Uzzi (High Priest)

Uzzi, "my strength", son of Bukki and father of Zerahiah, appears in the high priestly genealogy of 1 Chronicles 5:31–32 and in the ancestry of Ezra (Ezra 7:4). The Bible tells nothing of his deeds. Josephus, who calls him Ozi, says he was the last high priest of Eleazar's line before the office passed to Eli, of the line of Ithamar, and that it returned to Eleazar's descendants only with Zadok under Solomon (Antiquities 5.361–362, 8.11–12).

That transition is remembered very differently by the Samaritans. Their chronicles say that in the days of the high priest Uzzi, Eli broke away and set up a rival sanctuary at Shiloh, while Uzzi's line remained on Mount Gerizim; for them this split began an era of divine disfavor. Jewish sources say nothing of a schism, and simply list Uzzi as a link in the chain from Aaron to the Temple priesthood.