What Does 1 Chronicles 15:2 Mean in the King James?
Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.
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
The ark’s weight is not incidental to the calling: those chosen to carry it are chosen to serve.
THE MEANING
The sacred is borne through responsibility entrusted to a particular calling, not claimed by whoever can take it. Carrying and serving belong together, and the work continues through the age. Even the beloved king recognizes that the LORD chooses the bearers.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that every sacred burden must be carried by whoever can manage it; this carrying belongs to those the LORD chooses.
THE ROOT
לָשֵׂאת
lāśēʾt
GROWS FROM
נָשָׂא
to lift, carry, or bear
“carry” in this verse is lāśēʾt. The same root can describe carrying a burden and bearing or lifting away crookedness. The ark is not merely moved from place to place; its bearers take an entrusted weight into their care.
ALSO GROWS
massa: burden, load; also an oracle
מַשָּׂא
The ark is a literal sacred burden, making the Levites’ charge a form of bearing what has been entrusted to them.
nasa avon: bear or lift away crookedness; in an idiom, forgive
נָשָׂא עָוֹן
The same verb can describe bearing what weighs on a person and lifting guilt away, revealing how much meaning the English word “carry” can hold.
בָּחַר
bāḥar
GROWS FROM
בחר
to choose, select, or distinguish
“chosen” in this verse is bāḥar. Here choosing defines who carries the ark and serves the LORD; it is selection for a particular responsibility. The verse locates the authority to assign that work with the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
bachir: chosen one
בָּחִיר
This form names the person as one selected, illuminating the Levites’ specific place in the work.
mivchar: choice, choicest selection
מִבְחָר
The branch keeps the focus on deliberate selection, rather than a role claimed by whoever wishes to take it.
דָּוִד
Dāwīd
GROWS FROM
דוד
beloved or dear one
David’s name is linked with דּוֹד (dod), “beloved.” The beloved king names the order, but the verse attributes the choice of bearers to the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
dod: beloved one; dear one
דּוֹד
This is the name-nature carried by David’s name as he speaks about those assigned to bear the ark.
dodim: loves, affections, caresses
דּוֹדִים
This related form carries the sense of belovedness, adding the name’s relational dimension.
THE PATTERN
Sacred work is entrusted to distinct bearers whose service sustains the whole.
And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.THE THREAD
But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was that they should bear upon their shoulders.The word “bear” comes from the same root, נָשָׂא (nasa), as “carry” in the current verse. This makes the assignment concrete: bearing the sanctuary’s weight is itself part of the Kohathites’ service.
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