2 Samuel 6:5
◄  2 Samuel 6:5  ►
New International Version (©2011)
David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.

New Living Translation (©2007)
David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments--lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

English Standard Version (©2001)
And David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the LORD, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of fir wood instruments, lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

International Standard Version (©2012)
David and the entire assembly of Israel were dancing in the presence of the LORD with all of their strength, accompanied by all sorts of wood instruments, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

NET Bible (©2006)
while David and all Israel were energetically celebrating before the LORD, singing and playing various stringed instruments, tambourines, rattles, and cymbals.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
David and the entire nation of Israel were celebrating in the LORD's presence with all kinds of instruments made from cypress wood and with lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on tambourines, and on castanets, and on cymbals.

American King James Version
And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on tambourines, and on cornets, and on cymbals.

American Standard Version
And David and all the house of Israel played before Jehovah with all manner of instruments made of fir-wood, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with castanets, and with cymbals.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But David and all Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of wood, on harps and lutes and timbrels and cornets and cymbals.

Darby Bible Translation
And David and all the house of Israel played before Jehovah on all manner of instruments made of cypress wood, with harps, and with lutes, and with tambours, and with sistra, and with cymbals.

English Revised Version
And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD with all manner of instruments made of fir wood, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with castanets, and with cymbals.

Webster's Bible Translation
And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.

World English Bible
David and all the house of Israel played before Yahweh with all kinds of [instruments made of] fir wood, and with harps, and with stringed instruments, and with tambourines, and with castanets, and with cymbals.

Young's Literal Translation
and David and all the house of Israel are playing before Jehovah, with all kinds of instruments of fir-wood, even with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cornets, and with cymbals.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:1-5 God is present with the souls of his people, when they want the outward tokens of his presence; but now David is settled in the throne, the honour of the ark begins to revive. Let us learn hence, to think and to speak highly of God; and to think and speak honourably of holy ordinances, which are to us as the ark was unto Israel, the tokens of God's presence, Mt 28:20. Christ is our Ark; in and by him God manifests his favour, and accepts our prayers and praises. The ark especially typified Christ and his mediation, in which the name of Jehovah and all his glories are displayed. The priests should have carried the ark upon their shoulders. Philistines may carry the ark in a cart without suffering for it; but if Israelites do so, it is at their peril, because this was not what God appointed.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - Played. The word does not mean "played on a musical instrument," but "danced and rejoiced." On all manner... of fir wood. The Hebrew literally is, with all cypress woods. In 1 Chronicles 13:8 we find "with all their might, even with songs," etc. Gesenius, in his 'History of the Hebrew Language,' describes this as a mere guess at a misunderstood text, and Maurer ridicules it as a stupid emendation. More sensibly Thenius regards it as the right reading, and the words here as a corruption of it, caused by some scribe misspelling the words, which are nearly identical. In our version the ambiguous meaning of the word "played" makes the passage less startling. For "they danced with all cypress woods" is unintelligible. The musical instruments mentioned here are the harp, Hebrew chinnor, a guitar; the psaltery, Hebrew nebel, a kind of harp of a triangular shape, with the point downwards; the timbrel, Hebrew tof, a tambourine or small drum; the cornet, Hebrew mena'na', a bar on which were a number of loose metal rings, which were shaken in time to the music, but others think that "castanets" are meant, which are pieces of wood beaten in time. The Revised Version adopts this rendering. And finally cymbals. For "cornets" we find in the parallel place "trumpets," whence the translators of the Authorized Version took their rendering; but the Hebrew word means "things to shake."

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord,.... That is, before the ark, which was a symbol of the presence of the Lord:

on all manner of instruments made of fir wood: which is a general expression, the particulars follow; though instruments of different sorts are mentioned, and even some of metal, as cymbals, which were vessels of brass, they struck one against another, and gave a very acute sound, being hollow (g):

even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals; harps, psalteries, and timbrels, are frequently met with; cornets, according to Kimchi, are such sort of instruments, that in playing upon them it required an agitation of the whole body. Now it was that David penned the sixty eighth psalm, which begins, "let God arise", &c. Psalm 68:1, words used by Moses when the ark set forward, Numbers 10:35.

(g) Suidas in voce

2 Samuel 6:5 Parallel Commentaries

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Uzzah and the Ark
5And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on tambourines, and on cornets, and on cymbals. 6And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. 7And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. …

1 Samuel 18:6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres.
1 Samuel 18:7 As they danced, they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands."
1 Chronicles 13:8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets.
1 Chronicles 15:28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouts, with the sounding of rams' horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps.
Psalm 150:5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.