David constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before Him forever.” And David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to the place he had prepared for it. Then he gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites: From the Kohathites, Uriel the chief and 120 of his relatives; from the Merarites, Asaiah the chief and 220 of his relatives; from the Gershomites, Joel the chief and 130 of his relatives; from the Elizaphanites, Shemaiah the chief and 200 of his relatives; from the Hebronites, Eliel the chief and 80 of his relatives; and from the Uzzielites, Amminadab the chief and 112 of his relatives. David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. And he said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the LORD our God burst forth in anger against us. For we did not consult Him about the proper order." So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD. David also told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their relatives as singers to lift up their voices with joy, accompanied by musical instruments—harps, lyres, and cymbals.
Now it was reported to King David, "The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God." So David went and had the ark of God brought up from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing. When those carrying the ark of the LORD had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the LORD, while he and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sounding of the ram's horn. As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul's daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart. So they brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. When David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of Hosts. Then he distributed to every man and woman among the multitude of Israel a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. And all the people departed, each for his own home. As soon as David returned home to bless his own household, Saul's daughter Michal came out to meet him. "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today!" she said. "He has uncovered himself today in the sight of the maidservants of his subjects, like a vulgar person would do." But David said to Michal, “I was dancing before the LORD, who chose me over your father and all his house when He appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel. I will celebrate before the LORD, and I will humiliate and humble myself even more than this. Yet I will be honored by the maidservants of whom you have spoken.” And Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.
Significance
2 Samuel 6:12-23 narrates the ark's entry into Jerusalem, David's dancing, Michal's contempt, and the resulting barrenness. 1 Chronicles 15:1-16 provides an extensive prologue absent from Samuel, detailing David's Levitical preparations: "No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD" (1 Chr 15:2). This reflects the lesson learned from Uzzah's death — the Chronicler explicitly attributes the prior disaster to not consulting Him "about the proper order" (כַּמִּשְׁפָּט, kammishpat, 1 Chr 15:13). The Chronicler omits the Michal episode entirely, focusing instead on the elaborate musical and Levitical arrangements that would become the template for temple worship. This editorial choice demonstrates the Chronicler's primary concern with worship order over court drama.
Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s)
Redemptive-Historical Progression — the Chronicler advances Samuel's second ark procession by prefacing it with the Levitical corrective — "No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God" (1 Chr 15:2) — and dropping the Michal scene; the episode is retold as the founding of ordered Levitical worship, the stage of the history that leads directly into temple liturgy.
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