1 Chronicles 13: The ark leaves Kiriath Jearim, and Uzza dies
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What happens?
David talks with the leaders of Israel and the whole assembly agrees to bring God's ark back from Kiriath Jearim. They set it on a new cart and bring it out of Abinadab's house with music, but at the threshing floor Uzza puts out his hand to hold the ark when the oxen stumble, and Yahweh's anger burns against him and he dies there. David is displeased and afraid, names the place Perez Uzza, and turns the ark aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite, where it stays three months and Yahweh blesses his house.
Who is speaking?
The narrator tells the story. No verse is in gold: God speaks no words of his own in this chapter. David speaks to the assembly in verses 2 and 3, and the assembly agrees in verse 4 (reported, not quoted). In verse 12 David asks how he can bring the ark home to him; those are his own words. Verses 10 and 14, that Yahweh's anger burned against Uzza and that Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom's house, are the narrator's words. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1David consulted with the captains of thousands and of hundreds, even with every leader.
In plain English: David talked it over with the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader.
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2David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is of Yahweh our God, let’s send word everywhere to our brothers who are left in all the land of Israel, with whom the priests and Levites are in their cities that have pasture lands, that they may gather themselves to us.
In plain English: David said to the whole assembly of Israel, "If it seems good to you, and if it is of Yahweh our God, let us send word everywhere to our brothers who are left in all the land of Israel, and to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, so that they may gather to us.
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3Also, let’s bring the ark of our God back to us again, for we didn’t seek it in the days of Saul.”
In plain English: Let us also bring the ark of our God back to us (literally: bring it around to us), for we did not seek it in the days of Saul."
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4All the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
In plain English: The whole assembly said they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
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5So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor River of Egypt even to the entrance of Hamath, to bring God’s ark from Kiriath Jearim.
In plain English: So David called together all Israel, from the Shihor of Egypt to the entrance of Hamath (or: to Lebo Hamath), to bring God's ark from Kiriath Jearim.
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6David went up with all Israel to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath Jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from there God Yahweh’s ark that sits above the cherubim, that is called by the Name.
In plain English: David went up with all Israel to Baalah, that is Kiriath Jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God Yahweh, who sits above the cherubim (or: the ark that sits above the cherubim), the ark that is called by the Name (or: where a name is called; see the note).
The Hebrew words: The verse ends with "the ark ... which is called by the Name". Word for word the Hebrew says "where a name is called". The text does not say whose name it is, though the same verse has just named "God Yahweh". It is also open whether "who sits above the cherubim" goes with God Yahweh or with the ark.
What changes: Read as "called by the Name", the ark is the one that bears Yahweh's name. Read as "where a name is called", it is the place where his name is called on. The text does not say which.
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7They carried God’s ark on a new cart, and brought it out of Abinadab’s house; and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart.
In plain English: They set God's ark on a new cart and brought it out of Abinadab's house, and Uzza and Ahio drove (or: led) the cart.
Good to know: The text says the ark was set on "a new cart". says the same and names Uzzah and Ahio as "the sons of Abinadab"; this verse does not call them his sons. says of the sons of Kohath that "the service of the sanctuary belonged to them; they carried it on their shoulders", and David says in who may carry the ark. This verse does not say why a cart was used.
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8David and all Israel played before God with all their might, even with songs, with harps, with stringed instruments, with tambourines, with cymbals, and with trumpets.
In plain English: David and all Israel played (or: celebrated) before God with all their might, with songs, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.
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9When they came to Chidon’s threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled.
In plain English: When they came to Chidon's threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled.
Good to know: "Chidon" is Kidon, which the dictionary gives as "a place in Palestine". calls the same threshing floor "the threshing floor of Nacon". The text does not explain the two names.
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10Yahweh’s anger burned against Uzza, and he struck him because he put his hand on the ark; and he died there before God.
In plain English: Yahweh's anger burned against Uzza, and he struck him because he put his hand on the ark, and he died there before God.
Good to know: The text says it plainly: Yahweh's anger burned against Uzza, and he struck him "because he put his hand on the ark", and he died there before God. says he was struck "for his error". This verse gives no other reason. David's own words about it are in .
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11David was displeased, because Yahweh had broken out against Uzza. He called that place Perez Uzza, to this day.
In plain English: David was displeased (literally: it burned to David), because Yahweh had broken out against Uzza (literally: broken out with a breaking out). So he called that place Perez Uzza, to this day.
The Hebrew word: The text gives its own reason for the name: Yahweh "had broken out against Uzza". The words "broken out" and the name "Perez" come from the same Hebrew root, perets, which the dictionary gives as "a break". So Perez Uzza sounds like "a breaking out against Uzza". gives the same name and the same reason.
Good to know: "David was displeased" is word for word "it burned to David", the same word as "Yahweh's anger burned" in verse 10. The text does not say more about what David felt than this and the fear of verse 12.
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12David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I bring God’s ark home to me?”
In plain English: David was afraid of God that day, and he said, "How can I bring God's ark home to me?"
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13So David didn’t move the ark with him into David’s city, but carried it aside into Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house.
In plain English: So David did not move the ark to himself, into David's city, but turned it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.
The Hebrew word: "Gittite" is Gittiy, which the dictionary gives as "a Gittite or inhabitant of Gath". The name Obed-Edom also appears among the doorkeepers and singers in , , , and , and the ark is later brought up "out of the house of Obed-Edom" (). The text does not say whether the man here is the same.
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14God’s ark remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months; and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom’s house and all that he had.
In plain English: God's ark stayed with the household of Obed-Edom, in his house, for three months, and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom's household and all that belonged to him.
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