When they came to Chidon’s threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
Parallel Translations
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When they came to Chidon’s threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
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And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
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And when they came unto the threshing-floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
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Cross-references (1)
Passages linked to 1 Chronicles 13:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Samuel 6:6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached for God’s ark, and took hold of it; for the cattle stumbled.
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Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Called also Nachon, 2 Sam. 6:6.
Called also Nachon, 2 Sam. 6:6.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ch 13:9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor…
1Ch 13:9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
Ver. 9. Uzza put forth his hand.] God must be duly worshipped, lest instead of a blessing we meet with a blow; lest instead of making up the breach we become makers of breaches, as here.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain This breach upon Uzza, which caused all the joy…
This breach upon Uzza, which caused all the joy to cease, we had an account of, Sa2 6:6, etc. 1. Let the sin of Uzza warn us all to take heed of presumption, rashness, and irreverence, in dealing about holy things (Ch1 13:9), and not to think that a good intention will justify a bad action. In our communion with God we must carefully watch over our own hearts, lest familiarity breed contempt, and we think God is in any way beholden to us. 2. Let the punishment of Uzza convince us that the God with whom we have to do is a jealous God. His death, like that of Nadab and Abihu, proclaims aloud that God will be sanctified in those that come nigh unto him (Lev 10:3), and that the nearer any are to him the more displeased he is with their presumptions. Let us not dare to trifle with God in our approaches to him; and yet let us, through Christ, come boldly to the throne of grace; for we are under the dispensation of liberty and grace, not of bondage and terror. 3. Let the damp this gave to the joy of Israel be a memorandum to us always to rejoice with trembling, and to serve the Lord with fear, even when we serve him with gladness. 4. Let David's displeasure upon this occasion caution us to take heed to our spirits when we are under divine rebukes, lest, instead of submitting to God, we quarrel with him. If God be angry with us, shall we dare to be angry with him? 5. Let the stop thus put to the solemnity caution us not to be driven off from our duty by those providences which are only intended to drive us from our sins. David should have gone on with the work notwithstanding the breach made upon Uzza; so might the breach have been made up. 6. Let the blessing which the ark brought with it to the house of Obed-edom encourage us to welcome God's ordinances into our houses, as those that believe the ark is a guest that nobody shall lose by; not let it be less precious to us for its being to some a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence. If the gospel be to some a savour of death unto death, as the ark was to Uzza, yet let us receive it in the love of it and it will be to us a saviour of life unto life.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Uzza put forth his hand] See this…
Verse 9. Uzza put forth his hand] See this transaction explained 2Sa 6:6, &c.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Chidon. Alias, Nachon. (Challoner) (2 Kings vi.) --- He…
Chidon. Alias, Nachon. (Challoner) (2 Kings vi.) --- He had perhaps two names. (Du Hamel) --- Syriac and Arabic, "of Ramim." (Calmet) --- The ox. Protestants, "the oxen stumbled."
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. Threshingfloor of Chidon — The reading in 2Sa_6:6,…
9. Threshingfloor of Chidon — The reading in 2Sa_6:6, is Nachon’s threshingfloor. Chidon may be another name for Nachon, or it may be a corruption of the name Nachon, נכון— כידון.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. the threshingfloor of Chidon] LXX. (B) omits of…
9. the threshingfloor of Chidon] LXX. (B) omits of Chidon. In 2Sa_6:6, Nacon’s threshing-floor.
to hold the ark] The Chronicler from a feeling of reverence shrinks from saying, and took hold of it (2Sa_6:6).
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stumbled] R.V. mg. threw it down, but the meaning is perhaps rather, let it go, i.e. let the cart on which the ark was slip backwards. The same Heb. word is used 2Ki_9:33; there Jehu in his mocking humour says not, Throw her down, but, Let her go, an ambiguous command meant to throw as much responsibility as possible upon those who obeyed it.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) Chidon.—So one MS. of LXX. Syriac and Arabic,…
(9) Chidon.—So one MS. of LXX. Syriac and Arabic, Râmîn. The Nachon of Samuel seems right. The Targum, Syriac, and Arabic of Samuel have, “prepared threshing floor (s),” treating nâkûn as a participle.
Put forth his hand to hold the ark.—An explanatory paraphrase of the more ancient text, “Uzza put forth unto the ark of God, and held thereon” (Samuel).
