2 Chronicles 26.

Matthew Henry

This chapter gives us an account of the reign of Uzziah (Azariah he was called in the Kings) more fully than we had it before, though it was long, and in some respects illustrious, yet it was very briefly related, Kg2 14:21; Kg2 15:1, etc. Here is, I. His good character in general (Ch2 26:1-5) II. His great prosperity in his wars, his buildings, and all the affairs of his kingdom (Ch2 26:6-15). III. His presumption in invading the priests' office, for which he was struck with a leprosy, and confined by it (Ch2 26:16-21) even to his death (Ch2 26:22, Ch2 26:23).

1–15. We have here an account of two things concerning Uzziah: -
I. His piety. In this he was not very eminent or zealous; yet he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. He kept up the pure worship of the true God as his father did, and was better than his father, inasmuch as we have no reason to think he ever worshipped idols as his father did, no, not in his latter days, when his heart was lifted up. It is said (Ch2 26:5), He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who, some think, was the son of the Zechariah whom his grandfather Joash slew. This Zechariah was one that had understanding in the visions of God, either the visions which he himself was favoured with or the visions of the preceding prophets. He was well versed in prophecy, and conversed much with the upper world, was an intelligent, devout, good man; and, it seems, had great influence with Uzziah. Happy are the great men who have such about them and are willing to be advised by them; but unhappy those who seek God only while they have such with them and have not a principle in themselves to bear them out to the end.
II. His prosperity.
1. In general, as long as he sought the Lord, and minded religion, God made him to prosper. Note, (1.) Those only prosper whom God makes to prosper; for prosperity is his gift. (2.) Religion and piety are very friendly to outward prosperity. Many have found and owned this, that as long as they sought the Lord and kept close to their duty they prospered; but since they forsook God every thing has gone cross.
2. Here are several particular instances of his prosperity: - (1.) His success in his wars: God helped him (Ch2 26:7), and then he triumphed over the Philistines (those old enemies of God's people), demolished the fortifications of their cities, and put garrisons of his own among them, Ch2 26:6. He obliged the Ammonites to pay him tribute, Ch2 26:8. He made all quiet about him, and kept them in awe. (2.) The greatness of his fame and reputation. His name was celebrated throughout all the neighbouring countries (Ch2 26:8) and it was a good name, a name for good things with God and good people. This is true fame, and makes a man truly honourable. (3.) His buildings. While he acted offensively abroad, he did not neglect the defence of his kingdom at home, but built towers in Jerusalem and fortified them, Ch2 26:9. Much of the wall of Jerusalem was in his father's time broken down, particularly at the corner gate. But his best fortification of Jerusalem was his close adherence to the worship of God: if his father had not forsaken this the wall of Jerusalem would not have been broken down. While he fortified the city, he did not forget the country, but built towers in the desert too (Ch2 26:10), to protect the country people from the inroads of the plunderers, bands of whom sometimes alarmed them and plundered them, as Ch2 21:16. (4.) His husbandry. He dealt much in cattle and corn, employed many hands, and got much wealth by his dealing; for he took a pleasure in it: he loved husbandry (Ch2 21:10), and probably did himself inspect his affairs in the country, which was no disparagement to him, but an advantage, as it encouraged industry among his subjects. It is an honour to the husbandman's calling that one of the most illustrious princes of the house of David followed it and loved it. He was not one of those that delight in war, nor did he addict himself to sport and pleasure, but delighted in the innocent and quiet employments of the husbandman. (5.) His standing armies. He had, as it should seem, two military establishments. [1.] A host of fighting men that were to make excursions abroad. These went out to war by bands, Ch2 21:11. They fetched in spoil from the neighbouring countries by way of reprisal for the depredations they had so often made upon Judah, [2.] Another army for guards and garrisons, that were ready to defend the country in case it should be invaded, Ch2 21:12, Ch2 21:13. So great were their number and valour that they made war with mighty power; no enemy durst face them, or, at least, could stand before them. Men unarmed can do little in war. Uzziah therefore furnished himself with a great armoury, whence his soldiers were supplied with arms offensive and defensive (Ch2 21:14), spears, bows, and slings, shields, helmets, and habergeons: swords are not mentioned, because it is probable that every man had a sword of his own, which he wore constantly. Engines were invented, in his time, for annoying besiegers with darts and stones shot from the towers and bulwarks, Ch2 21:15. What a pity it is that the wars and fightings which come from men's lusts have made it necessary for cunning men to employ their skill in inventing instruments of death.

