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2 Samuel 6:16

in 2 Samuel 6

As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it was so, as the ark of Jehovah came into the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before Jehovah; and she despised him in her heart.

KJV

And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

This verse in 2 Samuel 6

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

Exposition On Psalm 118, 7.27 · Written before 397.

But even the dancing of the body is considered praiseworthy in honor of God. In fact, David danced before the Ark of the Lord and Michal, the daughter of Saul, saw him dancing and playing musical instruments in the presence of the Lord. After he returned home, she said to him, 'How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today! He has exposed himself in the sight of the maidservants of his servants, as one of the rabble might shamelessly expose himself!'

This site's exposition

Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window

The narrator names her “Saul’s daughter Michal”, and the name sets the conflict before it begins. A window served her before, at 1 Samuel 19:12. She looks from a window at David “leaping and dancing before the LORD”, and the narrator gives the verdict: “she despised him in her heart”.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bonaventure

Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 1 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

On 2 Kings 6, upon the text: Michal, the daughter of Saul, looking out, saw King David leaping and dancing, and she despised him in her heart; Gregory says: "Behold, the one whom the Lord singularly preferred above all others despises himself before the Lord …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David,.... Being brought thither on the shoulders of the Levites: Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window; in the king's palace, to see the procession, which was very grand, and in great pomp, attended by a vast number of people, and with music of all sorts.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

And, when we consider that the ark was both the token of God's presence and a type of Christ, we shall see that this story is very instructive. 1 Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

She thought this mighty zeal of his for the ark of God, and the transport of joy he was in upon its coming home to him, was but a foolish thing, and unbecoming so great a soldier, and statesman, and monarch, as he was.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

She despised him in her heart - She did not blame him outwardly; she thought he had disgraced himself, but she kept her mind to herself.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

She despised him in her heart - In the days of Saul the ark had been neglected 1Ch 13:3, and Saul had in everything shown himself to be an irreligious king. Michal seems to have been of a like spirit. The whole section, 2Sa. 6:16-36, should be compared with 1Ch 15:29; 1Ch 16:43. The peace offerings were with a special view to feasting the people. (Compare 1Ki 8:63-66.)

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

And she despised him in her heart - When she saw him from the window, she despised him in her heart because she thought it was not honorable for the king to behave in the manner of the common people, even before the ark, and afterwards, when he went to his house, she said directly, "What was honored today.."
Radak: Provence, 1160–1235 · Radak on II Samuel 6:16:2, via Sefaria, Sefaria Community Translation

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

23 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְהָיָה֙and it was

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • אֲר֣וֹן[the] ark of

    ʾaronH727 →202 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • בָּ֖אcoming

    ba'H935 →2568 times

  • עִ֣יר[the] city of

    ʾirH5892 →1090 times

  • דָּוִ֑דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • וּמִיכַ֨לand Michal

    umikhalH4324 →18 times

  • בַּת־[the] daughter of

    bat-H1323 →588 times

  • שָׁא֜וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • נִשְׁקְפָ֣ה׀she looked down

    nishkefahH8259 →

  • בְּעַ֣דthrough

    beadH1157 →105 times

  • הַחַלּ֗וֹןthe window

    hachalonH2474 →

  • וַתֵּ֨רֶאand she saw

    vatere'H7200 →1300 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַמֶּ֤לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • דָּוִד֙David

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • מְפַזֵּ֤זleaping

    mefazezH6339 →

  • וּמְכַרְכֵּר֙and dancing

    umekharkerH3769 →

  • לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וַתִּ֥בֶזand she despised

    vativezH959 →44 times

  • ל֖וֹ<to> <the> him

    lo

  • בְּלִבָּֽהּ׃in heart her

    belibahH3820 →595 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 2:14

    The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 1:18

      For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

    • Romans 8:5–8

      Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

    • Matthew 13:11–17

      He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

    • 2 Corinthians 4:4–6

      The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

    • 1 John 2:27

      And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all…

  • Through

    Psalms 69:7

    For I have endured scorn for Your sake, and shame has covered my face.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 50:6

      I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.

  • Through

    Acts 2:13

    But others mocked them and said, “They are drunk on new wine!”

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 14:23

      So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who are uninstructed or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

  • Through

    2 Samuel 3:14

    Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 18:27

      David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to…

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Exposition On Psalm 118, 7.27; Bonaventure, Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. G. Blaikie, The Second Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).