1 Chronicles 13:8

13:8 while David and all Israel were energetically ¹  celebrating before God, singing and playing various stringed instruments, ²  tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.

1 Chronicles 13:10

13:10 The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, ³  he killed him, because he reached out his hand and touched the ark. ⁴  He died right there before God. ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “with all strength.”

² tn Heb “with songs and with zithers [meaning uncertain] and with harps.” Due to the collocation with “harps,” some type of stringed instrument is probably in view.

³ tn Heb “and the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah.”

⁴ tn Heb “because he stretched out his hand over the ark.”

⁵ sn The modern reader might think God seemed to overreact here, but Israel needed a vivid object lesson of God’s holiness. By loading the ark on a cart, David had violated the instructions in God’s law (Exod 25:12-14; Num 4:5-6, 15). Uzzah’s action, however innocent it may seem, betrayed a certain lack of reverence for God’s presence. God had to remind his people that his holiness could not under any circumstances be violated.