Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

For: Tuesday, January 29, 2008

3rd Week in Ordinary Time

From: 2 Samuel 6:12b-15, 17-19

The Ark in Jerusalem (Continuation)
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[12b] So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of  Obed-
edom to the city of David with rejoicing; [13] and when those who bore the ark of
the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. [14] And David
danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen
ephod. [15] So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD
with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.

[17] And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place, inside the
tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace
offerings before the LORD. [18] And when David had finished offering the burnt
offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD
of hosts, [19] and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel,
both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of
raisins. Then all the people departed, each to his house.

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Commentary:

6:1-23. By moving the ark to Jerusalem from Baale, a town on the border with
the Philistines (cf. 1 Sam 4:1-7:1), David is making the city the religious capital:
from now on, it will be the Holy City blessed by the presence of the Lord. The
narrative gives a good idea of the solemnity of the transfer (a liturgical procession
of the kind celebrated in Psalm 132) and has a lot of doctrinal content.

The first stage in the transfer of the ark (vv. 1-11) was interrupted by the death
of Uzzah, son of Abinadab. This amazing episode may be meant to show the
predominance of one priestly family, that of Abiathar (cf. 1 Sam 22:20-23; 2
Sam 15:27-29), and the disappearance (for some inexplicable reason) of the
descendants of Abinadab; but the main message is of course the respect and
veneration due to the ark as the symbol of God’spresence among his people.
Only those in charge of the ark may touch it. Even the king wonders whether
it is right to bring it as far as Jerusalem, and it is the Lord himself who, by
blessing the house of Obed-edom, signals that it should be brought the rest
of the way.

The procession bringing the ark into the holy city is reported in detail in the se-
cond stage of the transfer (vv. 12-15). David himself, as king of Israel, assumes
the functions of a priest and gives a lead in ritual jubilation. The Fathers have
seen the ark as a figure of the Blessed Virgin; so the transfer of the ark is a
symbol of Mary’s journey to visit her relative Elizabeth (cf. Lk 1:39-45), and
David’s dance is a figure of the Baptist, who leaps with joy in the womb of his
mother when Mary arrives with Jesus in her womb. "The prophet dances before
the ark; but what is the ark if not [a symbol of] Holy Mary? The ark contained
the tablets of the testament, Mary held in her body the heir to the testament;
the ark carried the Law, Mary the Gospel; the ark held the voice of God, Mary
the Word; inside and out, the ark shone with gold, the light of Mary’s virginity
shines inside and out; the ark was decorated with earthly gold, Mary with the
gold of heaven" (St Maximus of Turin, Sermons, 42, 5). See also the note on
1 Chronicles 15:1-24.

The last scene records Michal’s failure to understand David’s sincere devotion
towards the ark (vv. 16-23); her rejection has political implications as regards the
succession. David will have many sons who later dispute the throne, but none of
them will be descendants of Saul. The sentence pronounced against Michal,
David’s first wife, draws a line under the house of Saul.

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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text  from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.  We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

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"The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever
in everlasting silence: and in silence the soul has to hear it.
   --  St John of the Cross