What Does 1 Chronicles 13:13 Mean in the King James?
So David brought not the ark home to himself to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
David does not bring the ark into his own center; he turns it toward another household, separating sacred presence from personal possession.
THE MEANING
David does not bring the ark to his own home or city; he redirects it to Obed-edom’s house. The verse keeps nearness distinct from possession: what is sacred can dwell in a household beyond the center named for oneself.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the assumption that what matters must be brought into one’s own center in order to be near.
THE ROOT
וַיַּטֵּהוּ
vayattehu
GROWS FROM
נטה
natah
To stretch out, bend, incline, or turn.
The verb carries the sense of turning the ark toward a different destination. English “carried it aside” retains the movement, while the root also lets the turn itself come into view.
ALSO GROWS
natah: To stretch out, incline, or turn aside.
נָטָה
This is the verb’s root form: the ark’s destination is redirected.
matteh: A staff or tribe.
מַטֶּה
A staff is an extended branch; a tribe is a branch of a people, both echoing the root’s image of extension.
netiyyah: An inclination or turning.
נְטִיָּה
This noun makes the change of direction explicit: the ark is inclined toward another house.
הֵסִיר
hesir
GROWS FROM
סור
sur
To turn aside, depart, or remove.
“brought” in this verse is hesir. The verse pairs this root of turning away with נָטָה (natah), the turn toward another destination. The movement is both away from David’s own center and toward Obed-edom’s house.
ALSO GROWS
sur: To turn aside or depart.
סוּר
The root’s basic motion is a change of direction, matching the ark’s movement away from David’s city.
sar: Turned aside or departed.
סָר
This form keeps the action of turning visible beneath the verse’s account of the ark being moved.
עֹבֵד אֱדוֹם
Obed-edom
GROWS FROM
עבד
avad
To serve.
The name Obed-edom carries עֹבֵד (obed), “one who serves,” from the root עבד. The ark is directed not to David’s own house but to the house bearing a name shaped by service.
ALSO GROWS
obed: One who serves; a servant.
עֹבֵד
This is the form heard in Obed-edom’s name, tying the receiving household to service.
eved: A servant.
עֶבֶד
The related noun makes the servant-language within the name plain.
avodah: Service or work.
עֲבֹדָה
The same root names service as an activity, extending the name’s connection beyond a label.
THE PATTERN
Sacred presence is received in households beyond the center that first seeks to gather it.
And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obed-edom, and all his household.And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchæus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.THE THREAD
And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.“Turn aside” in Exodus and “brought” in this verse both draw on סור (sur), the root of turning aside or departing. In each, a turn redirects where attention or presence goes.
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