2 Samuel 6:1 (KJV)

What does 2 Samuel 6:1 mean?

2 Samuel 6:1 describes David assembling a large group of selected men from Israel for an important undertaking. The number, thirty thousand, gives the reader a sense of the scale of the gathering before the account goes on to describe its purpose.

The narrator tells the story; the verse is not a speech by David. “Again” links the gathering to an earlier occasion, while the next verse shows that the company was setting out to bring the ark of God, a sacred chest, from Judah.

The Hebrew behind 2 Samuel 6:1

• “chosen” — בָּחוּר (baḥur): The word can describe someone selected from a larger group. Here it presents the men as a picked company rather than simply a crowd that happened to gather.
• “Again” — יָסַף (yasaf): This word can carry the sense of doing something once more. It gives the gathering a connection with an earlier occasion, though the verse leaves that earlier event unnamed.

Why 2 Samuel 6:1 matters

• The gathering draws people from across Israel. “All the chosen men of Israel” presents the company as representing more than David’s immediate household.
• The size of the company gives weight to the journey that follows. In verse 2, David and the people with him set out to bring the ark, so the large gathering introduces a public event rather than a private trip.