Bible Dictionary
Uzza, Or Uzzah
Uzza, or Uzzah, was the son of Abinadab who accompanied the ark when David brought it toward Jerusalem. He died after touching the ark when the oxen stumbled, highlighting the requirement that it be transported according to God’s appointed order.
Definition
Uzza, or Uzzah, was a son of Abinadab, in whose house the ark had rested at Kirjath-jearim. He accompanied the ark when David first attempted to bring it to Jerusalem.
Biblical Usage
When the oxen stumbled, Uzzah put out his hand to steady the ark and was immediately struck dead. The place was called Perez-uzzah. The account emphasizes that the ark should have been carried by the Levites according to the appointed order.
Historical Background
Uzzah and his brother Ahio accompanied the ark on a new cart. David then placed it in the house of Obed-edom after fearing to continue the journey.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(strength), one of the sons of Abinadab, in whose house at Kirjath-jearim the ark rested for twenty years. Uzzah probably was the second and Ahio the third. They both accompanied its removal when David first undertook to carry it to Jerusalem. (B.C. 1043.) Ahio apparently went before the new cart, (1 Chronicles 13:7) on which it was placed, and Uzzah walked by the side. “At the threshing-floor of Nachon” (2 Samuel 6:6) or Chidon (1 Chronicles 13:9) perhaps slipping over the smooth rock oxen stumbled. Uzzah caught the ark to prevent its falling. The profanation was punished by his instant death to the great grief of David, who named the place Perez-uzzah (the breaking-forth on Uzzah). But Uzzah’s fate was not merely the penalty of his own rashness. The improper mode of transporting the ark, which ought to have been borne on the shoulders of the Levites was the primary cause of his unholy deed; and David distinctly recognized it as a punishment on the people in general “because we sought him not after the due order.”