Trumpet Lyre
What is Your Opinion of This Bible / Tanakh Passage?
What is your opinion of the following passage?
1 Chronicles 13:7-11
“They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets. When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God. Then David was angry because the LORD’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.”
Thanks for your thoughts!
In Jewish reading it’s read with hyperboli. It’s about the underlying concepts, not some literal event.
Notice that David was angry with God for his wrath — so an important point is that humans have rights to anger & disappointment & wrath of their own, then something happens which we can attribute to God (to the way things go) but isn’t what we consider acceptable. I don’t know what the formal readings of this are, but this stands out to me & in Judaism I am more than welcome to have my own readings. In my experience my views are often accepted as interesting valid insight or even a pick up on the conventional reading by whatever group & Rabbi I’m studying with.
As for God striking someone down, it’s hyperboli. It’s about how important it is to trust in God & to allow things to be as your been instructed… I’d read & assume it was visually that the man died on the spot without a visible hand of God reaching out. This verse adds a dimension of the energy that was going on around it, a sense of what people right there picked up on.
It sounds a bit ridiculous to strike down someone for steading an ox with the ark, but that’s where the hyperboli & more careful readings for other meanings come in. It was literally the style of writing in those days. It’s like before Jane Austin writing did something different with the literal. Or before impressionist paintings, paintings were always literal. You have to read the violence & style within how everything those days was written.
I’ll star & see what other views are. Usually there are much deeper views to draw out of it. For instance the name Perez Uzzah is obviously important, & may have a double entongree meaning that adds a lot to what the point of the verse is. Usually once studied, the names really change the meanings.
TALIBON CULTRAL CENTRE – TRUMPET – LYRE – DRUM & BUGLE