Bible Strands
1 Samuel 6:20
The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom should the ark go up from here?”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The men of Beth-shemesh speak to themselves after God strikes down seventy of them for looking inside the ark, prompting them to arrange its transfer to Kiriath-jearim. The words — The phrase מִי יוּכַל לַעֲמֹד לִפְנֵי (mi yu.khal la.‘a.mod li/f.Nei) literally means “who is able to stand before,” directly expressing their terror at approaching the holy God. The thread — This question parallels David’s fear in 2 Samuel 6:9, the unendurable nature of God’s appearing in Malachi 3:2, and the inability to withstand divine wrath in Revelation 6:17. Why it lands — The text records human inability to endure God’s presence, demanding that readers acknowledge the sacred boundaries around holiness and the necessity of proper mediation.
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
And the men of Beth–shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? and to whom shall he go up from us?
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 6:9 That day David feared the LORD and asked, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?”
- Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Revelation 6:17 For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”
- Leviticus 11:45 For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
- Numbers 17:12 Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!
- 1 Samuel 5:8 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” “It must be moved to Gath,” they replied. So they carried away the ark of the God of Israel.
- 2 Samuel 6:7 And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there beside the ark of God.
- 1 Chronicles 13:11 Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah. So he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.
- Psalms 76:7 You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
- Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”