🔼The name Uzza: Summary
- Meaning
- Strength
- Etymology
- From the verb עזז ('azaz), to be strong.
🔼The name Uzza in the Bible
The name Uzza occurs a few times in the Bible, most famously as the man who tried to stop the Ark from falling off a cart (1 Chronicles 13:7). He is a son of Abinadab and brother of Ahio. In the parallel text of 2 Samuel 6:6 his name is spelled עזה (Uzzah).
Other men named Uzza are:
- A son of Gera of Benjamin and a brother of Ahihud (1 Chronicles 8:7).
- A man who owns a garden that somehow belongs to the palace and in which king Manasseh is interred (2 Kings 21:18 — perhaps this Uzza is the same as king Uzziah, see 2 Chronicles 26:23).
- A man mentioned among the Nethinim (temple servants) who returned from exile with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:49).
🔼Etymology of the name Uzza
The name Uzza comes from the Hebrew verb עזז ('azaz), generally meaning to be strong:
עזז
The verb עזז ('azaz) means to be strong. Adjective עז ('az) means strong, mighty or fierce and adjective עזוז ('izzuz) means mighty or powerful. Nouns עז ('oz) and עזוז ('ezuz) mean strength, might or fierceness.
Noun עזניה ('ozniya) denotes some kind of bird of prey (this word may actually be a convenient import from another language) and noun עז ('ez) denotes a she-goat (this word may actually derive from a verb that means to be wayward or perhaps strong-headed).
Verb עוז ('uz) means to bring into refuge or to seek safety. Noun מעוז (ma'oz) describes a place or agent of safety.
🔼Uzza meaning
For a meaning of the name Uzza both NOBSE Study Bible Name List and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names read Strength.