Uz'zah. (strength). One of the sons of Abinadab, in whose house at Kirjath-jearim, the Ark rested for twenty years. Uzzah probably was the second son and Ahio was the third son. They both accompanied the ark's removal when David first undertook to carry it to Jerusalem. (B.C. 1043). Ahio apparently went before the new cart, 1 Chronicles 13:7, on which it was placed, and Uzzah walked by the side.
"At the threshing-floor of Nachon," 2 Samuel 6:6, or Chidon 1 Chronicles 13:9, perhaps slipping over the smooth rock, the oxen stumbled. Uzzah caught the Ark to prevent its falling. The profanation was punished by his instant death to the great grief of David, who named the place Perez-uzzah (the breaking-forth on Uzzah).
But Uzzah's fate was not merely the penalty of his own rashness. The improper mode of transporting the ark, which ought to have been borne on the shoulders of the Levites was the primary cause of his unholy deed; and David distinctly recognized it as a punishment on the people in general "because we sought him not after the due order."