Uzzah

For the pre-Islamic goddess, see Al-Uzza.

Not to be confused with Uzziah.

According to the Tanakh, עזה, Uzzah or Uzza, meaning "Her Strength", was an Israelite whose death is associated with touching the Ark of the Covenant. The account of Uzzah appears in two places in scripture: 2 Samuel 6:3-8^[1] and 1 Chronicles 13:7-11.^[2]

The Chastisement of Uzzah by James Tissot

Baroque painting of the death of Uzzah by Giulio Quaglio the Younger in a medallion in Ljubljana Cathedral (1704)

Uzzah was the son of Abinadab, in whose house the men of Kirjath-Jearim placed the Ark when it was brought back from the land of the Philistines.^[3] With his brother Ahio, he drove the cart on which the ark was placed when David sought to bring it up to Jerusalem. When the oxen stumbled, making the ark tilt,^[4] Uzzah steadied the ark with his hand, in direct violation of the divine law,^[5] and he was immediately killed by the Lord for his error. David, displeased because Yahweh had killed Uzzah,^[6] called the place where this occurred "Perez-uzzah", which means "to burst out against Uzzah".^[7]

David was afraid to bring the ark any further, and placed it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite^[8] for three months. The Lord then blessed Obed-edom and David went and brought up the ark of God into the city of David.^[6]

Rabbanic Literature

The Rabbis made various attempts to explain and palliate the death of Uzza. By an "argumentum a majore ad minus" proof is offered that if the Ark could bear those who bore it, so much more could it bear itself. By not perceiving this, and thinking that the Ark might be prevented from falling by stopping the oxen, Uzza had brough death on himself. R Johanan thought that "' al ha-shal" implied that he died as a result of his act, while R. Eleazar drew from "shal" the inference stated that he died "by" the Ark; and as the latter belonged to eternity, Uzza in like manner must be immortal (Sotah 35a; Yalk., I Sam. 142, ed. Wilna, 1898.)^[9]

Other

• Another biblical character, Uzzah, son of Shimei, was a Merarite.^[10]
• Al-ʻUzzā was one of the three chief goddesses of Arabian religion in pre-Islamic times and was worshiped by the pre-Islamic Arabs along with al-Lāt and Manāt.