Poole on 2 Samuel 6:12-16: David's Dance before the Lord

Verse 12:[1]  And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God.  (1 Chron. 15:25) So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness.

[So David departed, etc.]  Drawn by the forementioned blessing (Lapide).  God is indeed to be sought for Himself, but David desires those external goods, or certain testimonies of the will of God towards him; so that in them he might see and proclaim the goodness of God (Martyr).

David brought up the ark of God; understanding that the ark was entertained without danger or inconvenience, and with great advantage, he apprehended his former mistake, and brought it to himself.  From the house of Obed-edom, which is thought to have been either in Jerusalem, or very near it.

[With joy]  The other things that had happened in the meantime, concerning the legates of Hiram, and the victories over the Philistines, had increased his joy[2] (Martyr).

Verse 13:[3]  And it was so, that when (Num. 4:15; Josh. 3:3; 1 Chron. 15:2, 15) they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed (see 1 Kings 8:5; 1 Chron. 15:26) oxen and fatlings.

[When they had stepped six paces, etc.]  That is, from the place whence they had taken up the ark (Mariana).  The Hebrews say that sacrifice was offered there, since within that space the calamity of Uzzah happened (Mariana, Rabbis in Martyr).  Therefore, they now give thanks, because no evil had occurred, etc. (Martyr).  [Others maintain that they did this, not once, but more often.]  After every sixth pace sacrifices were performed, as it is said in 1 Chronicles 15 (Serarius).  The Levites had their goals, where with some progress made they would stop and rest; and as often as they had six such stations, before they would proceed to the seventh, the King took care, that an ox and a ram be offered; and that was done seven times between the house of Obed-edom and the citadel of David, 1 Chronicles 15 (Osiander).

Had gone six paces with safety and comfort.

[He was offering an ox and a ram, ‎שׁ֖וֹר וּמְרִֽיא׃ [4]]  [They translate it variously:]  an ox and a fatling (Montanus); an ox, and that fat (Jonathan, Mariana); fattened oxen (Syriac, similarly the Arabic); an ox and a fat sheep (Munster, Tigurinus, Osiander, thus Piscator); oxen and fat sacrifices (Junius and Tremellius); an ox and bubalum, an antelope (Pagnine, Vatablus), singular in place of the plural (Vatablus).  I prefer that מְרִיא/fatling be distinguished from ‎צֹאן/flock/sheep and בָּקָר/cattle/ox, so that it might signify fattened animals, whether sheep or oxen, or of another species.  Thus David de Pomis[5] takes it.  Thus the Septuagint in Ezekiel 39:18 translates ‎מְרִיאֵי as fattened;[6] thus certain interpreters in Kimchi.  In the writings of the Rabbis הַמְרִאָה is fattening (Dieu).  Concerning מְרִיא/meri there are four opinions:  1.  That it is a lamb, or a ram, or a sheep.  Thus the Greeks most of the time, and the Vulgate sometimes.  The rationale:  that in the place of ox and meri in this place are young bulls and rams, 1 Chronicles 15:26.[7]  But it is not compelling; for, it does not treat of the same sacrifice.  Here, the ox and meri are offered by David; but there, by the Levites.  [But David and others are often said to have sacrificed through others, namely, through the Levites, etc.]  2.  That it is a fat ox.  Thus Rabbi Salomon.  3.  That it is a general designation for every fattened animal.  Thus Rabbis Hai[8] and de Pomis and Mardochai, and the Chaldean and Syriac.  4.  That it is a foreign animal, similar to the ox, but larger, namely, the bubalus/antelope.  Thus Kimchi, Ibn Ezra, Rabbi Isaiah, Abarbanel, and Aquinas, who, since they had received from the ancestors, that the meri is the forest ox, thought the bubalum/antelope to be signified.  Now, through the ignorance of the common people Germanic wild oxen, larger than the domestic oxen, are called bubali/antelope, which are more truly uri, wild oxen, as Pliny in his Natural History[9] 8:15 and Solinus[10] observe.  I think that the מְרִיא/meri is the same animal as the Syrian and African bubalo/antelope, which Belon[11] testifies in Observations[12] 2:50 to have been seen by himself.  It is proven, 1.  from the similarity of the name.  This is the Arabian Almari, which they say is the smootheth, and with uniformly equal hiar.  2.  From its origins.  It is from Assamia, says Belon, that is, Syria, which the Arabs call Assam.  3.  Because the ox and the meri are often conjoined in Scripture, as closely related animals, here and in 1 Kings 1:9,[13] 19,[14] 25;[15] Isaiah 1:11.[16]  4.  Isaiah commends these for their fat, I am full…of the fat of MERIIM.  So also Belon the bubalos/antelops.  And hence by a certain analogy meri is extnede to any fat animal (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals 1:2:28:284).  Moreover, David was offering in this place, on an altar of earth hastily raise (Grotius).

