Editing Obed-Edom (section)

===Obed-Edom in Samuel===
In 1 Samuel 4, the [[Philistines]], a neighboring people, capture the [[Ark of the Covenant]], also known as the "Ark of God", a sacred object of the [[Israelites]], during the [[Battle of Aphek]]. The Philistines then take the Ark into their own territory, leading God to attack the Philistines with illness (1 Samuel 5). Eventually, the Philistines realize that they cannot safely keep the Ark, and place it on a cart pulled by two cattle, who return it to the Israelites along with a peace-offering (1 Samuel 6). After this, the Israelites take it to the "house of Abinadab", where it remains for twenty years (1 Samuel 7:1-2).

Eventually, the Israelite king [[David]] decides to bring the ark from the "house of Abinadab" to his new stronghold in [[Jerusalem]] (2 Samuel 6:1-2). The ark is placed on an ox-cart driven by [[Uzzah]] and [[Ahio]], Abinadab's sons, in a festive atmosphere (2 Samuel 6:3-5). At one point, the ark rocks violently as the oxen pull it, and Uzzah sticks out his hand to steady the Ark, and so God strikes Uzzah dead (2 Samuel 6:7). David temporarily abandons his plan to move the ark to his city.
:''So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into the city of David; but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months; and the LORD blessed Obed-edom, and all his house''.<ref>2 Samuel 6:10-11, Jewish Publication Society Version of 1917</ref>
When David hears that the LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom, he decides to move the Ark to Jerusalem as originally planned.<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Samuel|6:12|NKJV}}</ref> Rev. F. Gardiner, in [[Charles Ellicott|Ellicott]]'s Commentary for Modern Readers, stresses that "this implies neither jealousy nor a wish to deprive his subject (Obed-edom) of a blessing. It had been his original purpose to carry the ark to Jerusalem, and he had only desisted in a fit of vexation and then of fear. He now saw that such fear was groundless, and went on to the completion of his unfinished action."<ref>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/2_samuel/6.htm Ellicott's Commentary for Modern Readers] on 2 Samuel 6, accessed 14 July 2017</ref>