Baale of Judah

Baale of Judah (meaning lords of Judah) is the name used in 2 Samuel 6:2 for the city from which David brought up the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 13:6 uses the full form Kirjath-jearim (city of forests), establishing that Baale of Judah is another name for the same site — also called Baalah (Joshua 15:9–10) and Kirjath-baal (Joshua 18:14). The ark had rested there in the house of Abinadab on the hill for twenty years after its return from the Philistines.

The use of the name Baale of Judah in the Samuel narrative, alongside the ark's transfer to Jerusalem, reflects the complex nomenclature of the site. David's expedition to bring the ark from this city was marked by the death of Uzzah and a three-month delay at the house of Obed-edom, before the ark was successfully installed in Jerusalem with great celebration.