2 Samuel 6

2 Samuel 6:1 David again gathered[1] all the fit young men in Israel: thirty thousand.

2 Samuel 6:2 He and all his people set out to bring the ark of God from Baalah in Judah. The ark bears the Name, the name of Yahveh of Armies who is enthroned between the cherubim.

2 Samuel 6:3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and transported it from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart

2 Samuel 6:4 and brought it with the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on the hill. Ahio walked in front of the ark.

2 Samuel 6:5 David and the whole house of Israel were dancing before Yahveh with all kinds of fir wood instruments, lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

2 Samuel 6:6 When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it because the oxen had stumbled.

2 Samuel 6:7 Then Yahveh’s anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there next to the ark of God.

2 Samuel 6:8 David was angry because of Yahveh’s outburst against Uzzah, so he named that place Outburst Against Uzzah, as it is today.

2 Samuel 6:9 David feared Yahveh that day and said, “How can the ark of Yahveh ever come to me?”

2 Samuel 6:10 So he was not willing to bring the ark of Yahveh to the city of David; instead, he diverted it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath.

2 Samuel 6:11 The ark of Yahveh remained in his house for three months, and Yahveh blessed Obed-edom and his whole family.

2 Samuel 6:12 It was reported to King David: “Yahveh has blessed Obed-edom’s family and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God.” So, David went and had the ark of God brought up from Obed-edom’s house to the city of David with rejoicing.

2 Samuel 6:13 When those carrying the ark of Yahveh advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

2 Samuel 6:14 David was dancing with all his might before Yahveh wearing a linen ephod.

2 Samuel 6:15 He and the whole house of Israel were bringing up the ark of Yahveh with shouts and the sound of the ram’s horn.

2 Samuel 6:16 As the ark of Yahveh was entering the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.[2]

2 Samuel 6:17 They brought the ark of Yahveh and set it in its place inside the tent David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in Yahveh’s presence.

2 Samuel 6:18 When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahveh of Armies.

2 Samuel 6:19 Then he distributed a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake to each one in the entire Israelite community, both men and women. Then all the people went home.

2 Samuel 6:20 When David returned home to bless his household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”

2 Samuel 6:21 David replied to Michal, “It was before Yahveh who chose me over your father and his whole family to appoint me ruler over Yahveh’s people Israel. I will dance before the Lord,

2 Samuel 6:22 and I will dishonor myself and humble myself even more. However, by the slave girls you spoke about, I will be honored.”

2 Samuel 6:23 And Saul’s daughter Michal had no child to the day of her death.

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[1] אָסַף = gather. 2 Samuel 6:1; 10:15, 17; 11:27; 12:28, 29; 14:14; 17:11, 13; 21:13; 23:9, 11.

[2] לֵב = heart. 2 Samuel 6:16; 7:21, 27; 13:20, 28, 33; 14:1; 15:6, 13; 17:10; 18:3, 14; 19:7, 19; 24:10.

links:

correcting the holy
incorrect correction

The 2 SAMUEL shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Samuel 5

2 Samuel 5:1 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your flesh and blood.

2 Samuel 5:2 Even while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led us out to battle and brought us back. Yahveh also said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.'”

2 Samuel 5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. King David made a covenant with them at Hebron in Yahveh’s presence, and they anointed David king over Israel.

2 Samuel 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began his reign; he reigned forty years.

2 Samuel 5:5 In Hebron, he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem, he reigned for thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

2 Samuel 5:6 The king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites had said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you,” thinking, “David can’t get in here.”

2 Samuel 5:7 Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.

2 Samuel 5:8 He said that day, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites must go through the water shaft to reach the lame and the blind who David’s throat despises.” For this reason, it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the house.”

2 Samuel 5:9 David took up residence in the stronghold, which he named the city of David. He built it up all the way around from the supporting terraces inward.

2 Samuel 5:10 David became increasingly powerful, and Yahveh, the God of Armies, was with him.

2 Samuel 5:11 King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David; he also sent cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David.

2 Samuel 5:12 Then David knew that Yahveh had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

2 Samuel 5:13 After he arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.

2 Samuel 5:14 These are the names of those born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,

2 Samuel 5:15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,

2 Samuel 5:16 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

2 Samuel 5:17 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went in search of David, but he heard about it and went down to the stronghold.