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Stumbled.—Or, plunged. The margin is wrong. The verb is used transitively, in 2Ki_9:33, “Throw her down.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The threshingfloor of Chidon. For Chidon, the parallel place…
The threshingfloor of Chidon. For Chidon, the parallel place has Nachon; possibly these are two names of the same place, or one form is a corruption of the ether; but there is nothing to determine for us which. Owing to the meaning of Nachon being "prepared," the version of Aquila is "to the prepared threshingfloor," with which the Jonathan Targum agrees, and (for this Chronicles passage) the Joseph Targum gives Qtm rta The threshing-floor was a circular plot of hard ground, from fifty to one hundred feet in diameter, on which the oxen trampled out the grain. Threshingfloors evidently often became landmarks, and helped to designate places (Gen_50:10; 2Sa_24:16) The oxen stumbled. In the parallel place the Authorized Version renders "shook it." The Hebrew verb is the same (fm"v;) in both places. Its elementary meanings are "to strike" and "to throw down." Perhaps the meaning is near the Vulgate rendering, c alcitrabant, and equivalent to the rendering, became restive.
Vers. 9, 10.
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Warnings against irreverence.
The incident here recalled to mind is one full of difficulties. Uzza seems to have been struck dead for what was, in intention, an act of consideration and care for She safety of the ark. To human view his sin does not readily appear, and some explanations are necessary in making it clear. Uzza"s death was not, mainly, a judgment on Uzza, but a lesson, taught in a very solemn manner, to David and the people. They had not been associated with the ark for a long time, and so may have lost some of the due solemnity of feeling concerning it. By the Mosaic rules, the ark was on no account to be touched by human hands. It would not have needed any steadying if, in obedience to the Law, it had been carried by poles on the priests" shoulders. So God permitted this one man"s death to teach the solemn lesson of reverence. The sin was really David"s in neglecting the due order and regulations, but it pleased God that he should receive his warning through the suffering of another. One tradition says that Uzza was struck by a lightning flash; another represents his death as occasioned by the withering of his hand and arm. "We cannot fully explain this judgment from the side of Uzza. We must add that man, in life and in death, may be used by God to teach his lessons and accomplish his work; and Uzza, in his sudden death, was God"s appeal to a king (and to a nation) who had forgotten his holy Law, and were "following the devices and desires of their own hearts." That which was a judgment to Uzza was a merciful call to repentance and right-heartedness given to king and people.
I ATTENTION TO FORMS MAY EXPRESS REVERENCE. Illustrate by the way in which kneeling aids in securing the spirit of prayer. Herein lies the importance of care in arranging the externals, the ceremonials, of Christian worship. The associations of God"s house should both secure and cultivate a due and becoming reverence.
II THE NEGLECT OF FORMS MAY TEND TO NOURISH IRREVERENCE. Some pride themselves on freedom from forms. But while it is quite conceivable that overdone forms may crush out spiritual life and feeling, it is even more likely that a despising of religious forms may lead to undue familiarity with God"s Name, and sanctuary, and worship, and sacraments. If to some it may seem that undue attention to ritual is replacing a true reverence by a mere formalism, to others it appears that the age is singularly and perilously irreverent, and sorely needs again the warning of Uzza"s death.
III THAT WHICH IS DONE FOR GOD MUST BE DONE IN GOD"S WAY. A lesson which every age and every individual needs to learn. David made the very common mistake of trying to do God"s work in Ms own way. He must be impressively shown that the fully obedient spirit waits on God to know the how as well as the what. It not only says, "What wouldst thou have me to do? "but also, "How wouldst thou have me do it?" To win willingness to take God"s way is often, as with David, the issue of humiliating failures; and it is precisely the lesson which life-failures are designed to teach.
IV BY SOLEMN PROVIDENCES SOLEMN LESSONS MAY BE IMPRESSED. Our Lord taught us that we must not venture to convict public sufferers of special sins bringing on them judgment. (Luk_13:1-5) God often teaches the mass of men by his dealings with a few. The victims of so-called accident vicariously suffer for the good of others. Illustrate by those who die of diseases caused by neglect of sanitary laws. They awaken attention to existing evils, and are the means of saving men. Uzza really saved the judgment that must have fallen on David and the nation if they had kept on acting in this self-willed way.
Make final appeal to modern feeling respecting worship. There are signs of the danger of losing the worshipping idea, and overdoing the instruction idea, in our public services. We need recalling to a due reverence. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And when they came unto the threshing-floor of Chidon,…
1Ch_13:9-11
And when they came unto the threshing-floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark.
