The Ark Comes to Jerusalem: 6:1–5 The story begins at Baalah of Judah, where the ark had been kept since its recovery from the Philistines twenty years before. To take a party of thirty thousand men for a ceremonial duty sounds excessive, and the accuracy of the text has been seriously questioned. It is possible that the “thousand” refers to a military grouping (cf. additional note on 1 Sam. 4:10). However, Baalah, although Judean territory, was still within the range of Philistine influence. Thus, by bringing the ark to Jerusalem, David made a political statement as well as a theological one. The huge army could be seen as flaunting David’s growing power over the diminishing influence of the Philistines. Or, particularly if this incident took place in the early years of his reign, it coul…