He sacrificed oxen and fatlings, upon an altar suddenly erected, as was usual in such cases.  See Exodus 20:24.  This he did either to appease God for the former miscarriage; or to praise him for his present mercy, that he had not made another breach upon them; or to implore his favour and gracious presence with them in this great affair.

Verse 14:[17]  And David (see Ex. 15:20; Ps. 30:11) danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded (1 Sam. 2:18; 1 Chron. 15:27) with a linen ephod.

[And David was dancing with all his might (thus Munster, Pagnine, Tigurinus, Junius and Tremellius, Dieu), ‎מְכַרְכֵּר]  Thus they translate by conjecture, with the sense of the passage urging this.  In the place of which the Syriac gives כָרָא, exultation, joy (Dieu).  [But the Septuagint has, he was beating on modulated instruments; Jonathan, he was praising; the Syriac and Arabic, he was singing/playing.]  He was dancing after the manner of a goat (Montanus), or a lamb, from כַר/lamb.  For the lamb is an animal ἁλτικὸν, good at leaping, and πηδητικόν/springing (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals 1:2:46:515).  He was dancing, adapting his voice and the motion of his body to the musical instruments, which either others or he himself was striking (Menochius).  You will ask, whether it was seemly for a prince to dance publicly?  Response:  If he be seized by the same spirit as David.  Nothing here is light, or trifling.  All things are referred to the glory of God.  Plato says, that among the ancients εὐοπλίαν/well-equipped dancing was one thing, pyrrhic, robust, severe, and martial:  but there was another, modest and composed, which they call εὐμέλειαν/melodious.  Public dancing was imputed for vice to Nero, not unjustly; for dancing was not in use there, neither did he dance for the glory of God (Martyr).

David danced before the Lord, to express his inward joy and thankfulness to God by his outward carriage, according to the manner of these times.  See Exodus 15:20; Judges 11:34; 21:21; 1 Samuel 18:6; Psalm 149:3.

[With a linen ephod]  It was a garment different from the priestly garment (Vatablus).  See what we said concerning an Ephod of this sort, 1 Samuel 2:18 (Sanchez).  David put off, as before God, his Royal majesty and adornment (Grotius); neither does he carry himself as a servant in some way; for in the worship of God there is no distinction of persons.  He put on the Ephod, so that he might dance more vigorously and without encumbrance (Martyr).  Men not sacred, yet in a religious function, were also able to put on an Ephod (Menochius).  There were three Ephods:  1.  of the high priest; 2.  of the people, as here and in 1 Samuel 2:18; 3.  of those consulting idols, Judges 17:5.  The Devil imitates God (Mariana).

A linen ephod; the usual habit of the priests and Levites in their sacred ministrations, yet sometimes worn by others, as it was by the young child Samuel, 1 Samuel 2:18, before he was come to those years in which the Levites were allowed to minister; and so hereby David, who laid by his royal robes, and put on this robe, to signify and declare, that although he was king of Israel, yet he willingly owned himself to be the Lord’s minister and servant.

Verse 15:[18]  (1 Chron. 15:28) So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

Verse 16:[19]  And (1 Chron. 15:29) as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.

[Michal, looking out through a window]  Whence she looked out at the approaching procession.  Men and women attended the ark, and they honored this procession, and among them perhaps were the other wives of David.  But Michal appears to have kept herself at home (Sanchez).

[She saw the King leaping and dancing (thus Munster, Pagnine, etc.),מְפַזֵּ֤ז וּמְכַרְכֵּר֙ [20]]  Most vigorously (or wholly [Tigurinus]) dancing (Junius and Tremellius, Piscator).  As the term כִּרְכֵּר, to dance, is taken from lamb; so the term פִּזֵּז from gazelle (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals 1:2:46:515).  Dancing and striking up (Septuagint); strengthening himself, even applying himself to with with all his strength, and dancing (Dutch).

[And she despised him]  Drawing in some measure from her father’s nature, and proud in her parentage (Grotius).  Because of his immense joy David was dancing so vehemently, that he appears forgetful of his royal dignity to the scornful, not rightly judging of David’s pious zeal (Osiander).  Michal thought that he acted altogether insane (Martyr).

She despised him:  As one of a base and mean spirit, that knew not how to carry himself with that majesty which became his place, but behaved himself like one of the fools or vain persons in Israel.

