2 Samuel 6:1-19

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• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Hebrew text with concordance, commentaries.
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons.
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • Chapter CXXXII, Dialogue With Trypho, Justin Martyr. (c 160)
  • Chapter XIII, Adversus Judaeos, Tertullian (c. 198)
  • II.1, Paedagogus, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
  • Rashi's Commentary, c. 1075. chabad.org.
  • From the Geneva Notes.
    • "Here we see the danger it is to follow good intentions, or to do anything in God's service without his express word."
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
    • "Uzzah was struck dead for touching the ark. God saw presumption and irreverence in Uzzah's heart. Familiarity, even with that which is most awful, is apt to breed contempt."
  • From Wesley's Notes.
    • "Public joy should always be as before the Lord, with an eye to him, and terminating in him. Otherwise it is no better than public madness, and the source of all manner of wickedness."
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
    • "[David's] feelings on this alarming judgment were greatly excited on various accounts, dreading that the displeasure of God had been provoked by the removal of the ark, that the punishment would be extended to himself and people, and that they might fall into some error or neglect during the further conveyance of the ark. He resolved, therefore, to wait for more light and direction as to the path of duty."
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
  • Commentary, 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19, Richard W. Nysse, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
    • "Over the next three weeks, we move from a 'yes-but' narrative (2 Samuel 6) to a 'YES!' narrative (2 Samuel 7) to a 'NO!' narrative (2 Samuel 11)."
  • "God-Inspired," Kate Huey, Weekly Seeds, i.UCC.org, 2009.
    • "In an age when our communal ties are fraying, what does it mean to you to gather as a church family and sing, break bread, and open your heart in prayer?"
  • 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19, Pentecost 6, 2006, The Old Testament Readings: Weekly Comments on the Revised Common Lectionary, Howard Wallace Audrey Schindler, Morag Logan, Paul Tonson, Lorraine Parkinson, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church, Melbourne, Australia.
    • "...These references highlight the importance of the Law of God in the Ark, as representing the divine presence for Israel and the divine intention that they be united in covenant with God. For a time, David becomes the symbol of this unity."
  • 2 Samuel 6:1-19, Pentecost 6, Commentary, Background, Insights from Literary Structure, Theological Message, Ways to Present the Text. Anna Grant-Henderson, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "David is very clever politically at this point in his career."
  • "Murder They Wrote: Ideology and the Manipulation of the Female Presence in Biblical Narrative," J. Cheryl Exum in The Pleasures of Her Text, ed. Alice Bach, 1990.
    • "By exposing the phallogocentric bias in the stories of Jephthah’s daughter and of Michal, I have sought to hear the women’s voices differently, and by doing so to give the victims of literary murder a voice that identifies and protests the crimes against them and that claims for them a measure of that autonomy denied them by the larger story."
  • "When God Rained on David's Parade (2 Samuel 6:1-23)," by Robert Deffinbaugh at the Biblical Studies Foundation.
    • "Uzzah is a reminder to us that God's holiness is such that sinful men cannot draw near to Him, unless He provides the means to do so."
• Articles & Background:
  • "From the King's Sanctuary to the Chosen City," Sarah Japhet, Judaism, 1997.
  • "Passionate Spirituality and Worship: Dancing Lessons from King David - 2 Samuel 6 / I Chronicles 13-16," Bruce Guenther, Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary.
  • "A Crown, Some Oil, And A Throne: Coronation in Ancient Israel." From Jewish Heritage Online Magazine's Topic of the Month: Crown.
  • David and Michal, from And Adam Knew Eve: A Dictionary of Sex in the Bible by Ronald L. Ecker.
• Recommended articles from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are linked below. ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices.
  • Alster, Baruch, "Narrative Surprise in Biblical Parallels," Biblical Interpretation, 2006.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Dozeman, Thomas B., "The Priestly Vocation," Interpretation, 2005.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Esselstyn, Micki Bingham, "The Angel of Joy Demands Our Participation," The Living Pulpit, 1996.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Firth, David G., "Shining the Lamp: The Rhetoric of 2 Samuel 5-24," Tyndale Bulletin, 2001.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Kleven, Terence, "Hebrew Style in 2 Samuel 6," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1992.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Long, Thomas, "The Fall of the House of Uzzah...and Other Difficult Preaching Texts," Journal for Preachers, 1983.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Rosenstock, Bruce, "David's Play: Fertility Rituals and the Glory of God in 2 Samuel 6," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2006.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Rudman, Dominic, "The Patriarchal Narratives in the Books of Samuel," Vetus Testamentum, 2004.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Stansell, Gary, "The Gift in Ancient Israel," Semeia, 1999.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Tidwell, N.L., "The Linen Ephod: 1 Sam. II 18 and 2 Sam. VI 14," Vetus Testamentum, 1974.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Van Der Toorn, Karel and Cornelis Houtman, "David and the Ark," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1994.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • White, Ellen, "Michal the Misinterpreted," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2007.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Wink, June Keener, "Joy in the Dance," The Living Pulpit, 1996.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Wray, Judith Hoch, "Preaching Joy," The Living Pulpit, 1996.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Wright, David P., "Music and Dance in 2 Samuel 6," Journal of Biblical Literature, 2002.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
• Reviews:
• Sermons:
• With Children:
  • "King David," Illustrating the Story (lessons, children's sermons), coloring pages, activity sheets, crafts, children's songs. MSSS Crafts.
  • "The Ark Is Brought To Jerusalem," children's study, puzzles, coloring sheet, etc. Higher Praise Christian Center.
• Drama:
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
  • Images for this week's readings, Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive.
• Hymns and Music:
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
  • David Dancing Before the Ark of the Covenant
• Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of 2 Samuel