16. Here is the only blot we find on the name of king Uzziah, and it is such a one as lies not on any other of the kings. Whoredom, murder, oppression, persecution, and especially idolatry, gave characters to the bad kings and some of them blemishes to the good ones, David himself not excepted, witness the matter of Uriah. But we find not Uzziah charged with any of these; and yet he transgressed against the Lord his God, and fell under the marks of his displeasure in consequence, not, as other kings, in vexatious wars or rebellions, but an incurable disease.
I. His sin was invading the priest's office. The good way is one; by-paths are many. The transgression of his predecessors was forsaking the temple of the Lord, flying off from it (Ch2 24:18), and burning incense upon idolatrous altars, Ch2 25:14. His was intruding into the temple of the Lord further than was allowed him, and attempting him to burn incense upon the altar of God, for which, it is likely, he pretended an extraordinary zeal and affection. See how hard it is to avoid one extreme and not run into another.
1. That which was at the bottom of his sin was pride of heart, a lust that ruins more than any other whatsoever (Ch2 26:16): When he was strong (and he was marvellously helped by the good providence of God till he was so, Ch2 26:15), when he had grown very great and considerable in wealth, interest, and power, instead of lifting up the name of God in gratitude to him who had done so much for him, his heart was lifted up to his destruction. Thus the prosperity of fools, by puffing them up with pride, destroys them. Now that he had done so much business, and won so much honour, he began to think no business, no honour, too great or too good for him, no, not that of the priesthood Men's pretending to forbidden knowledge, and exercising themselves in things too high for them, are owing to the pride of their heart, and the fleshly mind they are vainly puffed up with.
2. His sin was going into the temple of the Lord to burn incense, probably on some solemn feast day, or when he himself had some special occasion for supplicating the divine favour. What could move him to this piece of presumption, or put it into his head, I cannot conjecture. None of all his predecessors, not the best, not the worst, attempted it. The law, he knew, was express against him, and there was no usage or precedent for him. He could not pretend any necessity, as there was for David's eating the show-bread. (1.) Perhaps he fancied the priests did not do their office so dexterously, decently, and devoutly, as they ought, and he could do it better. Or, (2.) He observed that the idolatrous kings did themselves burn incense at the altars of their gods; his father did so, and Jeroboam (Kg1 13:1), an ambition of which honour was perhaps one thing that tempted them from the house of God, where it was not permitted them; and he, being resolved to cleave to God's altar, would try to break through this restraint and come as near it as the idolatrous kings did to their altars. But it is called a transgression against the Lord his God. He was not content with the honours God had put upon him, but would usurp those that were forbidden him, like our first parents.
3. He was opposed in this attempt by the chief priest and other priests that attended and assisted him, Ch2 26:17, Ch2 26:18. They were ready to burn incense for the king, according to the duty of their place; but, when he offered to do it himself, they plainly let him know that he meddled with that which did not belong to him, and that it was at his peril. They did not resist him by laying violent hands on him, though they were valiant men, but by reasoning with him and showing him, (1.) That it was not lawful for him to burn incense: "It appertaineth not to thee, O Uzziah! but to the priests, whose birthright it is, as sons of Aaron, and who are consecrated to the service." Aaron and his sons were appointed by the law to burn incense, Exo 30:7. See Deu 33:10; Ch1 23:13. David had blessed the people and Solomon and Jehoshaphat had prayed with them and preached to them. Uzziah might have done this, and it would have been to his praise; but as for burning incense, that service was to be performed by the priests only. The kingly and priestly offices were separated by the law of Moses, not to be united again but in the person of the Messiah. If Uzziah did intend to honour God, and gain acceptance with him, in what he did, he was quite out in his aim; for, being a service purely of divine institution, he could not expect it should be accepted unless it were done in the way and by the hands that God had appointed. (2.) That it was not safe. It shall not be for thy honour from the Lord God. More is implied: "It will be thy disgrace, and it is at thy peril." The law runs expressly against all strangers that came nigh (Num 3:10, Num 18:7), that is, all that were not priests. Korah and his accomplices, though Levites, paid dearly for offering to burn incense, which was the work of the priests only, Num 16:35. The incense of our prayers must be by faith put into the hands of our Lord Jesus, the great high priest of our profession, else we cannot expect it should be accepted by God, Rev 8:3.
