Bible Strands
2 Samuel 15:25
Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David speaks to Zadok and Abiathar as the ark is being carried out of Jerusalem during his flight from Absalom’s rebellion. He orders the priests to return the sacred object to the city before departing.
The words — The command הָשֵׁ֛ב (ha.Shev), meaning “take back,” directs the priests to withdraw the ark. The particle אֶת־ ('et-) marks אֲר֥וֹן ('a.Ron), “the ark,” as the direct object of that withdrawal.
The thread — Psalms 26:8 and Psalms 84:10 record the psalmist’s declaration that he loves the house where God dwells and prefers one day in God’s courts over any other place. Jeremiah 25:30 states that the LORD will roar from on high and raise His voice against the nations.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to recognize that submission to God’s sovereign choice outweighs attachment to physical religious objects. It presents readiness to accept divine rejection as the necessary posture when God’s favor is withdrawn.
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 king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation:
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 25:30 So you are to prophesy all these words against them and say to them: ‘The LORD will roar from on high; He will raise His voice from His holy habitation. He will roar loudly over His pasture; like those who tread the grapes, He will call out with a shout against all the inhabitants of the earth.
- Psalms 26:8 O LORD, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.
- Psalms 84:10 For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
- Exodus 15:13 With loving devotion You will lead the people You have redeemed; with Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling.
- Psalms 43:3 Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to the place where You dwell.
- 1 Samuel 4:3 When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the LORD brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so that it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.”
- 2 Samuel 6:17 So they brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
- 2 Samuel 7:2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
- 2 Samuel 12:10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
- Psalms 27:4 One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.