Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 15:2
Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before Him forever.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David addresses the assembled community immediately after preparing a tent for the ark and before gathering all Israel to transport it. He issues a direct command regarding the proper handling of the sacred object.
The words — לֹ֤א (lo') = not; לָ/שֵׂאת֙ (la./seT) = to carry. Together they establish the exclusive restriction that only Levites may bear the ark.
The thread — This restriction echoes Deuteronomy 10:8, where Yahweh sets apart Levi to carry the ark, and Deuteronomy 31:9, where Moses entrusts the ark to the priests and Levites. It also connects to Numbers 18:1, which warns that unauthorized handling of sanctuary items incurs guilt.
Why it lands — It demands strict adherence to divinely appointed roles in worship, requiring readers to submit personal preference to established covenant boundaries.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 10:8 At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.
- Numbers 18:1 So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father’s house must bear the iniquity involving the sanctuary. And you and your sons alone must bear the iniquity involving your priesthood.
- Deuteronomy 31:9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
- Numbers 4:2 “Take a census of the Kohathites among the Levites by their clans and families,
- Numbers 4:19 In order that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign each man his task and what he is to carry.
- Numbers 8:13 You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and then present them before the LORD as a wave offering.
- Numbers 8:24 “This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years of age or older shall enter to perform the service in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
- Joshua 3:3 and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it.
- Jeremiah 33:17 For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,
- Joshua 6:6 So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said, “Take up the ark of the covenant and have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the LORD.”