4. He fell into a passion with the priests that reproved him, and would push forward to do what he intended notwithstanding (Ch2 26:19): Uzziah was wroth, and would not part with the censer out of his hand. He took it ill to be checked, and would not bear interference. Nitimur in vetitum - We are prone to do what is forbidden.
II. His punishment was an incurable leprosy, which rose up in his forehead while he was contending with the priests. If he had submitted to the priests' admonition, acknowledged his error, and gone back, all would have been well; but when he was wroth with the priests, and fell foul upon them, then God was wroth with him and smote him with a plague of leprosy. Josephus says that he threatened the priests with death if they opposed him, and that then the earth shook, the roof of the temple opened, and through the cleft a beam of the sun darted directly upon the king's face, wherein immediately the leprosy appeared. And some conjecture that that was the earthquake in the days of Uzziah which we read of Amo 1:1 and Zac 14:5. Now this sudden stroke, 1. Ended the controversy between him and the priests; for, when the leprosy appeared, they were emboldened to thrust him out of the temple; nay, he himself hasted to go out, because the Lord had smitten him with a disease which was in a particular manner a token of his displeasure, and which he knew secluded him from common converse with men, much more from the altar of God. He would not be convinced by what the priests said, but God took an effectual course to convince him. If presumptuous men will not be made to see their error by the judgments of God's mouth, they shall be made to see it by the judgments of his hand. It evinced some religious fear of God in the heart of this king, even in the midst of his transgression, that, as soon as he found God was angry with him, he not only let fall his attempt, but retired with the utmost precipitation. Though he strove with the priests, he would not strive with his Maker. 2. It remained a lasting punishment of his transgression; for he continued a leper to the day of his death, shut up in confinement, and shut out from society, and forced to leave it to his son to manage all his business, Ch2 26:21. Thus God gave an instance of his resisting the proud and of his jealousy for the purity and honour of his own institutions; thus he gave fair warning even to great and good men to know and keep their distance, and not to intrude into those things which they have not seen; and thus he gave Uzziah a loud and constant call to repentance, and a long space to repent, which we have reason to hope he improved. He had been a man of much business in the world; but being taken off from that, and confined to a separate house, he had leisure to think of another world and prepare for it. By this judgment upon the king God intended to possess the people with a great veneration for the temple, the priesthood, and other sacred things, which they had been apt to think meanly of. While the king was a leper, he was as good as dead, dead while he lived, and buried alive; and so the law was, in effect, answered, that the stranger who cometh nigh shall be put to death. The disgrace survived him; for, when he was dead, they would not bury him in the sepulchres of the kings because he was a leper, which stained all his other glory. 3. It was a punishment that answered the sin as face does face in a glass. (1.) Pride was at the bottom of his transgression, and thus God humbled him and put dishonour upon him. (2.) He invaded the office of the priests in contempt of them, and God struck him with a disease which in a particular manner made him subject to the inspection and sentence of the priests; for to them pertained the judgment of the leprosy, Deu 24:8. (3.) He thrust himself into the temple of God, whither the priests only had admission, and for that was thrust out of the very courts of the temple, into which the meanest of his subjects that was ceremonially clean had free access. (4.) He confronted the priests that faced him and opposed his presumption, and for that the leprosy rose in his forehead, which, in Miriam's case, is compared to her father's spitting in her face, Num 12:14. (5.) He invaded the dignity of the priesthood, which he had no right to, and for that he was deprived even of his royal dignity, which he had a right to. Those that covet forbidden honours forfeit allowed ones. Adam, by catching at the tree of knowledge of which he might not eat, debarred himself from the tree of life, of which he might have eaten. Let all that read it say, The Lord is righteous.

