2 Samuel 6:13

6:13 Those who carried the ark of the Lord took six steps and then David ¹  sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf.

Bilangan 4:15

4:15 “When Aaron and his sons have finished ²  covering ³  the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is ready to journey, then ⁴  the Kohathites will come to carry them; ⁵  but they must not touch ⁶  any ⁷  holy thing, or they will die. ⁸  These are the responsibilities ⁹  of the Kohathites with the tent of meeting.

Bilangan 7:9

7:9 But to the Kohathites he gave none, because the service of the holy things, which they carried ¹⁰  on their shoulders, was their responsibility. ¹¹ 

Yosua 3:3

3:3 and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God ¹²  being carried by the Levitical priests, you must leave here ¹³  and walk ¹⁴  behind it.

Yosua 3:6

3:6 Joshua told the priests, “Pick up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they picked up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

Yosua 3:15-17

3:15 When the ones carrying the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the surface ¹⁵  of the water – (the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest time) ¹⁶  – 3:16 the water coming downstream toward them stopped flowing. ¹⁷  It piled up far upstream ¹⁸  at Adam (the city near Zarethan); there was no water at all flowing to the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea). ¹⁹  The people crossed the river opposite Jericho. ²⁰  3:17 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. All Israel crossed over on dry ground until the entire nation was on the other side. ²¹ 

Yosua 4:16-18

4:16 “Instruct the priests carrying the ark of the covenantal laws ²²  to come up from the Jordan.” 4:17 So Joshua instructed the priests, “Come up from the Jordan!” 4:18 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan, and as soon as they set foot on dry land, ²³  the water of the Jordan flowed again and returned to flood stage. ²⁴ 

Yosua 6:4

6:4 Have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns ²⁵  in front of the ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the horns.

Yosua 6:6

6:6 So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and instructed them, “Pick up the ark of the covenant, and seven priests must carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.”

Yosua 6:1

6:1 Now Jericho ²⁶  was shut tightly ²⁷  because of the Israelites. No one was allowed to leave or enter. ²⁸ 

1 Samuel 4:3-5

4:3 When the army ²⁹  came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by ³⁰  the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us ³¹  from the hand of our enemies.

4:4 So the army ³²  sent to Shiloh, and they took from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts who sits between the cherubim. Now the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 4:5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord arrived at the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly ³³  that the ground shook.

1 Samuel 4:11

4:11 The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.

1 Samuel 4:1

4:1 Samuel revealed the word of the Lord ³⁴  to all Israel.

The Ark of the Covenant is Lost to the Philistines

Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. ³⁵  They camped at Ebenezer, ³⁶  and the Philistines camped at Aphek.

1 Samuel 15:2

15:2 Here is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed ³⁷  Israel along the way when Israel ³⁸  came up from Egypt.

[6:13]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:15]  ² tn The verb form is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the future sequence, but in this verse forms a subordinate clause to the parallel sequential verb to follow.

[4:15]  ³ tn The Piel infinitive construct with the preposition serves as the direct object of the preceding verbal form, answering the question of what it was that they finished.

[4:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “after this.”

[4:15]  ⁵ tn The form is the Qal infinitive construct from נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift, carry”); here it indicates the purpose clause after the verb “come.”

[4:15]  ⁶ tn The imperfect tense may be given the nuance of negated instruction (“they are not to”) or negated obligation (“they must not”).

[4:15]  ⁷ tn Here the article expresses the generic idea of any holy thing (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §92).

[4:15]  ⁸ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, following the imperfect tense warning against touching the holy thing. The form shows the consequence of touching the holy thing, and so could be translated “or they will die” or “lest they die.” The first is stronger.

[4:15]  ⁹ tn The word מַשָּׂא (massa’) is normally rendered “burden,” especially in prophetic literature. It indicates the load that one must carry, whether an oracle, or here the physical responsibility.

[7:9]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is the imperfect tense, but it describes their customary activity – they had to carry, they used to carry.

[7:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “upon them,” meaning “their duty.”

[3:3]  ¹² sn The ark of the covenant refers to the wooden chest that symbolized God’s presence among his covenant people.

[3:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “set out from your place.”

[3:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “march.”

[3:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “dipped into the edge.”

[3:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest.”

[3:15]  sn The lengthy description of the priests’ arrival at the Jordan and the parenthetical reminder that the Jordan was at flood stage delay the climax of the story and add to its dramatic buildup.

[3:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the waters descending from above stood still.”

[3:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they stood in one pile very far away.”

[3:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the [waters] descending toward the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) were completely cut off.”

[3:16]  sn The Salt Sea is an ancient name for the Dead Sea.

[3:16]  ²⁰ map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[3:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “and all Israel was crossing over on dry ground until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”

[4:16]  ²² tn Traditionally, “the ark of the testimony,” another name for the ark of the covenant. The Hebrew term עֵדוּת (’edut, “testimony” or “witness”) here refers to the Mosaic covenant and the body of stipulations contained within it (see HALOT 2:791).

[4:18]  ²³ tn Heb “and the soles of the feet of the priests were brought up to the dry land.”

[4:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went as formerly over their banks.”

[4:18]  sn Verses 15-18 give a more detailed account of the priests’ crossing that had been briefly described in v. 11.

[6:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “rams’ horns, trumpets.”

[6:1]  ²⁶ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[6:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “was shutting and shut up.” HALOT 2:743 paraphrases, “blocking [any way of access] and blocked [against any who would leave].”

[6:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “there was no one going out and there was no one coming in.”

[4:3]  ²⁹ tn Or “people.”

[4:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “before.”

[4:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “and it will come in our midst and it will save.” After the cohortative (see “let’s take”), the prefixed verbal forms with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose or result. The translation understands the ark to be the subject of the third masculine singular verbs, although it is possible to understand the Lord as the subject. In the latter case, one should translate, “when he is with us, he will save us.”

[4:4]  ³² tn Or “people.”

[4:5]  ³³ tn Heb “shouted [with] a great shout.”

[4:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and the word of Samuel was.” The present translation understands Samuel to be the speaker of the divine word (“Samuel” is a subjective genitive in this case), although the statement could mean that he was the recipient of the divine word (“Samuel” is an objective genitive in this case) who in turn reported it to Israel.

[4:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and Israel went out to meet the Philistines for battle.”

[4:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the stone, the help.” The second noun is in apposition to the first one and apparently is the name by which the stone was known. Contrast the expression used in 5:1 and 7:12, where the first word lacks the definite article, unlike 4:1.

[15:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “what Amalek did to Israel, how he placed against him.”

[15:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.