Commentaria in II Regum (II Samuelis)
12. DAVID (enticed by the blessing and prosperity which Obededom had received from the ark) BROUGHT AWAY THE ARK OF GOD OUT OF THE HOUSE OF OBEDEDOM INTO THE CITY OF DAVID,—into Sion, for this, built by David as a city, was called the city of David, as Rome was founded and named by Romulus, Ninive by Ninus, Alexandria by Alexander the Great, Antioch by Antiochus, Seleucia by Seleucus, Ptolemais by Ptolemy, Constantinople by Constantine.
AND THERE WERE WITH DAVID SEVEN CHOIRS—of musicians, who are described in book I of Paralipomenon chap. 15, namely the first, verse 17; the second, verse 18; the third, verse 19; the fourth, verse 20; the fifth, verse 21; the sixth, verse 22; the seventh, verse 24; where those Levites are called “porters” who went before and followed the ark, to keep back the crowd and open a way for the Levites who bore the ark; likewise those who were afterwards to be set over the doors of the tabernacle and of the temple in Sion in which the ark was.
AND A CALF FOR VICTIM.—The Septuagint adds, and of lambs. These words are lacking in the Hebrew and Chaldee. It is an enallage of number: “a victim of a calf,” that is, victims of calves; for there were several, as is clear from what follows.
13. AND WHEN THEY THAT CARRIED THE ARK HAD GONE SIX PACES, HE SACRIFICED AN OX AND A RAM.—Behold, here at the admonition of the priests, who were now present, the ark was not conveyed on a cart, as had been done by mistake in verse 3, but carried on the shoulders of the Levites, namely of the Caathites, as God had commanded in Numbers 4:15.
HE SACRIFICED—in thanksgiving for the safety of all, that no one was struck by God as Oza had been struck, and in suppliant prayer that God would continue this his protection and clemency towards the ark. For in 1 Paralipomenon 15:26 it is said: “And when God had helped the Levites that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they offered seven bullocks and seven rams,” namely for each of the choirs of the singing Levites one bullock and one ram. For there were seven choirs. They offered therefore fourteen victims, and therefore erected several altars on which all might be sacrificed at once, only the fat being burned, as was done by the law in peace-offerings, such as these were; for otherwise in slaying, flaying, cutting up and burning so many victims the delay of so great a procession would have been too long. So Abulensis. Finally Serarius thinks that these victims were repeated at each six paces. But Scripture has nothing of the kind, and so this procession would have had to last the whole day, nay several days; for the distance from the house of Obededom to the citadel of Sion was great.
Moreover in the place cited in Paralipomenon the pomp and jubilation of this procession and translation of the ark is described more fully. Read it: here I shall explain only some obscure things that are said there. In the same place, therefore, verse 20, it is said of the Levites: “They sang secret things on psalteries;” which Abulensis and others take thus, as if to say: They sang hidden mysteries, and therefore in a low voice and with involved and obscure words. Our German, Sanchez, understands by “secret things” the Psalms whose title is “for the secrets” (alamoth), that is, hidden and occult things, such as are Psalms 9 and 45, which so aptly suit this solemn translation of the ark that they seem then to have been composed by David; hence for “secret things” in the book of Paralipomenon the Hebrew likewise has alamoth.
Again, verse 21, it is said: “They sang a triumphal song on harps for the octave,” that is, a song of triumph for the victories gained by David over the Philistines. Such a song are the Psalms which are inscribed “To the Victor,” namely dedicated to God and David, such as Psalms 6 and 11. For the titles of these from the Septuagint are, “For the end, for the octave,” where the Hebrew has lamnatseach, that is, to the victor, or conqueror, as St. Jerome and others render; but more of these in the Psalms. They seem therefore to have then sung the aforesaid psalms as a triumphal song to God for David’s victories. Soon in verse 22 it is said: “And Chonenias, chief of the Levites, presided over the prophecy; for prophecy,” that is, for the melody; hence explaining he adds: “To lead the melody;” for to prophesy often is the same as to praise and rejoice to God. So Samuel and Saul are said to have prophesied, book 1, chap. 19, verse 24. Think how great was the concert and harmony of so many instruments and singers. Then in verse 26 it is said: “And when God had helped the Levites that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, seven bullocks and rams were sacrificed.” The Hebrews explain “had helped” thus, as if to say: God lifted the ark above the shoulders of the Levites, so that they felt none of its weight, but the ark seemed to carry and move itself. But I say that God helped the Levites in bearing the ark, because the ark, with the stone tables of the Decalogue enclosed in it, and with the gold with which it was covered, was heavy and weighty, and the ascent to mount Sion was steep and difficult: God therefore animated and strengthened the Levites, that they might cheerfully and bravely carry the ark up into the very citadel of Sion. So Abulensis, Salianus, Sanchez and others. Let us now return to our text and verse.
