The Fate of Uzzah
A. Maclaren, D. D. 2 Samuel 6:6-7 And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.… It should be remembered that many hands must have touched the ark that day in the process of lifting it on to the cart; that none of these helpers were smitten, and that therefore it was not the fact of touching, but the spirit in which he touched, that made Uzzah guilty. We shall probably be right if we ascribe to him rash irreverence, entire ignoring of the sanctity of the ark, a regarding of it as "an unholy (that is, a common) thing." He had no consciousness of the Divine presence in it. It had been a piece of furniture in Abinadab's house as long as he could remember, and though, no doubt, it had been guarded and set apart there "from common uses, he had become used to" its presence, and familiarity had worn off his awe. The same cause produces like effects in many of us in regard to holier things than an ark of shittim wood. And an irreverent hand thrust in among such sanctities, even with a design to help them, is sin. Nor must we forget that this incident stands at the beginning of a new epoch in the development of religion in Israel, and that, just as Ananias and Sapphira perished at the beginning of the Church's history, so- Uzzah lay dead beside the ark, a lesson and a warning for a new age. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. WEB: When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put forth [his hand] to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the cattle stumbled.