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Perez-Uzza
Learn--
I. If God be absent from a people and the ark be long in obscurity, that people will lose a sense of reverence.
II. That God, mindful of His honours, often singles out guilty men to be monuments of His displeasure.
III. That by such examples of terror God warns others. (J. Wolfendale.)
Uzzas transgression
Consider--
I. The importance of ritual and positive institutions, with the punctual observance which God expects to them. Amongst all the trials which have been made of human nature, in the way of worshipping a superior power, there hath been no instance of a pure and holy worship without somewhat of institution to fix the forms of it. Even a state of innocence did not subsist without a positive law for trial of our first parents obedience. The first recorded act of worship after the Fall was apparently of a ritual and positive nature; since human reason doth no more direct to those sacrifices which we find offered to God by Cain and Abel, than it directs us to baptism or the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The gross superstitions of the heathen world were manifestly owing to the want of an authorised ceremonial in their worship.
II. The enclosure of the sacerdotal or priestly function, with the danger of invading or throwing it open.
III. The respect which is due to a relative holiness.
IV. The insufficiency of a good or innocent intention to warrant an irregular or forbidden action.
V. The reverence and preparation of heart wherewith we should approach the solemn offices of Divine worship.
VI. The danger of an unauthorised, officious zeal. (N. Marshall, D. D.)
Touching the ark, and touching the Saviour
(1Ch_13:10 with Mat_9:21):--How characteristic are these two incidents of the two dispensations under which they respectively occurred? What a comment upon the declaration, The letter killeth, the spirit giveth life.
I. I observe that the Old and New Testaments present many such instructive contrasts, serving to illustrate the different spirit of the legal as compared with the evangelical economy--the one being mostly miracles of judgment, the other almost exclusively miracles of mercy. For instance, there is the confusion of tongues at Babel--the gift of tongues at Pentecost; the water turned into blood in Egypt--the water turned into wine at Cana; the darkness of Egypt issuing in the death of the first-born--the darkness of Calvary bringing many sons to glory. And so in the text: the death of Uzza on touching the ark--the healing of the sufferer that touched our Lord. It was in either case a touch; but the one was fatal, the other a cure. The one was a case of presumption, if not of unbelief; the other a case of humility and of the deepest faith. The Lord, the heart-searcher, saw a difference in the intrinsic similarity of the acts which man saw not. It was not altogether the difference in the dispensations, but the difference in the persons. Uzza not only overlooked the law that prescribed the Kohathite as the ark-bearer, but sacrilegiously intruded his hand to support an emblem which had vindicated the sufficiency of its self-reliance by its superhuman inflictions in the house of Dagon, and by its miraculous over-rulings of natural instincts in the leading of the kine from their calves when its mystic pilgrimage lay in an opposite direction; whereas the woman in the Gospels ascribed merit and virtue even to the hem of the Redeemers garment, and much more therefore to Himself. Hence the two, Uzza and the woman, enacted in type the Pharisee and the publican, whereof the one went down to her house justified rather than the other. Both intrinsically were slight, inconsiderable acts in themselves--A mere touch externally in either case; the one touching the sign, the other the thing signified. But the one brought his support to the covenant ark, the other drew her support from the Ark; the one approached in self-sufficiency, and was smitten for his presumption, the other drew nigh in self-abasement, and was healed for her faith. Upon the one, therefore, fell the terrible anathema of the letter that killeth; upon the other descended as the dews of heaven the Spirit that giveth life.
II. In their contrast is presented the light and shade of the profession-life in the church. It is more agreeable to our natural pride to feel our personal hand to be the stay of a declining Church, than to creep with a poor, dejected sinner to the hem of the garment, the lowest place, the door-keepers post in the house of our God. The pride of ecclesiastical office is in various shapes and degrees the besetting sin of clergy and laity. It leads the former to rest upon functional relations, those pretensions and reliances due only to the endowments of grace, to the conscientious cultivation of gifts, and to the exercise of personal influence. It tempts the priest alike to supersede the man and lose sight of God. Alas! for this thrusting the unbidden hand of the creature upon the ark of God! It displays itself among the laity, too, in the love of office in the Church, for the mere office sake, as a platform for self-parade. It escapes even in the mode and amount of contributions to the Church, in laying them like the corban on the altar, not for the glory of God, but as the price of redemption from some unpalatable duty. There are men who can be brought to church with the idea of playing the patron, to indulge the vanity of their sense of being necessary to her standing and well-doing, who thus lay unhallowed hands on her altar, like an Uzza, but who would disdain to be indebted to that lowly touch of her spiritual garment, for the feeling that it was that, and not their presumptuous handling of the ark of her strength, that made them whole.
