What Does 1 Chronicles 15:25 Mean?
So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obededom with joy.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the house of Obed-edom with joy.THE KEY
The same root that means “bring up” also names the ascending offering, so the ark is carried in the language of ascent.
THE MEANING
This verse presents the covenant ark as the center of a shared movement: the beloved, elders, and commanders gather to bring it up, and joy marks the act. The sacred is carried into common life through a whole community moving together.
THE ROOT
לְהַעֲלוֹת
leha'alot
GROWS FROM
עלה
Rise, go up, ascend.
“bring up” in this verse is leha'alot. The verb means to cause something to rise: the group brings the ark up. The same root names the עֹלָה (ʿōlāh, ascending offering), placing the carrying of the ark in the language of ascent.
ALSO GROWS
ʿālāh: Ascend, go up.
עָלָה
This is the basic verbal sense carried by “bring up.”
ʿōlāh: Ascending offering, burnt offering.
עֹלָה
Its name carries the same image of rising, echoing the ark’s ascent.
maʿălāh: Ascent, step, or degree.
מַעֲלָה
It keeps ascent visible as a movement along a way, not only a change of location.
שִׂמְחָה
simchah
GROWS FROM
שמח
Rejoice, be glad.
The root holds both being glad and making glad. Here, joy is not only an inner feeling; it marks a shared act carried out by the whole company.
ALSO GROWS
sāmaḥ: Rejoice, be glad.
שָׂמַח
This is the root’s basic expression of joy.
simmēaḥ: Make glad, gladden.
שִׂמֵּחַ
The related form gives joy an outward, shared dimension.
דָּוִד
David
GROWS FROM
דוד
Beloved.
David’s name carries the nature of the beloved. The verse places the beloved among elders and commanders, moving together around the ark.
ALSO GROWS
dod: Beloved; also a kinsman or uncle, depending on context.
דּוֹד
This is the word-root behind the name’s sense of beloved.
dodim: Loves or expressions of affection.
דּוֹדִים
The same consonants carry the language of love and belovedness.
THE PATTERN
The approach of God’s covenant presence draws people into shared joy.
And it was told king David, saying, "The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that is his, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness.You make me perceive the path of life; before your face is the fullness of joy, and at your right hand are sweetnesses forever.And they, holding fast day by day with one passion in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, took their food with gladness and singleness of heart.THE THREAD
And it was told king David, saying, "The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that is his, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness.The phrase “brought up” uses the same Hebrew root for ascent as the verb in this verse. The parallel joins that ascent to gladness too, making joy part of the repeated shape of bringing the ark forward.
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