WORD STUDY – PLAYING
II Samuel 6:14, 21: ”And David danced before the Lord with all his might.”
(21) And David said unto Michal, [It was] before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I celebrate before the LORD.
I’ve watched a number of these phony movies about King David and I am always disappointed when they show the scene of David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant. It is usually portrayed as a well-choreographed danced, set to some fine music. With the words I find in the Hebrew I doubt that this was a well rehearsed exercise. So what was this dance. Was it jumping around in frenzy? Was this a choreographed dance or was it spontaneous? Poor David has sure taken a lot of heat over this from many Christians. However, we tend to miss something very important in this verse, which would also serve as a very important lesson to us.
David danced before the Lord. The Hebrew word used for before is lipeni. This is often used as a preposition but it can also be used as an adjective. As a preposition it would simply mean that David danced before God. But as an adjective it would mean that David danced in God’s presence. Actually it would be more correct to say that David danced with God.
You have the Bible talking about Abraham walking before God, Enoch walking with God but here we have David dancing with God. The Talmud teaches that it is like a father teaching his infant son to walk. He will set the child up, take a few steps away from the child and the child will totter toward his father’s outstretched arms. Reaching his father he is rewarded with a big hug. The child is walking before his father. Eventually, the child gains enough confidence to walk with out the enticement of his father’s hugs. He will then take his father’s hand and walk with him enjoying his father’s constant presences as they go to the market, or take walks together and experience new adventures together.
Thus, the sages would teach that David danced with God, not before God. He wasn’t dancing to get his Father’s hugs, that he already had. He was dancing with his Heavenly Father in climbing to a new height or a new level in his relationship with Him.
Note the Hebrew word for dance that is used here, it is karar. The word for dance in Hebrew is mawkhole, but that is not used here. In fact karar is used only two times in the Hebrew Bible, both in this passage. In extra Biblical sources karar does not mean to dance at all, it means to spin around like top. Spinning in a circle was a form of worship mostly practiced by children in ancient times.
Our town is setting up a carnival this week. I have no idea what the event is, but anyways, they have a number of rides in this carnival and practically all of these rides are some creative way to spin you in a circle. Why? There is something very pleasurable about spinning around in a circle. Today in church during worship some woman let her seat and went to the aisle which she began spinning in a circle. Indeed, even today in the Middle East the Meveleviye of the Surfi order of Islam perform a sema by spinning around in a circle. They are known as Whirling Dervishes (a Dervish is an initiate of the Suri Path). They believe that spinning around in a circle is symbolic of throwing off your ego.
That is just a little history on spinning. Actually David did this spin in becal ‘oz. In full power. The pronoun his is not there in the Hebrew. In fact karar in its Semitic root means one who is possessed. My guess is that this full might becal ‘oz was that of the Holy Spirit.
So what does this teach us? In verse 20, we learn his wife Michal was upset with David because he danced naked. The word naked or uncovered however is the word nigelah in Hebrew. This word is rarely used for naked. Its primary focus is to open up or reveal a secret. In its Semitic root is has the idea of a return to a beginning. David was supposed to be the spiritual head honcho of Israel, a king, a pastor? a Christian leader? and there he was spinning around like a little child, returning to his beginning as a child. How could people have confidence in a spiritual leader who acts like a child? What was David’s reply? In verse 21 he tells his wife that it was with God…therefore I sichaketi with God. Most our modern translations render sicharkati as celebrate. Again that is a rare usage of the word. The primary use of the word is the English word used by the KJV, to play.
Of course most translators abhor the idea of playing with God so they stretch out the meaning to be celebrate. I say let’s stay with the word play. Do you and God ever play together, do you ever dance together, do you spin in circles together? I wonder what Jesus really meant when he gathered children around Him and said that unless you become like little children you can not enter the kingdom of God. I think it meant more than just the faith of a child, I think it also means that God likes to play with his children like any parent would. I think God asked that woman in church today if she wanted to play and so she left her seat and began to spin in the aisle.
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