1 Chronicles 13:7

1Ch 13:7 And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart.

Ver. 7. In a new cart.] This was ill done by such a holy convention. Councils may err.

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.

The sons of Abinadab.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 7. In a new cart] Lest it should be profaned by being placed on any carriage that had been employed about common uses.

Uzza and Ahio] All the versions understand אחיו achyo as signifying brother or brothers; so does Jarchi, who observes, from 2Sa 6:3, that these were the sons of Abinadab.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(7) Abridged form of the fuller text preserved in 2Sa_6:3 (see Notes there).

Drave.—Were driving. 2Sa_6:4, is wholly omitted by the Chronicles. “Ahio” may mean his brother, or, with different points, his brothers (so LXX. and Syriac).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. a new cart] A new cart was chosen as one which had not been profaned by common work. So (Jdg_16:11-12) new ropes “wherewith no work hath been done” were used in the attempt to bind the consecrated man, Samson. So also (Mar_11:2; Mar_11:7) our Lord rode into Jerusalem on a colt “whereon no man ever yet sat.”

the house of Abinadab] Here the ark had been for at least twenty years under the charge of a man sanctified to keep it (1Sa_7:1-2)

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.

Brother. Hebrew, "Acho," which has the same meaning. (Tirinus) --- Septuagint, Syriac, &c., "his brethren." (Calmet)

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).

They carried; the Authorized Version of the parallel "they set" But the verb is the Hiph. of bkr; a word carrying more of majesty in its (Deu_33:26; Job_30:22; Psa_18:11 Psa_68:3-7; Isa_19:1) A new cart . The stress laid on the newness of this cart, the term being twice repeated in the parallel passage, may justly remind of Mar_11:2; Mat_27:60. (see "Speaker"s Commentary" on 2Sa_6:3) The house of Abinadab. There is no mention of Abinadab that would indicate that he still lived, even when twenty years before, the ark was placed in his house. Eleazar was his eldest son, (1Sa_7:1) and was "sanctified to keep the ark of the Lord." Uzza and Ahio were possibly sons of Eleazar, and not sons of Abinadab, and Eleazar"s younger brothers. The Septuagint translates Ahio, and accordingly reads, "Uzza and his brethren drave the cart.

Vers. 7-13.

The imperfections of human service.

We cannot read this story of the first attempt to bring the ark to the capital without being impressed, if not depressed, with a sense of the weakness and imperfection characterizing our human service. We learn

I THAT A SLIGHT DEPARTURE FROM THE DIVINE WILL MAY LEAD TO SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES. David, in a moment of thoughtlessness or presumption, decreed that the ark of God should be "made to ride" (ver. 7, marginal reading) "in a new cart." This was not the way prescribed in "the Book of the Law of the Lord". (see Num_4:15) This irregularity led to the act of Uzza (ver. 9), and this to the stroke of Divine wrath which so sadly and seriously interrupted the day"s proceedings (vers. 10-13). We are not now called upon to conform our ritual to any prescribed order. The commandment of Christ does not go into the details of outward observance. But it is nevertheless true that any actual departure from his will, though it may seem to be but slight, may lead on and down to a most serious breach. This may apply to his revealed will in regard to

(1) the temper and spirit we should cherish,

(2) the attitude we should assume,

(3) the relations we should enter upon, in our various spheres.

II THAT IT IS A MATTER OF GREAT MOMENT TO KNOW OUR PLACE IN THE SPHERE OF THE SACRED, AND TO KEEP IT. Uzza was not entitled to lay his hand on the ark of God; he exceeded his right; he intruded into a position for which he was not qualified, and he paid for his presumption the last penalty of sudden death at the hand of God. Those who now attempt a work for which God did not design them and to which Christ does not summon them, whether that of the Christian ministry, of missions, or any other sacred calling, will find that they have committed themselves to duties and responsibilities, the faulty and (perhaps) mechanical, the uncongenial and therefore unspiritual discharge of which will redound to their own serious if not mortal injury. We must take care to keep within the sphere for which our Lord designed us, in the realm of the sacred as well as the secular.