Adam Clarke

Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, succeeds; and begins his reign piously and prosperously, which continued during the life of Zechariah the prophet, Ch2 26:1-5. He fights successfully against the Philistines, and takes and dismantles some of their chief cities, Ch2 26:6; prevails over the Arabians and Mehunims, Ch2 26:7; and brings the Ammonites under tribute, Ch2 26:8. He fortifies Jerusalem, and builds towers in different parts of the country, and delights in husbandry, Ch2 26:9, Ch2 26:10. An account of his military strength, warlike instruments, and machines, Ch2 26:11-15. He is elated with his prosperity, invades the priest's office, and is smitten with the leprosy, Ch2 26:16-20. He is obliged to abdicate the regal office, and dwell apart from this people, his son Jotham acting as regent, Ch2 26:21. His death and burial, Ch2 26:22, Ch2 26:23.

1. The people of Judah took Uzziah - They all agreed to place this son on his father's throne.

2–4. He built Eloth - See the notes on Kg2 14:21. This king is called by several different names; see the note on Kg2 15:1.

5–6. In the days of Zechariah - Who this was we know not, but by the character that is given of him here. He was wise in the visions of God - in giving the true interpretation of Divine prophecies. He was probably the tutor of Uzziah.

7. And God helped him - "And the Word of the Lord helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gerar, and the plains of Meun." - Targum. These are supposed to be the Arabs which are called the Meuneons, or Munites, or Meonites.

8–9. The Ammonites gave gifts - Paid an annual tribute.

10–13. Built towers in the desert - For the defense of his flocks, and his shepherds and husbandmen.
And in Carmel - Calmet remarks that there were two Carmels in Judea: one in the tribe of Judah, where Nabal lived, and the other on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, near to Kishon; and both fertile in vines.
He loved husbandry - This is a perfection in a king: on husbandry every state depends. Let their trade or commerce be what they may, there can be no true national prosperity if agriculture do not prosper; for the king himself is served by the field. When, therefore, the king of a country encourages agriculture, an emulation is excited among his subjects; the science is cultivated; and the earth yields its proper increase; then, should trade and commerce fail, the people cannot be reduced to wretchedness, because there is plenty of bread.

14. Shields, and spears - He prepared a vast number of military weapons, that he might have them in readiness to put into the hands of his subjects on any exigency.

15. Engines - to shoot arrows and great stones - The Targum says, "He made in Jerusalem ingenious instruments, and little hollow towers, to stand upon the towers and upon the bastions, for the shooting of arrows, and projecting of great stones."
This is the very first intimation on record of any warlike engines for the attack or defense of besieged places; and this account is long prior to any thing of the kind among either the Greeks or Romans. Previously to such inventions, the besieged could only be starved out, and hence sieges were very long and tedious. Shalmaneser consumed three years before such an inconsiderable place as Samaria, Kg2 17:5, Kg2 17:6; Sardanapalus maintained himself in Nineveh for seven years, because the besiegers had no engines proper for the attack and destruction of walls, etc., and it is well known that Troy sustained a siege of ten years, the Greeks not possessing any machine of the kind here referred to. The Jews alone were the inventors of such engines; and the invention took place in the reign of Uzziah, about eight hundred years before the Christian era. It is no wonder that, in consequence of this, his name spread far abroad, and struck terror into his enemies.

16–19. He transgressed against the Lord - "He sinned against the Word of the Lord his God." - T.
Went into the temple to burn incense - Thus assuming to himself the priest's office. See this whole transaction explained in the notes on Kg2 15:5 (note).

20. Because the Lord had smitten him - "Because the Word of the Lord had brought the plague upon him." - T.

21. And dwelt in a several house - He was separated, because of the infectious nature of his disorder, from all society, domestic, civil, and religious.
Jotham - was over the king's house - He became regent of the land; his father being no longer able to perform the functions of the regal office.

22. The rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet - write - This work, however, is totally lost; for we have not any history of this king in the writings of Isaiah. He is barely mentioned, Isa 1:1; Isa 6:1.

23. They buried him - in the field of the burial - As he was a leper, he was not permitted to be buried in the common burial-place of the kings; as it was supposed that even a place of sepulture must be defiled by the body of one who had died of this most afflictive and dangerous malady.

John Gill

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 26

This chapter relates the good reign of Uzziah, Ch2 26:1, his wars and victories, his buildings, the number of his soldiers, and his military stores, Ch2 26:6, his invasion of the priest's office, in attempting to offer incense, for which he was smitten with a leprosy, which continued to his death, Ch2 26:16.

1–4. Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah,.... Of this and the three following verses, see the notes on Kg2 14:21 where Uzziah is called Azariah. See Gill on Kg2 14:21, Kg2 14:22, Kg2 15:2, Kg2 15:3

2 Chronicles 26:5

ch2 26:5
ch2 26:5
ch2 26:5And he sought God in the days of Zechariah,.... Not that Zechariah, the last of the prophets save one, he lived three hundred years after this; nor he that Joash slew; but, as it may seem, a son of his, perhaps the same with him in Isa 8:2,

who had understanding in the visions of God: who either had prophetic visions granted to him, or had divine wisdom to interpret such that others had; or, as others think, had a gift of interpreting the prophecies of others, the writings of Moses and David, &c. to which the Targum seems to agree; which paraphrases it,"who taught in the fear of the Lord;''with which agree the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; some copies read "in the fear of God"; as an ancient manuscript mentioned by Junius, and so the Talmud (l):

and, as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper; in his kingdom, and against his enemies; even so long as he abode by the word, worship, and ordinances of God, of which instances are given, as follow.

