2 Samuel 6:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, "How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants ' female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!"

NIV: When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"

NASB: But when David returned to bless his own household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, 'How the king of Israel dignified himself today! For he exposed himself today in the sight of his servants’ female slaves, as one of the rabble shamelessly exposes himself!'

CSB: When David returned home to bless his household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. "How the king of Israel honored himself today!" she said. "He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself."

NLT: When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, 'How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!'

KJV: Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!

NKJV: Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”

From David's perspective, this has been one of the great days in the history of his kingdom. He has brought the ark of God into Jerusalem, the political capital. The ark's presence means that God is with David and His people, offering blessing and protection. David concludes the boisterous ceremony by blessing the people in God's name. He distributes a meal to all who have come (2 Samuel 6:18–20).

David returns to his own home to bless his household. Instead of a warm welcome, Michael confronts him. Michal is his first wife and the daughter of King Saul. She'd watched David dancing vigorously, wearing only a linen priest's garment, in full view of the servant girls (2 Samuel 6:14). This disgusted her (2 Samuel 6:16). Now that he's home, she's eager to tell him why.

Michal's remark starts with sarcasm. A paraphrase of her comment might be, "It was so honorable for the king of Israel to reveal his body to all the women in public, including common servant girls! That's what a low-class fool does: exposing himself without being embarrassed!"

Despite Michal's attack, scholars generally don't think David was improperly dressed. The text doesn't describe David's attire other than noting a short, sleeveless, robe-like garment (2 Samuel 6:14). What else he was or wasn't wearing isn't recorded. If David wore nothing but that to dance, Michal might have considered it lewd. More likely, she was complaining that David looked and acted like a common man. That he set aside the royal robes and royal attitude which marked him as something "more" than one of the masses.

Whatever the case, the daughter of a former king is angrily embarrassed by David's lack of regal dignity and respectability.

Second Samuel 6:20–23 records a spat between David and his first wife, Michal. Michal was King Saul's daughter. She fell in love with David and risked her life to protect him (1 Samuel 18:20–29; 19:11–17). When David left, Saul gave her to another; when David became king, he took her back (1 Samuel 25:44; 2 Samuel 3:12–16). She sees David's exuberant celebration of the ark's arrival in Jerusalem as shameless and unbecoming. David defends his joy and rejects her judgment. Michal never bears a child; there will be no son descended from both David and Saul to vie for the throne.

In 2 Samuel 6, David decides to bring the ark of God (Exodus 25:10–22) to Jerusalem. This includes an enormous crowd and a great procession. Unfortunately, he doesn't follow the Mosaic law, and a man dies for inappropriately touching the ark. David leaves the ark at a house for three months before trying again. Moving the symbol of God's presence into the nation's capital delights everyone except David's first wife, Michal. She is disgusted by David's undignified enthusiasm. The same events are noted in 1 Chronicles 13 and 15.

David has established himself as king over all Israel (2 Samuel 5). In 2 Samuel 6, the ark of the covenant reaches Jerusalem. Since its first home in Shiloh, it's been captured by Philistines, sent back home, housed in Kiriath-jearim, carried with the army, and returned to Kiriath-jearim (Joshua 18:1; 1 Samuel 4, 6; 7:1–2; 14:18). David first puts the ark on a cart, but the cart wobbles and God strikes dead the man who tries to save it. Eventually, Levites carry the ark to Jerusalem properly. Soon, David decides that God deserves a proper temple and asks if he can build one (2 Samuel 7).