2 Samuel 5:18 So the Philistines came and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.

2 Samuel 5:19 Then David inquired of the Lord: “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” Yahveh replied to David, “Attack, for I will certainly give the Philistines to your hand.”

2 Samuel 5:20 So David went to Baal-perazim and struck them down there and said, “Like a bursting flood, Yahveh has burst out against my enemies before me.” Therefore, he named that place Baal-perazim (the Lord Bursts Out).

2 Samuel 5:21 The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.

2 Samuel 5:22 The Philistines came up again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.

2 Samuel 5:23 So David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not attack directly, but circle behind them and come at them opposite the balsam trees.

2 Samuel 5:24 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act decisively, for then Yahveh will have gone out ahead of you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”

2 Samuel 5:25 So David did exactly as Yahveh commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.

links:

almost right
enduring ‘almost’
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, October 13, 2023
The king’s Commander

The 2 SAMUEL shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Samuel 4

2 Samuel 4:1 When Saul’s son Ish-bosheth heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he gave up, and all Israel was dismayed.

2 Samuel 4:2 Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding parties: one named Baanah and the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the Benjaminites. Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin,

2 Samuel 4:3 and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and still reside there as aliens today.

2 Samuel 4:4 Saul’s son Jonathan had a son whose feet were crippled. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nanny picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to flee, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

2 Samuel 4:5 Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at Ish-bosheth’s house during the heat of the day while the king was taking his midday nap.

2 Samuel 4:6 They entered the interior of the house as if to get wheat and struck him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah escaped.

2 Samuel 4:7 They had entered the house while Ish-bosheth was lying on his bed in his bedroom and struck and killed him. They removed his head, took it, and traveled by way of the Arabah all night.

2 Samuel 4:8 They brought Ish-bosheth’s head to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here’s the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy sought your throat. Today, Yahveh has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

2 Samuel 4:9 But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As Yahveh lives, the one who has redeemed my throat from every distress,

2 Samuel 4:10 when the person told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ he thought he was a bearer of good news, but I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was my reward to him for his news!

2 Samuel 4:11 How much more when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house on his bed! So now, should I not require his blood from you and burn[1] you from the land?”

2 Samuel 4:12 So David gave orders to the boys, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took Ish-bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.

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[1] בָּעַר = burn. 2 Samuel 4:11; 22:9, 13.

links:

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, September 24, 2019
not impressed
the treachery continues

The 2 SAMUEL shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Samuel 3

2 Samuel 3:1 During the long war between the house of Saul and the house of David, David was growing stronger, and the house of Saul was becoming weaker.

2 Samuel 3:2 Sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite;

2 Samuel 3:3 his second was Chileab, by Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; the third was Absalom, son of Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;

2 Samuel 3:4 the fourth was Adonijah, son of Haggith; the fifth was Shephatiah, son of Abital;

2 Samuel 3:5 the sixth was Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.

2 Samuel 3:6 During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner kept acquiring more power in the house of Saul.

2 Samuel 3:7 Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, and Ish-bosheth questioned Abner, “Why did you come into my father’s concubine?”

2 Samuel 3:8 Abner was very angry about Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I a dog’s head who belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time, I’ve been loyal to the family of your father Saul, to his brothers, and his friends and haven’t betrayed you to David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman!

2 Samuel 3:9 May God punish Abner and do so severely if I don’t do for David what Yahveh swore to him:

2 Samuel 3:10 to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beer-sheba.”

2 Samuel 3:11 Ish-bosheth did not dare respond to Abner because he was afraid of him.

2 Samuel 3:12 Abner sent messengers as his representatives to say to David, “Whose land is it? Make your covenant with me, and you can be certain I am on your side to turn all Israel over to you.”

2 Samuel 3:13 David replied, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. However, there’s one thing I require of you: You will not see my face unless you first bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.”

2 Samuel 3:14 Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal. I was engaged to her for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins.”

2 Samuel 3:15 So Ish-bosheth sent someone to take her away from her husband, Paltiel, son of Laish.

2 Samuel 3:16 Her husband followed her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Abner said to him, “Go back.” So he went back.

