1 Chronicles 13 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Around 1003 BC, early in David's reign in Jerusalem
Location
Kiriath-jearim, a town roughly nine miles west of Jerusalem, and the threshing floor of Kidon on the road back
Audience
Post-exile Judeans whose community life was organised around correct temple worship
Situation
David consults the nation and sets out to bring the ark of the covenant, the gold-covered chest that represented God's presence, up to Jerusalem on a new cart. When the oxen stumble, Uzzah steadies the ark, is struck dead, and the frightened king leaves it at a nearby house for three months.
Key Background
The ark had sat at Kiriath-jearim for around twenty years, effectively sidelined since the Philistines captured and returned it in Samuel's time. Moving it by cart copied the method the Philistines had used, but the law required Levites to carry it on poles on their shoulders and forbade touching it, so the procession was well-intentioned and procedurally wrong from the start. A threshing floor was a flat, exposed rock surface used for separating grain, the kind of open ground a heavy cart would be driven across, and the same kind of site David later buys as the temple's future location.
David talked it over with every commander — leaders of thousands and leaders of hundreds — every single officer.
Then David said to the entire assembly of Israel, "If it seems good to you, and if this is from our God, let's send word far and wide to the rest of our people throughout all the regions of Israel — and also to the and Levites in their towns and pasturelands — and have them join us.
Let's bring the of our God back to us, because we didn't through it during Saul's reign."
The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people.
So David gathered all Israel together, from the in all the way to Lebo-hamath, to bring the chest of God from
David and all Israel went up to Baalah — that is, Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah — to bring up from there the chest of God, Yahweh, who the the chest that
They moved the chest of God on a from Abinadab's house, with Uzzah and Ahio driving the
David and all Israel were with they had before God — with songs, lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
When they came to the of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the chest because the oxen had stumbled.
Yahweh's against Uzzah, and God down because he had reached out his hand to touch the chest. He died right there in the presence of God.
David was because Yahweh had out Uzzah. That place has been called to this day.
David was of God that day. He said, "How can I ever bring the chest of God to me?"
So did not move the chest to be with him in the of Instead, he diverted it to the house of the
The chest of God stayed at Obed-edom's house for three months, and Yahweh go for Obed-edom's household and everything he had.