Limitless Word
When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark.
1 Kings 8:3 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB All the elders of Israel came, and the priests picked up the ark.
  • KJV And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
  • BSB When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark,
  • NKJV So all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
  • NASB Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

When all the elders had come, the priests took up the ark. The sacred procession began under proper authority.

Overview

In keeping with God's law, the priests, not common hands, lifted the ark to carry it. This careful obedience recalled past lessons about handling the ark reverently. The orderly procession showed that approaching God's presence must follow His appointed way, a principle fulfilled in Christ, the one mediator through whom we draw near.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Josh 3:6Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and cross over before the people.” They took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.
  • Deut 31:9Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel.
  • Num 4:15“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.
  • Josh 3:3and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of Yahweh your God’s covenant, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then leave your place, and follow it.
  • Josh 4:9Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.
  • 1 Chr 15:2Then David said, “No one ought to carry God’s ark but the Levites. For Yahweh has chosen them to carry God’s ark, and to minister to him forever.”
  • Josh 6:6Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before Yahweh’s ark.”
  • Josh 3:14–15When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people,
  • Num 7:9But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the sanctuary belonged to them; they carried it on their shoulders.
  • 2 Chr 5:5–8and they brought up the ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; these the priests the Levites brought up.
  • 1 Chr 15:11–15David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 Kings videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 Kings 8:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 KingsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.

How 1 Kings 8:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.