(l) Vid. Buxtorf. Lex. in rad.

5. And he went forth, and warred against the Philistines,.... Who in the times of Jehoram broke in upon Judah, and distressed them, Ch2 21:16.

and brake down the wall of Gath; which was one of the five principalities of the Philistines:

and the wall of Jabneh; nowhere else mentioned in Scripture, but frequent in the Jewish writings; where the sanhedrim sometimes sat, and where was a famous university, and from whence sprung many of the Jewish rabbins; it is the same which in some writers is called Jamnia, and was a port near to Joppa; and belonged to the tribe of Dan, as Josephus (m) writes:

and the wall of Ashdod: another of the principalities of the Philistines, the same with the Azotus of the New Testament; he dismantled all these places:

and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines; where he placed garrisons to keep them in awe; see Amo 1:8.

(m) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 22.

6. And God helped him against the Philistines,.... He did not do all before related of himself, and by his own strength, but by the help of God; the Targum is"the Word of the Lord helped him:"

and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal; the same with Gerar, according to the Targum; which also belonged to the Philistines, and had a king in Abraham's time, Gen 20:1, the same with Askelon, another of the five principalities of the Philistines:

and the Mehunims; or the Minaeans, as the Septuagint, and whom Pliny (n) makes mention of among the Arabians; they seem to be the Scenite Arabs; see Ch2 20:1, or rather, as the Targum, those that dwelt in the plain of Maon, which was in Arabia Petraea.

(n) Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28.

7. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah,.... As tributaries to him, or; however, as desirous to live in friendship with him:

and his name spread abroad, even to the entering in of Egypt; so far he carried his arms, and conquered the countries that lay between Palestine and Egypt:

for he strengthened himself exceedingly; his kingdom and its coasts from the force of enemies.

8. Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate,.... Which was broken down by the king of Israel in his father's time, Ch2 25:23 and which he not only repaired, but strengthened, by building a tower upon it:

and at the valley gate; which led to the valley, Neh 2:13, called the valley of the dead bodies, in which they were cast, and in which the brook Kidron ran, Jer 31:40.

and at the turning of the wall; at each of those places he built towers, which Josephus (o) says were one hundred and fifty cubits high: and fortified them; put garrisons of soldiers into them.

(o) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 3.

9. Also he built towers in the desert,.... In the desert of Arabia, to protect travellers from thieves and robbers, and particularly shepherds and their flocks, as appears by what follows; which a certain writer (p) thinks are the same which the Indians call pagodas; not such as served for temples, but were buildings encompassed with good walls, where flocks were gathered together in case of any alarm:

and digged many wells; for the watering of the flocks, which in those hot and desert places were of great use:

for he had much cattle, both in the low country and in the plains; both flocks and herds:

husbandmen also, and vinedressers in the mountains; husbandmen to take care of the corn, and manure the land for that, and gather it when ripe; and vinedressers to prune the vines, and look after them; which were very often planted on mountains, and on which also corn grew, Psa 72:16.

and in Carmel; a place in the tribe of Judah, where Nabal dwelt, Sa1 25:2 or it may be put for any fruitful field:

for he loved husbandry; not only the profit, but the exercise of it at times; and it was usual with great personages in the eastern countries to employ themselves in some such way; Saul after he was king attended the herd, Sa1 11:5, Mesha king of Moab was a sheep master, Kg2 3:4, among the Romans, Quinctius Cincinnatus and Cato Major (q) were great lovers of husbandry; and we read of one of the Chinese emperors that gave himself to husbandry, held the plough himself, broke the clods, and cast in the seed, to set an example to the whole empire (r). Another of their emperors gave himself wholly to husbandry (s); an other chose an husbandman for his successor, and who also encouraged husbandry (t).

(p) Agreement of Customs between the East Indians and Jews, art. 13. p. 61. (q) In Cicero de Senectute. (r) Martin. Sinic. Hist. l. 8. p. 326. (s) Ib. l. 4. p. 92. (t) Ib. l. 1. p. 29, 32.