AND A RAM.—In Hebrew it is meri, which, like bari, signifies a fat and fatted animal, whether ox or sheep; here it cannot be an ox, because that has preceded: therefore it is a sheep; hence the Septuagint here and elsewhere often render, a lamb, which is a young ram.
14. AND DAVID DANCED WITH ALL HIS MIGHT.—Some codices add: “And David played upon instruments hung on the shoulders,” that is, bound to the arms or shoulders, as if to say, on portable instruments: for because David at once danced and at once played instruments, these, being heavy, had to be hung from the shoulder, lest they hinder the dance or the playing. But these words are to be deleted, with the Hebrew, the Chaldee, the Roman Septuagint, Rabanus, manuscripts and others generally. They seem to have crept in from the Septuagint, which has on instruments eurhythmois, that is, harmonious and harmoniously sounding.
DANCED (Vatablus, leaped for joy) WITH ALL HIS MIGHT (the Hebrew and Chaldee, with all his strength) BEFORE THE LORD,—that is, before the ark of the Lord. What would David have done if he had beheld the true ark of God, namely the Holy Eucharist, and in it Christ the Lord himself? And what is it fitting for Christians to do, when they behold the same consecrated in churches and solemnly carried round through the streets? If David with such pomp, so many musical instruments sounding together, so many choirs of Levites singing together, with so many victims and the concourse and applause of all the people, bore the ark about, what is it fitting for us to do when Christ himself is borne about in the Eucharist?
Note and imitate here David’s remarkable humility, and the fervour of devotion by which he deserved to become the father of Christ; because in the typical ark he beheld with the eyes of his mind, and honoured, Christ the antitype who was to be born of him. So Eucherius: “Here, he says, humility is shown approved, pride condemned and rashness avenged; for David, not blushing to dance humbly before the ark of the Lord, soon deserved to receive the promise of the Son of God to be born of his stock, and the wife who despised that same humility, not deserving to be made fruitful by his seed, paid the penalty of perpetual barrenness.”
Moreover St. Ambrose, book I of the Apology of David, chap. 6: “David taught, he says, that regard for royal power is not to be had where the office is performed in religion. For it is honourable to act for religion, even if it be unbecoming to power.” The same, book IV, epistle 30 to Sabinus, gives the literal reason of this dance, saying: “For his servant played before the Lord, and so he pleased the more, because he so humbled himself before him as to put the royal dignity behind him, and offer to God the lowest service as a little servant.” The same St. Ambrose, sermon 25 On the Saints, assigns a sublime but mystical reason for this dance: “Lifted up with joy, he burst into dancing. For he foresaw in the Spirit that Mary of his seed was to be joined to the bridal chamber of Christ. Hence he says: And himself as a bridegroom coming out of his bride-chamber. Therefore he sang more than the other authors of the prophecies, because, more joyful than all, he joined his descendants through these joys; and inviting to his own vows more sweetly than usual, he taught us what we ought to do at the wedding itself, since he before the wedding danced with such exultation before the ark. The prophet David therefore danced before the ark. And what shall we say the ark is but holy Mary? For the ark inwardly carried the tables of the testament, but Mary bore the heir of the testament itself. The one kept the law within itself, the other the Gospel. The one had the voice of God, the other the Word. Yet the ark shone within and without with the brightness of gold, and holy Mary shone within and without with the splendour of virginity. The one was adorned with earthly gold, the other with heavenly.” Hear St. Gregory, book 27 of the Morals, chap. 27 (whose words Angelomus and Eucherius transcribed word for word in their fashion): “It is pleasant to behold how great gifts of virtues David had received, and in all these how strongly he preserved himself in humility. For whom would it not exalt to break the jaws of lions, to tear asunder the arms of bears, to be chosen, with his elder brothers passed over, to be anointed to the helm of the kingdom, the king being rejected, to lay low the terror of all, Goliath, with one stone, to bring back, at the king’s proposal, the numerous foreskins of the slain Philistines, finally to receive the promised kingdom, and to possess the whole people of Israel without any contradiction. And yet when he brings back the ark of God to Jerusalem, as though forgetting that he was set above all, mingled with the peoples he dances before the ark. And because to dance before the ark was, it is believed, the custom of the common people, the king turns himself in the divine service by dancing.” And not long after he adds: “I marvel at David dancing more than at David fighting. For by fighting he subdued enemies, but by dancing before the Lord he conquered himself.”