Preparing to Move the Ark
David makes ready a place for the ark in the City of David, then declares that only the Levites may carry it. He gathers all Israel to bring the ark to the place he has prepared.
D1avid 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. 2Then 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.” 3And David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to the place he had prepared for it.
The chapter lists the descendants of Aaron and the leading Levitical families David gathers for the procession. Their names and numbers show the careful, ordered assembly of those appointed for this work.
4Then he gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites: 5From the Kohathites, Uriel the chief and 120 of his relatives; 6from the Merarites, Asaiah the chief and 220 of his relatives; 7from the Gershomites, Joel the chief and 130 of his relatives; 8from the Elizaphanites, Shemaiah the chief and 200 of his relatives; 9from the Hebronites, Eliel the chief and 80 of his relatives; 10and from the Uzzielites, Amminadab the chief and 112 of his relatives.
David summons the priests and Levitical heads, tells them to consecrate themselves, and recalls why the first attempt failed. The Lord broke out against them because they had not sought him according to the proper order.
11David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12And 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. 13It 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.”