1 Chronicles 5:25

5:25 But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors ¹  and worshiped instead ²  the gods of the native peoples ³  whom God had destroyed before them.

1 Chronicles 13:10

13:10 The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, ⁴  he killed him, because he reached out his hand and touched the ark. ⁵  He died right there before God. ⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “fathers.”

² tn Heb “prostituted themselves after.”

³ tn Heb “the peoples of the land.”

⁴ tn Heb “and the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah.”

⁵ tn Heb “because he stretched out his hand over the ark.”

⁶ 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.