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2 Samuel 6 · a question people ask

How could the same ark bring death to Uzzah and blessing to Obed-Edom?

In the text

The chapter puts the two close together and says only this. At Nacon, "The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error" (6:7). At Obed-Edom's house, "the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his house" (6:11), and David is told it was "because of God’s ark" (6:12). In both places the chapter names God, not the ark, as the one who acts. It gives a reason for Uzzah's death, "for his error" (6:7), and it tells nothing of what Obed-Edom did. It doesn't explain the difference further, and this answer doesn't either. When the ark was among the Philistines, 1 Samuel also named whose hand was at work: "the LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod" (1 Samuel 5:6).

The verses

“The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by God’s ark.”
2 Samuel 6:7 · World English Bible
“The LORD’s ark remained in Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house three months; and the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his house. King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that belongs to him, because of God’s ark.” So David went and brought up God’s ark from the house of Obed-Edom into David’s city with joy.”
2 Samuel 6:11-12 · World English Bible
“But the LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders.”
1 Samuel 5:6 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Samuel 6

2 Samuel 6: With all his might

The chapter's scenes with Michal use the three Hebrew words of 1 Samuel 2:30, "those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me will be cursed": Michal despised David (6:16), spoke of how "glorious" he was (6:20), and he answered that he would be "yet more undignified" and that the maids would "honor" him (6:22).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions