2 Samuel 6:13

2Sa 6:13 And it was [so], that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.

Ver. 13. Had gone six paces.] Gravi et decenti incessu, in a grave and decent equipage, and had felt by comfortable experience that God helped them to bear the ark, {1Ch 15:16} - supporting it haply together with them by a divine power invisibly, so that it seemed light unto them. David thereupon took order to have sacrifices offered in the place, for the better carrying on of the good work in hand.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa 6:13-14. He sacrificed oxen and fatlings — As a thanksgiving to God for his goodness, upon an altar erected on purpose on this extraordinary occasion. And David danced before the Lord — His joy increased as the procession went happily on. And God having filled his heart with gladness, he was not ashamed to show it, and to express his thankfulness to him by his outward carriage, according to the manner of those times; singing and shouting, and leaping and dancing before the Lord, according as the various measures of the music inspired and directed, till he arrived at the tabernacle, and fixed the ark in its place. Girt with a linen ephod — The usual habit of the priests and Levites in their sacred ministrations, yet sometimes worn by others, as it was by the young child Samuel; and so here by David, who laid aside his royal robes and put on this robe, to declare that although he was king of Israel, yet he willingly owned himself to be the Lord’s minister and servant.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:13 David offered this sacrifice of praise to God immediately, just six steps into the journey.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

when they that bare the ark . . . had gone six paces--Some think that four altars were hastily raised for the offering of sacrifices at the distance of every six paces (but see on Ch1 15:26).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(13) They that bare the ark.—David no longer presumed to violate the law, but took care that the ark should be borne by the proper persons. In 1 Chronicles 15 a detailed account is given of the sanctification of the priests and Levites for the purpose, and of the musical arrangements.

Had gone six paces.—As soon as the removal of the ark had been successfully begun, David offered sacrifices of thanksgiving and of prayer; and again, when the journey was completed, “they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God” (2Sa_6:17, 1Ch_16:1). The work was begun and ended with solemn sacrifice. It is quite unnecessary to suppose that offerings were made at each six steps of the way, for although this might have been possible, it is not recorded. Of course, David offered these sacrifices, like all Israel” in 1Ki_8:62, through the ministration of the priests whom he had called together.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. they that bare the ark of the Lord] The requirements of the law were now duly observed, as is recorded at length in 1 Chronicles 15, where further details are given about the preparation of a tent to receive the Ark, the number of Levites who took part in the ceremony, and the arrangements for the music which accompanied the procession.

had gone six paces] As soon as the procession had started on its way, without any sign of the divine displeasure, David offered a sacrifice as a thank-offering for the prosperous commencement, and an intercession for the successful completion, of his undertaking. Cp. 1Ch_15:26, “And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the Ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 (p); 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, Sa2 6:16; a later writer (q) 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.

(p) Lexic. col. 1793. (q) Hackman. Praecidan. Sacr. p. 156, 157.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The meaning is, not that they sacrificed oxen and fatlings every six steps, which would have been impossible, but that when - after the arrangement made by David for the Levites to carry the ark 1Ch 15:2, 1Ch 15:12, 1Ch 15:15 they had borne it successfully and with visible tokens of God’s favor, out of the house of Obed-edom and six “steps” on the road to the city of David to the sound of the musical instruments - then they stopped and offered solemn sacrifices. Possibly “the step” may have had a technical sense, and denoted a certain distance, say a stadium. Six such distances would have been nearly a mile, and if the ground was difficult and steep, the successful progress of “those that bare the ark,” so far, would have been a fit cause for a thanksgiving sacrifice.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Paces. So altars of turf (Grotius) were erected at this distance from each other, on each side of the road. The pagans have sometimes treated their emperors and deities with the like respect. (Suetonius in Otho and Calig.) --- Paris thus addresses Helena in Ovid’s Heroic Epistles. Ibis Dardanias ingens Regina per urbes,