10. Moreover, Uzziah had an host of fighting men,.... A standing army:

that went out to war by bands; to annoy his enemies, and to scour the country from thieves and robbers, that came in troops to plunder:

according to the number of their account, by the hand of Jeiel the scribe; the secretary of war, who ordered these bands, settled their number, and directed their destination:

and Maaseiah the ruler; or officer over them, a lieutenant:

under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains; that had the command of them, or at least of one of them.

11. The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand six hundred. Who were the commanders and principal officers of his army; and such a number supposed a large army, as follows.
The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand six hundred. Who were the commanders and principal officers of his army; and such a number supposed a large army, as follows.
2 Chronicles 26:13

ch2 26:13
ch2 26:13
ch2 26:13And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred,.... Which was larger than that in his father's time by 7500, Ch2 25:5 besides officers:

that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy; they were ready to fight, and fight valiantly, whenever the king had any occasion for them, or the land was invaded.

12. And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host,.... For every soldier in the army:

shields and spears; defensive and offensive weapons, the one to cover and protect their bodies, the other to push and pierce their enemies:

and helmets, and habergeons; the first of these were a covering for the head in the day of battle, and the other coats of mail, to defend the body:

and bows; to shoot arrows out of:

and slings to cast stones; at which the Benjaminites formerly were very expert.

13. And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers, and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal,.... Such as with the Romans were called "catapultae", "ballistae" (u), "scorpiones" (w), &c. and by this it appears that these were not first invented in Greece and Rome, but in Judea. It is said (x), that the Romans received the machine to batter cities from the Greeks, and that the Trojan horse was no other than a battering ram; but if they did, the invention of them must be ascribed, not to them, but rather to the Syrians and Phoenicians, according to Pliny (y); though others (z) suppose the Carthaginians, who were a colony of theirs, to be the inventors of them; yet, after all, they seem to be the device of some skilful men among the Jews, in the times of Uzziah; according to Diodorus Siculus (a), they were not found out when Nineveh was besieged in the times of Sardanapalus:

and his name spread far abroad; in distant countries, for his warlike dispositions and preparations, which made them stand in fear of him:

for he was helped until he was strong; he was wonderfully helped by the Lord to build fortified places, raise a numerous army, and provide all sorts of armour for them, and invent such machines as would greatly annoy the enemy, whereby he became very potent, and injected dread round about him.

(u) Cicero. Tusculan. Quaest. l. 2. Tacit. Hist. l. 3. c. 23. (w) Ammian. Marcellin. l. 23. (x) Vid. Valtrinum de re militari Roman. l. 5. c. 6. (y) Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56. (z) Vitruvius de Architectura, l. 10. c. 19. Tertullian. de Pallio, c. 1. & Salmasius in ib. Vid. Turnebi Adversaria, l. 29. c. 18. (a) Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 113.

14. When he was strong,.... Became great and powerful, through his victories, the enlargement of his dominions, and having a numerous army, and these well accoutred, and many fortified cities and towers:

his heart was lifted up to his destruction; he grew vain and proud, elated with his flourishing circumstances, which issued in his ruin:

for he transgressed against the Lord his God; who had helped him, and made him so great, and had bestowed so many favours upon him; the Targum is,"the Word of the Lord his God;''what his transgression was, follows:

and went into the temple of the Lord; the holy place, into which none but the priests might enter:

to burn incense upon the altar of incense; which stood there.

15. And Azariah the priest went in after him,.... To hinder him from doing it, and to persuade him to go out. This was the high priest, as appears from Ch2 26:20 and is thought to be the same that is spoken of in Ch1 6:10.

and with him eighty priests of the Lord, that were valiant men; not only able bodied men, but men of spirit and courage, and zealous for the honour of God.

16. And they withstood Uzziah the king,.... They not only stood against him, but stood about him, surrounded him, so as to hinder him from approaching the altar of incense:

and said unto him, it appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord; it did not belong to his office as a king, it was no part of it

but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense; and to them only; for even the Levites might not do it, only those of the tribe of Levi, that descended from Aaron, see Num 16:35,

go out of the sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed; by going into that:

neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God; but to his hurt, and be a brand of infamy upon him; for more is designed than is expressed, and as the event showed.