III THAT OUR BRIGHT AND HOLY JOYS MAY BE MOST UNEXPECTEDLY DASHED. The eighth verse gives us a picture of a company of men in the full enjoyment of sacred pleasure; they were exulting before God in the act of service they were rendering. Sacred joy had reached its very summit, and in the very midst of it, without a moment"s interval of preparation, there occurred the transgression and the punishment. Song was turned into lamentation, dancing into weeping, gladness into perplexity and sorrow, day into night. So may it be with us at any hour in this lower earthly sphere. We cannot reckon on the continuance of any present good. Even our joy in God, our delight in his service, may suffer sudden and sad eclipse, and our noon of devout exultation descend at once into the midnight of discomfiture and grief.

IV THAT GOOD MEN MAY BE MUCH PERPLEXED AT DIVINE DISPOSALS. We read that David was "displeased" (ver. 11), and also that he was "afraid" (ver. 12). We also often find ourselves both perplexed and alarmed at the dealings of God with us. God"s way is often "in the sea, his path in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known." He is sometimes "terrible in his doings toward the children of men." Why he lets the assassin do his deadly work so well, the storm wreck the vessel which is carrying missionaries to their post, the father of the family catch the fatal fever, the irreplaceable minister perish in the railway accident, etc., we do not know and cannot think. Our hearts are saddened, perplexed, troubled, awed. Let us feel that we are but very little children trying to understand a Divine Father, whose wisdom and love must be unfathomably deep, must go down far lower than our poor plummet will sound. "Blessed are they who do not see, and yet believe." We "walk by faith, not by sight. C.

Vers. 7, 9-12.

Uzza and the ark.

Since the ark was last heard of it had been in Baalah, or Kirjath-jearim. For upwards of fifty years, since it had been in the hands of the Philistines, it had been in the house of Abinadab of Gibeah, under the charge of his two sons, Uzza and Ahio, who were Levites, and who had been consecrated for the office. For the purpose of removing the ark to Jerusalem it was set upon a new cart, he was instantly smitten of God, and "there he died by the (2Sa_7:7) "before God" (ver. 10). David was grieved at this, and, instead of proceeding further and carrying the ark as he had intended to Jerusalem, he left it in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, where it remained three months (ver. 14). The setting of the ark on a cart was a hasty and inconsiderate procedure, in direct violation of the command of God. (see Num_4:14, 15 7:9 18:3) Setting it upon a cart instead of having it carried upon the shoulders may seem to be a very small mistake. Touching it against an express command may seem to admit of extenuation, especially as it seemed to be falling. To the eye of man the fault, under such circumstances, may seem only to require a mitigated punishment. But it is not so with God. The entire act betrayed a forgetfulness of the majesty and holiness of Jehovah"s presence. It was also a departure from the Word. Such departures from the Word, to us who are accustomed to estimate evil by quantity and degree rather than by principle, may seem light things; but God looks at the motive, the principle, the underlying spirit. W.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Abinadab ... Uzzah and Ahio

These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)

David and all Israel

Here the word "all" is a generalization. AT: "David and all of the Israelites who were present" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

singing with stringed instruments

"singing while playing stringed instruments"

tambourines

hand drums with pieces of metal around the side that sound when the instruments are shaken (See: Translate Unknowns)

cymbals

two thin, round metal plates that are hit together to make a loud sound (See: Translate Unknowns)

translationWords

might

trumpet

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And they set the Ark of God on a new cart Why did David see fit to set it on a new cart rather than to have it borne by the Levites, as he did when he finally brought it from there to Zion? Because David said, “Corresponding to the way it came to me when the Philistines returned it on a new cart, as it is written (I Sam. 6:11): And they placed the Ark of the Lord on the cart, etc.” Therefore, he was punished.

and Uzza and Ahio They were the sons of Abinadab, as is written in II Samuel (6:3).

drove the cart as is the custom of cart drivers, one walks in front of the cart and directs it in a straight way, and one is alongside the cart, so that it does not turn over and fall. And so it is written (II Sam. 6: 4): “... and Ahio went before the Ark,” and Uzza was alongside the cart; therefore, Uzza stretched forth his hand to take hold of the Ark when the oxen swayed it, and therefore, he was punished.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.