And he smote him. — Abridged from “and God smote him there” (Samuel).
Because he put his hand to the ark. — “Because he put” is in the Heb., ‘al ’asher shalah. For this Samuel has ’al hashshal, an obscure phrase, occurring nowhere else in the Old Testament. The similarity of letters in the two phrases can hardly be accidental, but whether the chronicler has given the original text of the passage as he found it preserved in his source, or whether he has himself made a guess at the true reading, cannot be determined. The Syriac of Samuel reads, “because he put forth his hand;” and so the Arabic, adding, “to the ark.” The Targum, “because he sinned” (using a word like hashshal). The Vat. LXX. omits the phrase.
Before God. — Samuel, “by the ark of God.” This explains the same phrase in 1 Chronicles 13:8. (Comp. for the event 1 Samuel 6:19.)