“Uriyah answered David, ‘The ark, Isra’el and Y’hudah stay in tents; and my lord Yo’av and the servants of my lord are camping in the countryside. So should I go into my house to eat and drink and go to bed with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!'”-2 Samuel 11:11
Alrighty, it’s time again to call a spade a spade.
You see that part in verse 11 where it says…“The ark, Israel and Judah stay in tents.”
Well, that translation is just flat-out wrong!
Why?
Because the Hebrew word for “tent” is OHEL.
And that word is not there homies.
Wanna know what word is there?
It’s the word SUKKAH.
That’s right.
It’s the same word for the tent we’re supposed to build during the Biblical festival of Sukkot.
However, we gotta ask ourselves…
Do you think that makes sense in this context?
Did they build a Sukkah for the Ark and the leaders of the 12 tribes?
Look man, I can’t say for sure.
But honestly…
It’s highly, highly unlikely.
A Sukkah has a mostly open roof!
So it ain’t great for sheltering people let alone serving as protection for something as important as the Ark of the Covenant!
Ya feel me?
Well, there’s a better solution.
And as usual, I gotta give the great Tom Bradford of Torah Class credit for his research on this.
He says the actual word being used is SUKKOT, which is the plural form of Sukkah.
But in the Bible, Sukkot is also the name of a real city on the other side of the Jordan River, about 20 miles from where the battle at Rabbah was happening.
So that makes a lot more sense.
This isn’t talking about tents at all.
It’s a place name.
The soldiers and the Ark were residing in the city of Sukkot, across the Jordan River!
So here’s the takeaway.
Sometimes, a small translation slip can hide a bigger truth.
This wasn’t just about tents…
It was about where the Ark and Israel’s leaders really were.
They were on the battlefield fighting for the welfare of Israel…
While their King was kicking back home frolicking with one of their soldier’s wives.
I know it seems like I’m belaboring this point.
But when you truly understand the bigger picture here…
It’s hard to deny the moral lesson that shines through like a beacon of light piercing through a thick fog.
See ya all next time.
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