Teque novam vulgus credet adesse Deam,

Quaque feres gressus, adolebunt cynnama flammæ,

Cœsaque sanguineam victima planget humum.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Had gone six paces with safety and comfort. He sacrificed oxen and fatlings, upon an altar suddenly erected, as was usual in such cases. See Exo 20:24. This he did either to appease God for the former miscarriage; or to praise him for his present mercy, that he had not made another breach upon them; or to implore his favour and gracious presence with them in this great affair.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. When they… had gone six paces, he sacrificed — Some think such sacrifices were offered all along the way, at the distance of six paces apart, from the house of Obed-edom to Zion. But this is improbable, and the text only affirms that the sacrifice was offered after the bearers of the ark had gone the first six steps. 2Sa_6:17 and 1Ch_16:1, however, inform us that other offerings were made after the ark arrived at Zion.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When they that bare the ark of Jehovah had gone six, paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings; Hebrew, an ox and a fatling. Many suppose that David sacrificed an ox and a fatling every six paces along the whole way from the house of Obed-Edom, which was probably near or even in Jerusalem, unto the tent prepared for the ark in Zion. "Evidently the way to the holy city was a way of blood. The stained streets of Zion, the rivers of blood, the slaughtered heaps and the blaze of altar fires formed a strange contrast to the dancing, the singing, and the harping of the multitudes who crowded the city" (Sime, "Kingdom of All Israel," p. 288). It is not necessary to suppose, with some objectors, that the ark waited till each sacrifice was completed, or that the road thus lined with victims was many miles in length. The ark did not remain at Perez-Uzzah, but was carried in silent awe to the house of a Levite; and such a house probably was not to be found until they were inside the city walls. There were no country houses in a region lately twice ravaged by the Philistines. But there is an objection to this view, namely, that it is not the sense of the Hebrew. What is there said is that at starting, after stepping six paces, David sacrificed an ox and a fatling (by the hands, of course, of the priests), to ask a blessing upon the removal of the ark, and avert all misfortune. In Chronicles we read nothing of this, but of a sacrifice of seven bullocks and seven rams, offered by the Levites. The one was David"s offering made at the beginning, to consecrate the removal; the other was made at the end, and was a thank offering of the Levites, because they had carried the ark safely. (1Ch_15:26) The Vulgate has a remarkable addition to ver. 12, taken doubtless by Jerome from manuscripts which existed in his day. It is as follows: "There were with David seven choruses and a calf as victim." The fact is not in itself improbable, and means that the musicians and dancers were divided into bands which mutually relieved one another. And as a sacrifice was also a feast, each band had a calf provided for it. The LXX omits the thirteenth verse altogether, and substitutes for it, "And seven choruses accompanied him. bearing the ark, and a calf and Iambs as a sacrifice."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The bearers of the ark are not particularly mentioned in this account; but it is very evident that they were Levites, as the Chronicles affirm, from the fact that the ark was carried this time, and not driven, as before. "And it came to pass, when the bearers of the ark of Jehovah had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatted calf" (i.e., had them sacrificed). These words are generally understood as meaning, that sacrifices of this kind were offered along the whole way, at the distance of six paces apart. This would certainly have been a possible thing, and there would be no necessity to assume that the procession halted every six paces, until the sacrificial ceremony was completed, but the ark might have continued in progress, whilst sacrifices were being offered at the distances mentioned. And even the immense number of sacrificial animals that would have been required is no valid objection to such an assumption. We do not know what the distance really was: all that we know is, that it was not so much as ten miles, as Kirjath-jearim was only about twelve miles from Jerusalem, so that a few thousand oxen, and the same number of fatted calves, would have been quite sufficient. But the words of the text do not distinctly affirm that sacrifices were offered whenever the bearers advanced six paces, but only that this was done was soon as the bearers had taken the first six steps. So that, strictly speaking, all that is stated is, that when the procession had started and gone six paces, the sacrifice was offered, namely, for the purpose of inaugurating or consecrating the solemn procession. In 1 Chron 15 this fact is omitted; and it is stated instead (Ch1 15:26), that "when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they offered seven bullocks and seven rams," i.e., at the close of the procession, when the journey was ended, to praise God for the fact that the Levites had been enabled to carry the ark of God to the place appointed for it, without suffering the slightest harm.

(Note: There is no discrepancy, therefore, between the two different accounts; but the one supplements the other in a manner perfectly in harmony with the whole affair, - at the outset, a sacrifice consisting of one ox and one fatted calf; and at the close, one of seven oxen and seven rams. Consequently there is no reason for altering the text of the verse before us, as Thenius proposes, according to the senseless rendering of the lxx, καὶ ἦσαν μετ ̓ αὐτοῦ αἴροντες τὴν κιβωτὸν ἑπτὰ χοροί, καὶ θῦμα μόσχος καὶ ἄρνες ("with David there were bearers of the ark, seven choirs, and sacrifices of a calf and lambs"), which has also found its way into the Vulgate, though Jerome has rendered our Hebrew text faithfully afterwards (i.e., after the gloss, which was probably taken from the Itala, and inserted in his translation).)

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)