I was reading from my Bible yesterday and came across 2 Samuel 6:7. In the King James Bible it reads like this:
“And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.”
Reading it in our understanding of English, we might think that Uzzah had made a mistake. This passage might be a little confusing to wonder why the LORD would strike Uzzah dead. However, this is another passage where it is helpful to read multiple translations.
The Legacy Standard Bible, for instance, renders this passage like this:
“And the anger of Yahweh burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.”
I pulled up the passage in my Logos Bible Software and looked at some word information:
I appreciate how the LSB translators handled this passage. This was no mere “oopsie.” Yahweh had given specific directions on how to carry the ark. Uzzah violated those directions.
Why was God angry with Uzzah? Think of it this way – Yes the ark was about to fall, but who was Uzzah to think that he was cleaner than the dirty ground? It was not so much of an error on his part, but more of irreverence that got him into trouble, a lesson we all could learn from.