2 Samuel 6:5

5 David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with castanets,^[a] harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.

2 Samuel 6:5 in Other Translations

5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.

5 And David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the LORD, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.

5 David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

5 David and the whole company of Israel were in the parade, singing at the top of their lungs and playing mandolins, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

5 And David and all the house of Israel played before Jehovah with all manner of [instruments made of] fir-wood, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with castanets, and with cymbals.

5 David and the entire nation of Israel were celebrating in the LORD's presence with all kinds of instruments made from cypress wood and with lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all [kinds of] fir wood [instruments], lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

5 David was celebrating with all his might in the sight of the Lord. So was the whole community of Israel. All of them were singing songs. They were also playing harps, lyres, tambourines, rattles and cymbals.

2 Samuel 6:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 6:5

And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord,
&c.] That is, before the ark, which was a symbol of the presence of the Lord:

on all manner of [instruments made of] fir wood:
which is a general expression, the particulars follow; though instruments of different sorts are mentioned, and even some of metal, as cymbals, which were vessels of brass, they struck one against another, and gave a very acute sound, being hollow ^F7;

even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and
on cymbals;
harps, psalteries, and timbrels, are frequently met with; cornets, according to Kimchi, are such sort of instruments, that in playing upon them it required an agitation of the whole body. Now it was that David penned the sixty eighth psalm, which begins, "let God arise" ( Psalms 68:1-35 ) , words used by Moses when the ark set forward, ( Numbers 10:35 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Suidas in voce (kumbala) .

2 Samuel 6:5 In-Context

3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart

4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it.

5 David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.

6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled.

7 The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.

Cross References

• 1. S Exodus 15:20
• 2. 1 Samuel 18:6-7; Ezra 3:10; Nehemiah 12:27; Psalms 150:5

Footnotes

• [a]. Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint (see also 1 Chron. 13:8) "songs"