Useful Bible Studies > 2 Samuel Commentary > chapter 6
The ark was the sacred box that contained evidence of God’s special relationship with Israel. It belonged in the most holy place of the tabernacle, the special tent that Moses made. However, the ark had not been in the tabernacle for very many years. Since before Saul became king, the ark had stood in a private house in Kiriath Jearim. It was from there that David brought it to Jerusalem.
David prepared a special tent for the ark in Jerusalem. It was not the tabernacle that Moses made; that remained at Gibeon (1 Chronicles 21:29). David intended this new tent as a temporary place for the ark until he could build a permanent building for it (7:2). However, it was actually Solomon, David’s son, who built that building, called the temple.
When the ark arrived in its new tent, David offered more sacrifices. These sacrifices were animals which the priests offered to God on David’s behalf. There were burnt offerings: sacrifices which the priests burned completely as a gift to God (Leviticus chapter 1). There were also fellowship (friendship) offerings: sacrifices that showed a friendly relationship between God, the priests and the people. The priests burned some parts of these sacrifices; they received other parts for the use of themselves and their families. They shared most of the meat between the people. The purpose of those sacrifices was to show the people’s relationship with God, their priests, and the king (Leviticus chapter 3 and 7:11-18).
Next part: David blesses the people (2 Samuel 6:18-19)
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