2 Samuel 3:17 Abner conferred with the elders of Israel: “In the past, you wanted David to be king over you.

2 Samuel 3:18 Now act, because Yahveh has spoken concerning David: ‘Through my servant David I will save my people Israel from the power of the Philistines and the power of all Israel’s enemies.'”

2 Samuel 3:19 Abner also informed the Benjaminites and went to Hebron to inform David about all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin agreed on.

2 Samuel 3:20 When Abner and twenty men came to David at Hebron, David held a banquet for him and his men.

2 Samuel 3:21 Abner said to David, “Let me now go, and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king. They will make a covenant with you, and you will reign over all your throat desires.” So David dismissed Abner, and he went in peace.

2 Samuel 3:22 Notice David’s servants and Joab returned from a raid and brought a large amount of plundered goods with them. Abner was not with David in Hebron because David had dismissed him, and he had gone in peace.

2 Samuel 3:23 When Joab and his whole army arrived, Joab was informed, “Abner son of Ner came to see the king, the king dismissed him, and he went in peace.”

2 Samuel 3:24 Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look here, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he’s getting away.

2 Samuel 3:25 You know that Abner, son of Ner, came to deceive you and to find out about your military activities and everything you’re doing.”

2 Samuel 3:26 Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well of Sirah, but David was unaware of it.

2 Samuel 3:27 When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside to the middle of the city gate as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab struck him in the stomach. So, Abner died in revenge for the death of Asahel, Joab’s brother.

2 Samuel 3:28 David heard about it later and said: “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before Yahveh concerning the blood of Abner, son of Ner.

2 Samuel 3:29 May it hang over Joab’s head and his father’s whole house, and may the house of Joab never be without someone who has a discharge or a skin disease, or a man who can only work a spindle, or someone who falls by the sword or starves.”

2 Samuel 3:30 Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.

2 Samuel 3:31 David then ordered Joab and all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn over Abner.” And King David walked behind the coffin.

2 Samuel 3:32 When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept,

2 Samuel 3:33 and the king sang a lament for Abner: Should Abner die as a fool dies?

2 Samuel 3:34 Your hands were not bound, your feet not placed in bronze shackles. You feel like one who falls victim to criminals. And all the people wept over him even more.

2 Samuel 3:35 Then they came to urge David to eat food while it was still day, but David took an oath: “May God punish me and do so severely if I taste bread or anything else before sunset!”

2 Samuel 3:36 All the people took note of this, and it pleased them. In fact, everything the king did pleased them.

2 Samuel 3:37 On that day, all the people and all of Israel were convinced that the king had no part in the killing of Abner, son of Ner.

2 Samuel 3:38 Then the king said to his soldiers, “You must know that a great leader has fallen in Israel today.

2 Samuel 3:39 As for me, even though I am the anointed king, I have little power today. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May Yahveh repay the evildoer according to his evil!”

links:

damage control
protecting our reputations
trophy wives

The 2 SAMUEL shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Samuel 1   

2 Samuel 1:1 After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down[1] the Amalekites and stayed at Ziklag for two days.

2 Samuel 1:2 On the third day, a man with torn clothes and dust on his head came from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground[2] and paid homage.

2 Samuel 1:3 David asked him, “Where have you come from?” He replied, “I’ve escaped from the Israelite camp.”

2 Samuel 1:4 “What was the outcome? Tell me,” David asked him. “The people fled from the battle,” he answered. “Many of the people have fallen and are dead. Also, Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”

2 Samuel 1:5 David asked the boy[3] who had brought him the report, “How do you know Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

2 Samuel 1:6 “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” the boy replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear. At that very moment, the chariots and the cavalry were closing in on him.

2 Samuel 1:7 When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, so I answered: I’m at your service.

2 Samuel 1:8 He asked me, ‘Who are you? ‘ I told him: I’m an Amalekite.

2 Samuel 1:9 Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for I’m mortally wounded, but my throat[4]  still breathes in me.’

2 Samuel 1:10 So I stood over him and killed him because I knew that after he had fallen, he couldn’t survive. I took the crown that was on his head and the armband that was on his arm, and I’ve brought them here to my lord.”

