Righteous Fury Born From Biblical Contradiction

I find that the discussion introduced by the author of the “Sacred and the Profane” is seemingly relevant in the passages in Samuel Book 2 and in the Chronicles Book 1 of the Hebrew Bible.

Specifically, the author talks about how individuals tend to create connections with the divine through artifacts and sacred places. These sacred artifacts and places are said to be born from a divine event occurring in that location or within the jurisdiction of that artifact. We find this mode of creating sacred places in Samuel Book 2:6-8: “David was angry because the Lord had burst forth with an outburst upon Uzzah; so that place is called Perez-Uzzah.” According to the Hebrew Bible, David’s people place significance in this location because it served as the setting for a divine event, and because of this event, it now possesses value according to the religious population.

Despite just being a detail that overlaps with the essay, I want to note that this is an origin story that is actually the result of a negative reaction by David. David reacted to Uzzah’s death with disapproval for the Lord’s will and, in retaliation, placed sacred value in the place of his death by naming it after the deceased Uzzah. I find this to be a troubling detail in the narrative as Perez-Uzzah has been assigned sacredness out of retaliation against the Lord who is the reason that divine sacredness exists in the first place (according to the Hebrew faith). Therefore, the fact that this retaliation is not punished by the Lord and is allowed to remain sacred out of respect for Uzzah is contradictory. According to the Hebrew Bible, there is another time where sacredness is assigned to an altar that is founded after David’s fury: 2 Samuel 24:18 :“Go up and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” The Lord’s calling for the altar to be erected is assumed to be the source of the altar’s sacredness, however we cannot forget that this altar is only erected after David broadcasts his fury towards the Lord’s pestilence. Therefore, we find a second sacred location being born out of David’s emotional retaliation against the Lord. Perhaps the Hebrew Bible alludes to a type of respect or sacredness that can be born from righteous fury (David’s anger has been the result of others’ deaths). Therefore, can we assume that righteous fury, even against God, is justified and should go unpunished? After all, it is this fury that results in the erection of two sacred places.

While I don’t know the answer, I find these details contradictory yet compelling.

Source: http://www.messianicjudaism.me/agenda/2012/02/05/the-messer-mess-and-our-own-on-mishandling-holy-things/

I chose this image to represent the events that resulted in the erection of Perrez-Uzah.