Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 5:4
When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the seventh-month feast when all the men of Israel gathered at the king's location. The moment focuses on the arrival of Israel's elders and the Levites as they prepare to move the sacred object.
The words — The verb וַ/יִּשְׂאוּ (va/i.yis.'U) translates literally as "and they lifted" or "took up." The noun הָ/אָרֽוֹן (ha./'a.Ron) means "the ark," identifying the specific covenant chest being handled.
The thread — The assembly of Israel's elders and the Levitical transport of the ark appear again in 1 Kings 8:3 and Joshua 3:6. Numbers 4:15 provides the procedural background for how the Levites were to handle the ark during camp movements.
Why it lands — The text states a factual sequence: assembled elders arrive, Levites lift the ark, and priests carry it forward. It asks the reader to observe the designated human roles in a covenant ritual without importing external doctrine.
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 all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.
Cross-references
- Joshua 3:6 And he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.
- 1 Kings 8:3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark,
- Numbers 4:15 When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting.
- 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.”
- 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.”
- 1 Chronicles 15:12 And he said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your relatives must consecrate yourselves so that you may bring the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.
- 2 Chronicles 5:7 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.