Bible Strands
Psalms 132:6
We heard that the ark was in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the worshiping community, narrating the collective discovery of the Ark’s location. This statement occurs between the vow to locate God’s dwelling and the summons to approach it.
The words — אֶפְרָתָה (Ephrathah) identifies the ancestral territory of Bethlehem, while שְׂדֵי־יָעַר (səḏê-yaʿar) translates literally to "fields of Jaar," pinpointing the exact site where the ark was located.
The thread — The location matches 1 Samuel 7:1, where the ark rests at Kiriath-jearim, and links to 1 Samuel 17:12 and Micah 5:2, which use Ephrathah to trace David’s lineage and prophetic geography.
Why it lands — The text states that the sacred site was discovered through collective search rather than royal decree. It requires the reader to accept that worship must be directed to the specific location God has already established.
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
Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 7:1 Then the men of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the LORD and took it into Abinadab’s house on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to guard the ark of the LORD.
- 1 Samuel 17:12 Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah who had eight sons. And in the days of Saul, Jesse was old and well along in years.
- Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
- Genesis 35:19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
- Ruth 1:2 The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah, and they entered the land of Moab and settled there.
- 1 Chronicles 13:5 So David assembled all Israel, from the River Shihor in Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.