place and Work allotted for him, which might force the Chief of the Levites to appoint some other in his stead, when they came to put their Institution in practise, as here they did., and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maasiah, and Benajah, with Psalteries on Alamoth Or, with (as that particle is elsewhere used) Alamoth which is thought to be the name of an Instrument of Musick; or of a certain Tune, or Note, or part in Musick. The certain signification of it is not now known, nor is it necessary for us to know it. And the like may be said of Sheminith, v. 21..

And Mattithiah, and Eliphaleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps on the Sheminith See on v. 20. to excel Which word may be here added to note the Excellency of that Instrument, or Note, or part of Musick; or that there was a greater Extension or Elevation of the voice than in the former..

And Chenaniah chief of the Levites was for song Heb. Was for lifting up, either 1. of the Ark: he was for carriage of the Ark, being appointed to instruct or direct the time and manner of carrying the Ark, and when they should make a stand or a change in the Bearers. Or rather 2. of the Voice: he was the Moderater of the Musick, instructing them when and how to lift up their Voices, or change their Notes, or make theis Stops, which best agrees with the following Reason, because he was skilfull For this required far more Skill than the carriage of the Ark; which any man of common discretion could easily govern; and with v. 27. where this same Chenaniah is joyned with the Singers.: he instructed about the song, because he was skilful.

And Berechiah, and Elkanah were door-keepers for the ark They were appointed to keep the Door of the Tent in which the Ark was to be put and kept that no unallowed person might press in and touch it; and in like manner they were to attend upon the Ark in the Way, and to guard it from the press and touch of profane Hands; for which End these two went before the Ark, as their other two Brethren mentioned in the close of v. 24. came after it, that so it might be guarded on all sides: which, how necessary it was to be done, sufficiently appears from the danger of coming too near the Ark or to look into it, which was exemplified in the Bethshemites, 1 Sam. 6. 19..

And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nathaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benajah, and Eliezer the priests did blow with the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-edom and Jehiah were door-keepers for the ark.

So David and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD, out of the house of Obed-edom with joy.

And it came to pass when God helped the Levites Either 1. by giving them strength to carry their Burden: or rather 2. by encouraging them in their Work with some comfortable Sign of his Presence with them and approbation of their work and manner of carrying the Ark. When they saw that he did not cut off any of the persons employed, as he had done before, but spared and favoured them; which they perceived when they had gone six paces, as appears by 2 Sam. 6. 13. that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that they offered seven bullocks, and seven rams.

And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen i. e. With a Linen Ephod, as it is explained in the close of this verse, where this Circumstance is repeated because it was a notable and unusual thing for David who was no Levite to wear a Levitical Garment. See of this and the following verses the Notes on 2 Sam. 6. 14, 15, 16., and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers. David also had upon him an ephod of linen.

Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries, and harps.

And it came to pass as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul, looking out at a window, saw king David dancing and playing, and she despised him in her heart.