[1] Hebrew: וַיֻּגַּ֗ד לַמֶּ֣לֶךְ דָּוִד֘ לֵאמֹר֒ בֵּרַ֣ךְ יְהוָ֗ה אֶת־בֵּ֙ית עֹבֵ֤ד אֱדֹם֙ וְאֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־ל֔וֹ בַּעֲב֖וּר אֲר֣וֹן הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ דָּוִ֗ד וַיַּעַל֩ אֶת־אֲר֙וֹן הָאֱלֹהִ֜ים מִבֵּ֙ית עֹבֵ֥ד אֱדֹ֛ם עִ֥יר דָּוִ֖ד בְּשִׂמְחָֽה׃

[2] See 2 Samuel 5.

[3] Hebrew:  ‎וַיְהִ֗י כִּ֧י צָעֲד֛וּ נֹשְׂאֵ֥י אֲרוֹן־יְהוָ֖ה שִׁשָּׁ֣ה צְעָדִ֑ים וַיִּזְבַּ֥ח שׁ֖וֹר וּמְרִֽיא׃

[4] מרא signifies to be fat.

[5] David ben Isaac de Pomis (1525-1593) was an Italian physician, philosopher, and Rabbi.  He produced an important Hebrew, Latin, and Italian dictionary (Zemah David).

[6] Ezekiel 39:18:  “Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan (‎מְרִיאֵ֥י בָשָׁ֖ן כֻּלָּֽם׃; καὶ οἱ μόσχοι ἐστεατωμένοι πάντες, and they are all fatted calves, in the Septuagint).”

[7] 1 Chronicles 15:26:  “And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams (שִׁבְעָֽה־פָרִ֖ים וְשִׁבְעָ֥ה אֵילִֽים׃).”

[8] Rabbi Hai ben Sherira (939-1038) was a theologian and scholar, who served as the last Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita (in modern Iraq).  He wrote voluminously, including Responsa, legal treatises, a commentary on the Mishnah, and a dictionary on difficult words in the Scripture and Talmud (al-Hawi).

[9] Gaius Plinius Secundus, or Pliny the Elder (23-79), distinguished himself as a learned author, a celebrated Roman Procurator, and a courageous soldier.  In his Natural History, Pliny in encyclopedic fashion attempts to cover the entire field of human knowledge as it stood in his day.  It remains an invaluable resource in the fields of history, geography, literature, and Biblical studies.

[10] Gaius Julius Solinus (third century) was a compiler of antiquarian curiosities.  He wrote De Mirabilibus Mundi.

[11] Pierre Belon (1517-1564) was a French Renaissance scholar, naturalist, Orientalist, and diplomat.

[12] Les Observations de Plusieurs Singularitez et Choses Memorables Trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Egypte, Arabie et Autres Pays étrangèrs.

[13] 1 Kings 1:9:  “And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle (‎צֹ֤אן וּבָקָר֙ וּמְרִ֔יא) by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and called all his brethren the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah the king’s servants…”

[14] 1 Kings 1:19:  “And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep (‎שׁ֥וֹר וּֽמְרִיא־וְצֹאן֘) in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host:  but Solomon thy servant hath he not called.”

[15] 1 Kings 1:25:  “For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep (‎שׁ֥וֹר וּֽמְרִיא־וְצֹאן֘) in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.”

[16] Isaiah 1:11:  “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord:  I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts (עֹל֥וֹת אֵילִ֖ים וְחֵ֣לֶב מְרִיאִ֑ים); and in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats (‎וְדַ֙ם פָּרִ֧ים וּכְבָשִׂ֛ים וְעַתּוּדִ֖ים) I delight not.”

[17] Hebrew:  ‎וְדָוִ֛ד מְכַרְכֵּ֥ר בְּכָל־עֹ֖ז לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה וְדָוִ֕ד חָג֖וּר אֵפ֥וֹד בָּֽד׃

[18] Hebrew:  ‎וְדָוִד֙ וְכָל־בֵּ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מַעֲלִ֖ים אֶת־אֲר֣וֹן יְהוָ֑ה בִּתְרוּעָ֖ה וּבְק֥וֹל שׁוֹפָֽר׃

[19] Hebrew: וְהָיָה֙ אֲר֣וֹן יְהוָ֔ה בָּ֖א עִ֣יר דָּוִ֑ד וּמִיכַ֙ל בַּת־שָׁא֜וּל נִשְׁקְפָ֣ה׀ בְּעַ֣ד הַחַלּ֗וֹן וַתֵּ֙רֶא אֶת־הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ דָּוִד֙ מְפַזֵּ֤ז וּמְכַרְכֵּר֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה וַתִּ֥בֶז ל֖וֹ בְּלִבָּֽהּ׃

[20] פָּזַז can signify to be agile, or to refine.