John Gill Commentary 2 Samuel 6

Again, David gathered together all [the] chosen [men] of Israel, thirty thousand. Which was done by the advice of his officers, (1 Chronicles 13:1); the word "again" refers either to the gathering of them when they made him king in Hebron, as the Jewish writers generally observe; but then they gathered themselves, and not David: or rather to his gathering them to fight the Philistines a little while ago; and as they were the choice and young men that were gathered for war, as being the fittest, so now to fetch up the ark with dancing and singing, and to protect it; the Septuagint version says they were about seventy thousand; but the Targum, Syriac, and Arabic versions, have thirty thousand, agreeably to the Hebrew text.

And David arose, and went with all the people that [were] with
him
The thirty thousand chosen men gathered together, and as many else as chose to go:

from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God ;
that is, they first went to this place, as in (1 Chronicles 13:6) ; in order to fetch the ark from thence,as here expressed, and then they came from thence with it; this place is the same that is called Baalah andKirjathbaal, a city in the tribe of Judah; hence Judah is added to it, and the same with Kirjathjearim, (Joshua 15:9Joshua 15:60) ; the place where it was brought to when fetched from Bethshemesh, (1 Samuel 7:1) ; and had been here now near fifty years; nor was it any where else during this time, only once at Gibeahof Saul with him, (1 Samuel 14:18) ;

whose name he called by the name of the Lord of hosts, that dwelleth
[between] the cherubim ;
not the ark, but the Lord, whose is the ark; his name is called by the name of Jehovah, the infinite,incomprehensible, eternal, and immutable Being, the Lord of armies above and below; whose habitation wasbetween the cherubim that overshadowed the mercy seat, which was above the ark; all this is said, not only toexpress the greatness and majesty of God, but for the honour of the ark, which belonged to him.

And they set the ark of God upon a new cart
Which was a great mistake, since it ought not to have been put upon a cart, old or new; it was to be borne upon men's shoulders, and carried by Levites only, and those of the family of Kohath, to whom no wagons were given, when others had them, for the above reason, (Numbers 7:9); it is strange that so many priests and Levites, and of the people of Israel gathered together on that account, and David also, so well versed in the law of God, should not refer to it; perhaps they were led by the example of the Philistines, who put it in a new cart, and set it forward towards Bethshemesh, and were not punished for it; but it should have been considered they were an ignorant Heathen people, and who had no proper persons among them to bear it, and so might be dispensed with. This mistake was afterwards seen by David, and rectified, (1 Chronicles 15:2); wherefore there is no reason to charge the text with an error or escape, and that the word "Kirjathjearim" is wanting, and to be supplied, as Spinosa ^F4 suggests:

and brought it out ,
or "after they had brought it out" ^F5 ,

of the house of Abinadab that [was] in Gibeah; or which was on the hill
in Kirjathjearim ,
(1 Samuel 7:1);

and Uzzah and Ahio the sons of Abinadab drew the new cart ;
perhaps not only Abinadab himself was dead, but Eleazar also, his eldest son, who was sanctified to keep the ark, as in (1 Samuel 7:1); and these might be his younger sons who at this time had the care of it, and it may be especially Uzzah.

FOOTNOTES:

• F4: Tractat. Theol. Politic. c. 9. p. 176.
• F5: (whavyw) "quum extulissent", Piscator.

And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which [was]
at Gibeah
That is, the new cart, which is the last thing spoken of, (2 Samuel 6:3); and the bringing of the ark out of his house is mentioned before; though some take this to be the coffer in which were the presents of the Philistines, which was now brought out along with the ark, see (1 Samuel 6:8);

accompanying the ark of God ;
or "with the ark of God" ^F6 ; that is, they brought the new cart "from" the house of Abinadab on the hill, with the ark of God upon it:

and Ahio went before the ark ;
guiding the oxen that drew it, and Uzzah might go behind, or on one side, to take care that the ark fell not out of it.

FOOTNOTES:

• F6: (Myhlah Nwra Me) "cum arca Dei", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator.

And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord ,
&c.] That is, before the ark, which was a symbol of the presence of the Lord:

on all manner of [instruments made of] fir wood :
which is a general expression, the particulars follow; though instruments of different sorts are mentioned, and even some of metal, as cymbals, which were vessels of brass, they struck one against another, and gave a very acute sound, being hollow ^F7 ;

even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and
on cymbals ;
harps, psalteries, and timbrels, are frequently met with; cornets, according to Kimchi, are such sort of instruments, that in playing upon them it required an agitation of the whole body. Now it was that David penned the sixty eighth psalm, which begins, "let God arise" (Psalms 68:1–35) , words used by Moses when the ark set forward, (Numbers 10:35) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: Suidas in voce (kumbala) .