David was now afraid of the Lord, and he asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark of the Lord back into my care?”
Parallel translations
- WEB David was afraid of Yahweh that day; and he said, “How could Yahweh’s ark come to me?”
- KJV And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?
- BSB That day David feared the LORD and asked, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?”
- NKJV David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”
- NASB So David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”
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
David's anger turned to fear, and he wondered how he could safely bring the ark to himself. Holy reverence rightly replaces casual presumption.
Overview
The fear of the LORD here is not mere terror but a dawning recognition of God's awesome holiness. David's question echoes the men of Beth Shemesh after a similar judgment (1 Samuel 6:20): how can sinful people host the presence of a holy God? The answer the Bible ultimately gives is found in a mediator, fulfilled in Christ who makes God's presence dwelling with His people a blessing rather than a danger.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 119:120My flesh trembles for fear of you. I am afraid of your judgments. AYIN
- 1 Chr 13:11–12David was displeased, because Yahweh had broken out against Uzza. He called that place Perez Uzza, to this day.
- 1 Sam 6:20The men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? To whom shall he go up from us?”
- 1 Kgs 8:27But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built!
- Num 17:12–13The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone!
- 1 Sam 5:10–11So they sent God’s ark to Ekron. As God’s ark came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.”
- Job 25:5–6Behold, even the moon has no brightness, and the stars are not pure in his sight;
- Isa 6:5Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”
- Luke 5:8–9But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.”
- 1 Pet 3:6as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are, if you do well, and are not put in fear by any terror.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 6:9 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.