1. David made. The record resumes the thread of the narrative dropped at 13:14, and continues the account of the removal of the ark from the house of Obed-edom to Jerusalem. The narrative of the transfer of the ark ( 15 and 16) is more detailed than is the account in Samuel (2 Sam. 6:12-20).
Houses. This probably refers to a general building up of the city of Jerusalem, with special reference to buildings required for the administration of the country from Jerusalem as the capital. The little Jebusite town captured by David would be inadequate for the purposes it was henceforth to serve, and David’s first few years in the city were marked by extensive building activity.
City of David. The “castle of Zion” ( 11:5, 7), in the southeastern section of the later city of Jerusalem.
A place for the ark. Compare 2 Sam. 6:17.
Tent. ’ohel, translated “tabernacle” (2 Sam. 6:17). There was another tabernacle at Gibeon, where the altar was and where sacrifices were offered (1 Kings 3:4; 1 Chron. 16:39, 40). The tabernacle at Gibeon was the famous tabernacle that Moses had made in the wilderness (2 Chron. 1:3).