Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
David, bringing back the ark from Kiriath-jearim, sings psalms and dances before it. Uzzah, touching the ark, is struck dead. The ark, turning aside into the house of Obed-edom, blesses it.
Vulgate Text: 1 Paralipomenon 13:1-14
1. And David took counsel with the tribunes, and centurions, and all the leaders, 2. and said to the whole assembly of Israel: If it pleases you, and if the word that I speak comes from the Lord our God, let us send to our brethren who remain in all the regions of Israel, and to the priests and Levites who dwell in the suburbs of the cities, that they may gather to us, 3. and let us bring back the ark of our God to us: for we did not seek it in the days of Saul. 4. And the whole multitude answered that it should be so: for the word pleased all the people. 5. So David gathered all Israel together, from the Shihor of Egypt to the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. 6. And David went up, and all the men of Israel, to the hill of Kiriath-jearim, which is in Judah, to bring from there the ark of the Lord God sitting upon the cherubim, where His name is invoked. 7. And they placed the ark of God upon a new cart, from the house of Abinadab: and Uzzah, and his brother, drove the cart. 8. And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, with songs, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets. 9. And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put forth his hand to hold the ark: for the ox stumbled and tilted it slightly. 10. And the Lord was angry against Uzzah, and struck him, because he had touched the ark: and he died there before the Lord. 11. And David was grieved because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah: and he called that place: the Breach of Uzzah, to this present day. 12. And he feared God at that time, saying: How can I bring the ark of God to me? 13. And for this reason he did not bring it to himself, that is, into the City of David; but turned it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 14. So the ark of God remained in the house of Obed-edom three months: and the Lord blessed his house, and all that he had.
Verse 5: From the Shihor of Egypt
5. FROM THE SHIHOR OF EGYPT. — Shihor in Hebrew is שיהור Sichor, that is, black. The Nile is so called because its water, being muddy and turbid, appears to be black. Hence by the Greeks it is called melas, that is, black; but since the Nile is far from Judea, it is better to understand by Shihor the stream near Rhinocolura, which is the southern boundary of Judea, and elsewhere is called "the brook of Egypt," about which I spoke at Numbers chapter 34, verse 5.
Verse 7: Uzzah and His Brother
7. AND UZZAH AND HIS BROTHER. — In 2 Kings 6:3, it reads: "Uzzah and Ahio," but Ahio in Hebrew means the same as "his brother," and indeed this Ahio was the brother of Uzzah: for both were sons of Abinadab, as is said there. Chidon was called by another name, Nachon, as appears from 2 Kings 6:6.