Abinadab

November 21, 2014

Carrying of the Ark of the Covenant from Kiriath-jearim (1 Chr 13:5-13:8)

“King David assembled all Israel from the Shihor of Egypt to the entrance of Lebo-Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. King David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah. They went there to bring up the ark of God, Yahweh who is enthroned on the cherubim, which is called by his name. They carried the ark of God on a new cart, from the house of Abinadab. Uzzah and Ahio were driving the cart. King David and all Israel were dancing before God with all their might. They had songs, lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.”

In 2 Samuel, chapter 6, King David got about 30,000 chosen Israelites, while here it is the proverbial “all” Israel, which is a euphemism for a lot of people. Shihor was the southern boundary of Israel, while Lebo-Hamath was the northern border in Syria. King David wanted to transport the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Throughout this story, the ark is not called the Ark of the Covenant but the ark of Yahweh, because it was special to Yahweh. This Ark of the Covenant was in Kiriath-jearim, as in 1 Samuel, chapter 6, where it had been captured by the Philistines. The Ark of the Covenant had been in the house of Abinadab, who is not the slain son of Saul, but a Levite who was entrusted with the ark for over 20 years. His sons Uzzah and Ahio would accompany the Ark of the Covenant on its trip. Here they are the drivers of the ark. Obviously, they put the Ark of the Covenant in a new cart. King David and everyone else were dancing, singing, and playing musical instruments.

November 17, 2014

King Saul and his three sons die at the battle of Gilboa (1 Chr 10:1-10:7)

“Now the Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel fled before the Philistines. They fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons. The Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. The battle pressed hard on Saul. The archers found him. He was wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor-bearer. ‘Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised may not come and make sport of me.’ But his armor-bearer was unwilling, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword, and fell upon it. When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died. Thus Saul died. He and his three sons and his entire house died together. When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled. The Philistines came and occupied them.”

This is almost exactly the same as in 1 Samuel, chapter 31. There were no details of this battle, like some of the others. The Philistines seem to have attacked the Israelites at Mount Gilboa that overlooked the Jezreel plain. This is one of the rare suicides when Saul kills himself after he found out that his 3 sons had died. He asked his armor-bear to kill him, but then finally did it himself because he did not want to die at the hands of an uncircumcised person. When the Israelites saw that Saul and his sons were dead, they fled also. Thus the Philistines came to occupy these towns and cities.

November 16, 2014

The family of Saul (1 Chr 9:39-9:39)

“Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul. Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.”

Now we see the family of Saul that is repeated almost word for word in the previous chapter. The 1st indication of the family of Saul was in 1 Samuel, chapter 14, where only 3 sons were listed, (1) Jonathan, Ishvi, and (2) Malchishua. There is no mention of Saul’s two daughters here. There is hardly any mention of Malchishua except in the listings of the sons of Saul. (3) Abinadab has been added to the list since he was the youngest son that was killed in 1 Samuel, chapter 31. Ishvi has become (4) Eshbaal here and is only mentioned in the 2 lists in this book. Saul’s uncle was also called Ner, while Kish was the father of Saul. Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. There is plenty of information about Jonathan, whose name appears over a 100 times, especially in 1 Samuel, chapters 14-20, as a good friend of David. Of course, Saul is a major figure since his name appears over 370 times.

November 14, 2014

The family of Saul (1 Chr 8:33-8:33)

“Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul. Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.”

Now we see the family of Saul that is repeated almost word for word in the next chapter. The 1st indication of the family of Saul was in 1 Samuel, chapter 14, where only 3 sons were listed, (1) Jonathan, (4) Ishvi, and (2) Malchishua. There was no mention of his two daughters here. There is hardly any mention of Malchishua except in the listings of the sons of Saul. (3) Abinadab has been added to the list since he was the youngest son that was killed in 1 Samuel, chapter 31. Ishvi has become (4) Eshbaal and is only mentioned in the 2 lists in this book. Saul’s uncle was also called Ner, while Kish was the father of Saul. Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. There is plenty of information about Jonathan, whose name appears over 100 times, especially in 1 Samuel, chapters 14-20, as a good friend of David. Of course, Saul is a major figure since his name appears over 370 times.

June 10, 2014

The ark at Kiriath-jearim (1 Sam 6:20-7:2)

“Then the people of Beth-shemesh said. ‘Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? To whom shall he go up so that we may be rid of him?’ So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim. ‘The Philistines have returned the ark of Yahweh. Come down and take it up to you.’ The people of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of Yahweh. They brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. They consecrated his son, Eleazar, to have charge of the ark of Yahweh. From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after Yahweh.”

The people of Beth-shemesh were a little afraid of the ark so that they wanted to ship it to Kiriath-jearim, which had been a city of the Gibeonites. The people at Kiriath-jearim decided to put the ark into the house of Abinadab. There will be other people with this same name. However, this Abinadab seems to be a Levite. Thus they consecrated his son Eleazar to be in charge of the ark. The Ark of the Covenant stayed there for 20 years in a private house, which seems like a strange place to keep this holy of holies.