What Does 2 Samuel 6:14 Mean?
Two renderings of the same sentence, the verses it belongs to, and what the passage is doing — so you can decide what it means rather than take someone's word for it.
"And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod." 2 Samuel 6:14, King James Version
The same verse in modern English
"And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the LORD," 2 Samuel 6:14, Berean Standard Bible
What it sits inside
A verse quoted on its own is the commonest way one gets misread. Here it is with what comes immediately before and after, in the King James Version.
2 Samuel 6:12 And it was told king David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed–edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed–edom into the city of David with gladness.
2 Samuel 6:13 And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.
2 Samuel 6:14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
2 Samuel 6:15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
2 Samuel 6:16 And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
A conversation built on it
David didn't care what he looked like. He didn't care who was watching. He didn't care that a king 'shouldn't' dance in the street. When joy is real, it breaks every container you try to put it in.
Questions people ask
What does 2 Samuel 6:14 mean?
In modern English (Berean Standard Bible) it reads: “And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the LORD,” The King James rendering most people know is: “And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.”
What is the context of 2 Samuel 6:14?
The verses immediately around it read: (2 Samuel 6:12) And it was told king David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed–edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed–edom into the city of David with gladness. (2 Samuel 6:13) And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. (2 Samuel 6:14) And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. (2 Samuel 6:15) So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. (2 Samuel 6:16) And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
How is 2 Samuel 6:14 used in a conversation about this?
David didn't care what he looked like. He didn't care who was watching. He didn't care that a king 'shouldn't' dance in the street. When joy is real, it breaks every container you try to put it in.
Reading it is one thing. Saying what it stirs up is another.
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