III. The doctrine of the contrast is twofold--namely, the peril of the least sin, and the peace of the least act of faith. As to the first: you are always in danger so long as you allow yourselves in any known sin under the plea of Lot, who, by the side of the enormities of Sodom, contended is it not a little one? The effect of that friction with the world into which mens eagerness in business or pursuit of pleasure leads them, is to rub off the bloom from the fruits of the Spirit, and to rub off, though in minutest particles, the fine gold, and turn it dim in lustre and less in substance. The little sin, as you imagine it, of putting your hand, say, upon a portion of the Sabbath, to do something in your business, or to spend it in recreation, or in reading the news, or in secular gossiping, leaving the sound of the service chimes to die away among the graves of the dead, who are no more insensible to its calling than yourselves--in these supposed little sins begins the course, that deceiving and being deceived, waxes worse and worse, until the mans life becomes at last a mere chapter of practical Atheism, without prayer, without faith, without obedience. Or suppose the little sin take another direction, confining its action to within the sanctuary, and the moral delinquent lays his hand upon the ark in another shape. Perhaps he does not realise Christs sufficiency as to an atonement or a justifying righteousness, and must have a hand in the satisfaction of the one, and the completeness of the other, and therefore looks to a baptism, or a eucharist, or to his social charities, or moral duties, or evangelical sentiments, or enthusiastic feelings and sensations, or the suffrages of fellow-sinners, or even fellow-saints, if the phrase be more acceptable. If by these, by all of them or by any of them, the man looks to commend himself in the sight of God, and supplement that which was lacking, in his theory, in the finished work of Christ, his hand is on the ark, and unless it be removed betimes, the hand of an indignant God will be upon him, and he that sinneth with a high hand, for whom neither, law nor Gospel provided an atonement, shall suddenly be cut off, and that without remedy. On the other hand, the contrast exhibits the peace and advantage of the least act of faith, even if the faith be so weak and feeble as to be likened to a grain of mustard seed, which is the least of all seeds. Faith as little as that, like the womans touch, has strength to remove mountains. A spark of Omnipotence is struck out of the rock by its feeblest blow. (Joseph B. Owen, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Death of Uzza
The Death of Uzza
v. 9. And when they came unto the threshing-floor of Chidon (or Nachon), in all likelihood the usual floor in the open, a shelter overhead being provided in some cases, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. Cf 2Sa 6:6-11.
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v. 10. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and He smote him, because he put his hand to the ark, thus profaning an object which was entirely in the charge of the priests and to be handled by them only in the manner prescribed by the Lord; and there he died before God. The mistake really lay with the leaders of the people, who should have remembered God’s order concerning the bearing of the ark, Num 7:9; Num 10:17.
v. 11. And David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzza; wherefore that place is called Perez-uzza ("breach of Uzza") to this day.
v. 12. And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?
v. 13. So David brought not the ark home to himself to the City of David, he did not complete the removal, but carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, who was one of the Levitical porters, 1Ch 15:18-24.
v. 14. And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom, in his house, three months. And the Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that he had. The sacred thing of the New Testament is God’s Word, in whatever form it may come to us. To the repentant, believing Christians this Word is a savor of life unto life, but to the unbelievers it is a savor of death unto death.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Kidon, Uzzah
Kidon, Uzzah
These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)
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the anger of Yahweh burned against Uzzah
Yahweh's anger is spoken of as if it were a fire that burned the one with whom Yahweh is angry. AT: "Yahweh was very angry with Uzzah" (See: Metaphor)
before God
"in the presence of God"
That place is called
This can be stated in active form. AT: "People call that place" (See: Active or Passive)
Perez Uzzah
This is the name of a place. Translator may add a footnote that says, "The name 'Perez Uzzah' means 'the punishment of Uzzah.'" (See: How to Translate Names)
to this day
See how you translated this phrasein 1 Chronicles 4:43
translationWords
thresh
cow
stumble
anger
die
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 13:9-11 With the death of Uzzah, Israel’s celebration abruptly…
13:9-11 With the death of Uzzah, Israel’s celebration abruptly turned to sorrow. Touching the Ark resulted in death because its holiness had been violated (see 15:13).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.