📖WEB · 1 Chronicles 13:12
What does 1 Chronicles 13:12 mean?
"David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring God’s ark home to me?”"
— 1 Chronicles 13:12 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
When they came to Chidon’s threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
Yahweh’s anger burned against Uzza, and he struck him, because he put his hand on the ark; and he died there before God.
David was displeased, because Yahweh had broken out against Uzza. He called that place Perez Uzza, to this day.
David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring God’s ark home to me?”
So David didn’t move the ark with him into David’s city, but carried it aside into Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house.
God’s ark remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months; and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom’s house and all that he had.
Explanation
This verse comes at a turning point in the story of David trying to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. In plain terms, it says that after witnessing a frightening event, David became afraid — not of an enemy or a natural danger, but of God himself. He responds to this fear with a question: if this is how God reacts, how can he possibly bring the ark into his own care?
The context is crucial to understanding this reaction. David had organized a large celebration to move the ark from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem, transporting it on a new cart rather than following God's prescribed method of having Levites carry it on poles, as commanded in the Law (see Numbers 4:15; 7:9). During the journey, the oxen stumbled, and a man named Uzzah reached out to steady the ark. He was struck dead on the spot (1 Chronicles 13:9-10). This shocked and terrified David, who had intended the day as one of joyful worship. He renamed the place Perez Uzzah, meaning "outbreak against Uzzah," and it's in the aftermath of this that verse 12 records his fear and his question about how
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