Uzzah

Uzzah is the son of Abinadab who walks beside the new cart carrying the ark from his father's house, and who dies at the threshing-floor when he reaches out to steady it. The episode is told twice in UPDV scripture — once in 2 Samuel and once in the Chronicler's parallel — under the alternate spellings Uzzah and Uzza. The same place-name commemorates his death in both accounts.

Driving the cart from Abinadab's house

Both accounts open the same way. David's company sets the ark on a new cart at Abinadab's house and assigns Uzzah and his brother Ahio to drive: "And they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in the hill: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the cart" (2Sa 6:3). The Chronicler frames the same scene with one variation in spelling: "And they carried the ark of God on a new cart, [and brought it] out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart" (1Ch 13:7).

Death at the threshing-floor

The two narratives differ on the place-name and the wording of the strike, but agree on the core sequence — stumble, hand to the ark, anger, death. In 2 Samuel the threshing-floor is Nacon, and the strike is attributed to "the Speech of God": "And when they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah put forth [his hand] to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Uzzah; and [the Speech of] God struck him there for the error; and there he died by the ark of God." (2Sa 6:6-7).

The Chronicler names the threshing-floor Chidon and reports the killing with no mediating Speech: "And when they came to the threshing-floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Uzza, and he struck him, because he put forth his hand to the ark; and there he died before God." (1Ch 13:9-10). The grounds in the Chronicler are explicit — "because he put forth his hand to the ark."

Perez-uzzah

David's response in both accounts is the same: displeasure, and a place-name. "And David was displeased, because Yahweh had broken forth on Uzzah; and he called that place Perez-uzzah, to this day." (2Sa 6:8). The Chronicler matches the formula with the spelling Perez-uzza: "And David was displeased, because Yahweh had broken forth on Uzza; and he called that place Perez-uzza, to this day." (1Ch 13:11). The toponym preserves the breach — Perez — and the man's name, fixing the episode to the ground itself.