2 Samuel 1:11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and all the men with him did the same.

2 Samuel 1:12 They mourned, wept, and fasted until the evening for those who died by the sword– for Saul, his son Jonathan, Yahveh’s[5] people, and the house of Israel.

2 Samuel 1:13 David inquired of the boy who had brought him the report, “Where are you from?” “I’m the son of a resident alien,” he said. “I’m an Amalekite.”

2 Samuel 1:14 David questioned him, “How is it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to put an end to[6] Yahveh’s anointed?”

2 Samuel 1:15 Then David summoned one of his boys and said, “Come here and kill him!” He struck him, and he died.

2 Samuel 1:16 For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood is on your head because your mouth testified against you by saying, ‘I killed Yahveh’s anointed.'”

2 Samuel 1:17 David chanted this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,

2 Samuel 1:18 and he commanded that the Judahites be taught The Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:

2 Samuel 1:19 The glory of Israel lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!

2 Samuel 1:20 Do not report it in Gath, don’t announce it in the marketplaces of Ashkelon, or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate.

2 Samuel 1:21 Mountains of Gilboa, let no dew or rain be on you, or fields of offerings, for there the shield of the mighty was defiled — the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

2 Samuel 1:22 Jonathan’s bow never retreated, Saul’s sword never returned unstained, from the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty.

2 Samuel 1:23 Saul and Jonathan, loved and delightful; they were not parted in life or death. They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

2 Samuel 1:24 Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with luxurious things, who decked your garments with gold ornaments.

2 Samuel 1:25 How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.

2 Samuel 1:26 I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were such a friend to me. Your love for me was more wondrous than the love of women.

2 Samuel 1:27 How the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war have been destroyed![7]

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[1] נָכָה = strike (down). 2 Samuel 1:1, 15; 2:22, 23, 31; 3:27; 4:6, 7; 5:8, 20, 24, 25; 6:7; 8:1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 13; 10:18; 11:15, 21; 12:9; 13:28, 30; 14:6, 7; 15:14; 17:2; 18:11, 15; 20:10; 21:2, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21; 23:10, 12, 20, 21; 24:10, 17.

[2] אֶרֶץ = ground, land. 2 Samuel 1:2; 2:22; 3:12; 4:11; 5:6; 7:9, 23; 8:2; 10:2; 12:16, 17, 20; 13:31; 14:4, 11, 14, 20, 22, 33; 15:4, 23; 17:26; 18:8, 9, 11, 28; 19:9; 20:10; 21:14; 22:8, 43; 23:4; 24:6, 8, 13, 20, 25.

[3] נָעַר = boy (young man or servant). 2 Samuel 1:5, 6, 13, 15; 2:14, 21; 4:12; 9:9; 12:16; 13:17, 28, 29, 32, 34; 14:21; 16:1, 2; 17:18; 18:5, 12, 15, 29, 32; 19:17; 20:11.

[4] נֶפֶשׁ  = throat. 2 Samuel 1:9; 3:21; 4:8, 9; 5:8; 11:11; 14:7, 14, 19; 16:11; 17:8; 18:13; 19:5; 23:17.

[5] יהוה = Yahveh. 2 Samuel 1:12, 14, 16; 2:1, 5, 6; 3:9, 18, 28, 39; 4:8, 9; 5:2, 3, 10, 12, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25; 6:2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21; 7:1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29; 8:6, 11, 14; 10:12; 11:27; 12:1, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 20, 22, 24, 25; 14:11, 17; 15:7, 8, 21, 25, 31; 16:8, 10, 11, 12, 18; 17:14; 18:19, 28, 31; 19:7, 21; 20:19; 21:1, 3, 6, 7, 9; 22:1, 2, 4, 7, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22, 25, 29, 31, 32, 42, 47, 50; 23:2, 10, 12, 16, 17; 24:1, 3, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25.

[6] שָׁחַת = put an end to. 2 Samuel 1:14; 11:1; 14:11; 20:15, 20; 24:16.

[7] אָבַד = be destroyed. 2 Samuel 1:27.

links:

Gath and Ashkelon
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, September 22, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, September 23, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, September 23, 2021
respecting authority
souvenirs

The 2 SAMUEL shelf in Jeff’s library