IIZZAH (tiz'zah), ( Heb. ooz-zaw' , strength).
1. A son of Abinadab, a Levite, who, with his brother Ahio, conducted the new cart on which the ark was taken from Kirjath-jearim to Jeru saler (1) His Sin. When the procession reached the threshing-floor of Nachon, the oxen drawing the cart became unruly, and Uzzah hastily put forth his hand to stay the ark, which was shaken by their movements. For this the anger of the Lord smote him, and he died on the spot.
(2) David's Fear. This judgment appeared to David so severe, or even harsh, that he was much distressed by it, and becoming afraid to take the ark any farther, left it there, in charge of Obed edom, till three months after, when he finally took it to Jerusalem (2 Sam. vi:t-it).
(3) The Result. The whole proceeding was very irregular, and contrary to the distinct and far from unmeaning regulations of the law, which prescribed that the ark should be carried on the shoulders of the Levites (Exod. xxv :r4), whereas here it was conveyed in a cart drawn by oxen.
The ark ought to have been enveloped in its cov erings, and thus wholly concealed before the Le vites approached it ; but it does not appear that any priest took part in the matter, and it would seem as if the ark was brought forth, exposed to the common gaze, in the same manner in which it had been brought back by the Philistines (i Sam. vi :13-19). It was the duty of Uzzah, as a Levite, to have been acquainted with the proper course of proceeding: he was therefore the person justly accountable for the neglect ; and the judgment upon him seems to have been the most effectual course of ensuring attention to the proper course of proceeding, and of checking the growing dis position to treat the holy mysteries with undue familiarity. That it had this effect is expressly stated in 1 Chron. XV :2, 13, IQ. (B. C. 1043.) 2. A Merarite Levite, son of Shimei, and father of Shimea Chron. vi :29). (B. C. before 1043.)