1 Chronicles 13


1 Chronicles 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Books of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Chronicles in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is compiled from older sources by an unknown person or group, designated by modern scholars as "the Chronicler", and had the final shape established in late fifth or fourth century BCE. This chapter contains the account of an unsuccessful attempt to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem by David. The whole chapter belongs to the section focusing on the kingship of David.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 14 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Marchalianus.

Old Testament references

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    The ark brought from Kiriath-Jearim (13:1–4)

Verses 1–4 detail the preparations by David involving all Israel in the first attempt to bring the ark into Jerusalem, more than the parallel account in 2 Samuel 6:1–2. The ark is a national symbol of Israel's religion and important for David as he had been firmly and unanimously established as the king of all Israel. Consistent with the earlier chapters, David consulted his military leaders and then the whole congregation to achieve two conditions for the execution of the effort: the willingness of the participants and God's acceptance of the plan. It was later revealed that the plan lacked God's acceptance, as it was done without the significant collaboration of the priests and Levites.

Verse 2

  • "Sent out... everywhere": from, , with the first component is repeated later in this chapter and also plays an important role elsewhere in 1 Chronicles.
The priests and Levites lived within the territories of Israel's tribes.

Uzza and the ark (13:5–14)

Verses 5–14 follows closely to the report in 2 Samuel 6:3–11. The boundaries of Israel were expanded in Chronicles from the usual phrase "from Beersheba to Dan" to be between "the Shihor river in Egypt and Lebo-hamath"; the area achieved after David's spectacular victories.

Verse 5

  • "Shihor in Egypt", the southern border, is not the Nile, but is the brook of Egypt, eastward from the Nile, also called the "Rhinocorura", now "el Arish". "Shihor" is written as שׁחר in Isaiah 23:3 and שחור in Jeremiah 2:18.
  • "The entrance of Hamath" : the northern boundary of the land of Israel as mentioned multiple times in the Hebrew Bible. "Hamath" is now "Hama" or "Hamah" in west-central Syria, known as "Epiphania" by the Greeks and Romans or "Amathe" by Josephus, located on the Orontes river. However, the term "entrance of Hamath" does not refer to the city, but to the kingdom of Hamath, which was named after its capital, as the city of Hamath never belonged to the kingdom of Israel, nor known to be a border city of Israel, so the term refers only to the southern border of the kingdom of Hamath.

    Verse 6

  • "Baalah": or "Baale Judah" in 2 Samuel 6:2. The identification as Kiriath-jearim stems from Joshua 15:9.

    Verse 9

  • "Chidon" : written as "Nachon" נָכ֑וֹן in 2 Samuel 6:6.
  • "Stumbled": or "let it go off"

    Verse 11

  • "Perez-uzza": from Hebrew פרץ עזא meaning "the bursting out against Uzza", written as "Perez uzzah" in 2 Samuel 6:8. The same verb "perez" is used three times in this verse and also in 1 Chronicles 14:11 and 15:13.

    Verse 13

  • "Obed-Edom the Gittite" indicates that he is a Philistine. The word 'Gittite' is omitted in 1 Chronicles 15:25.
"The City of David": refers to a section in southern Jerusalem fortified by David and named after him, also may refer to "Mount Zion"..

Verse 14

  • "Three months": the period of the ark's stay with Obed-edom is filled in with the account of David's victories over the Philistines replacing the information in 2 Samuel 6:12 that David is overjoyed to hear the blessing of the ark's presence in Obed-edom's home that he arranged for the subsequent transportation to the city of David.