2 Samuel 6:5
ESV
And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
NIV
David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.
NASB
Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of juniper wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.
CSB
David and the whole house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all kinds of fir wood instruments, lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.
NLT
David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments — lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.
KJV
And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.
NKJV
Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.
What does 2 Samuel 6:5 mean?
During Saul's reign, the ark of the covenant travelled wherever Saul wanted it (1 Samuel 14:18). After capturing Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:6–10), David resolves to give the ark a permanent home there. He consults the people, his military leaders, and God (1 Chronicles 13:1–4). His decision is to bring the ark from Baale-judah to a special tabernacle he's built in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:1–4). For David and the people, this journey becomes an opportunity to worship and praise God with all their strength.David clearly understands that God's presence rests on the ark of the covenant in a unique way. Being near the Lord stirs him to worship through music. This response reflects both God's desire for His people and David's own nature as a musician and songwriter.
This worship is not the calm, somber music we sometimes associate with church. David and the procession rejoice loudly before the Lord, playing instruments brought specifically for the occasion. They use lyres and harps—handheld stringed instruments—along with tambourines, cymbals, and castanets. This verse contains the only biblical use of the word translated "castanet" or "sistrum," likely a type of shaker or rattle. As they march toward Jerusalem, they worship with all their might, confident that their God is present with them and supports them in this moment.
David may have written Psalm 68 for this celebration:
our procession, God, has come into view,
the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.
In front are the singers, after them the musicians;
with them are the young women playing the timbrels.
Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings will bring you gifts.
--Psalm 68:24–25, 29, ESV