17. Then Uzziah was wroth,.... With the priests, and, as Josephus (b) says, threatened to kill them:

and had a censer in his hand to burn incense; ready to do it, and resolved upon it:

and while he was wroth with the priests; and expressing his indignation, and do what he would do to them, if they continued to oppose him:

the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar; which seems not only to describe the position of the priests, being beside the altar of incense, to keep the king from it, when the leprosy was seen by them in his forehead, but the quarter from whence the stroke invisibly came. Josephus (c) says, there was earthquake at the same time, and a mountain was rent.

(b) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 4. (c) lbid.

18. And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead,.... He was leprous all over his body, no doubt, but it appeared in his forehead very remarkably, and was seen by them all, who, without doubt, informed him of his case, and of which he soon became sensible:

and they thrust him out from thence; the holy place, he being now unfit to be in a common dwelling house, or his own palace, and much less to be in the house of God:

yea, himself also hasted to go out, because the Lord had smitten him; fearing, should he continue there, that something worse would befall him; the Targum is, the Word of the Lord. The leprosy was a disease sent immediately from God, as the case of Miriam, and this of Uzziah, show; and so the Persians (d) had a notion, that those had it who sinned against the sun, and for that reason, and which they accounted and worshipped as God.

(d) Herodot. Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 138.

19. And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper,.... See Gill on Kg2 15:5,

for he was cut off from the house of the Lord; not, suffered to enter into that, because of his uncleanness:

and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land; see Kg2 15:5.

20. Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last,.... What were done by him, both in the beginning and latter end of his reign:

did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write: not in his own prophecy, but in the history of his own times, which was usual for every prophet to write, though now lost, see Kg2 15:6.

21. So Uzziah slept with his fathers,.... Died as they did, the same year, according to Dr. Lightfoot (e), in which he was smitten with the leprosy; and in the year of his death it was Isaiah had the vision related in Isa 6:1, &c.

and they buried him with his fathers; See Gill on Kg2 15:7.

(e) Works, vol. 1. p. 99.

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 27

JFB

UZZIAH SUCCEEDS AMAZIAH AND REIGNS WELL IN THE DAYS OF ZECHARIAH. (Ch2 26:1-8)

Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah--(See on Kg2 14:21; Kg2 15:1).

2–4. He built Eloth--or, "He it was who built Eloth." The account of the fortifications of this port on the Red Sea, which Uzziah restored to the kingdom of Judah (Ch2 33:13), is placed before the chronological notices (Ch2 26:3), either on account of the importance attached to the conquest of Eloth, or from the desire of the historian to introduce Uzziah as the king, who was known as the conqueror of Eloth. Besides, it indicates that the conquest occurred in the early part of his reign, that it was important as a port, and that Hebrew merchants maintained the old trade between it and the countries of the East [BERTHEAU].

5. he sought God in the days of Zechariah--a wise and pious counsellor, who was skilled in understanding the meaning and lessons of the ancient prophecies, and who wielded a salutary influence over Uzziah.

6. he went forth and warred against the Philistines--He overcame them in many engagements--dismantled their towns, and erected fortified cities in various parts of the country, to keep them in subjection.

Jabneh--the same as Jabneel (Jos 15:11).

7. Gur-baal--thought by some to be Gerar, and by others Gebal.

8. the Ammonites gave gifts--The countries east of the Jordan became tributary to him, and by the rapid succession and extent of his victories, his kingdom was extended to the Egyptian frontier.

9. HIS BUILDINGS. (Ch2 26:9-10)

Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem, &c.--whence resistance could be made, or missiles discharged against assailants. The sites of the principal of these towers were: at the corner gate (Ch2 25:23), the northwest corner of the city; at the valley gate on the west, where the Joppa gate now is; at the "turning"--a curve in the city wall on the eastern side of Zion. The town, at this point, commanded the horse gate which defended Zion and the temple hill on the southeast [BERTHEAU].

10. Also he built towers in the desert--for the threefold purpose of defense, of observation, and of shelter to his cattle. He dug also a great many wells, for he loved and encouraged all branches of agriculture. Some of these "were in the desert," that is, in the district to the southeast of Jerusalem, on the west of the Dead Sea, an extensive grazing district "in the low country" lying between the mountains of Judah and the Mediterranean; "and in the plains," east of the Jordan, within the territory of Reuben (Deu 4:43; Jos 20:8).

in Carmel--This mountain, being within the boundary of Israel, did not belong to Uzziah; and as it is here placed in opposition to the vine-bearing mountains, it is probably used, not as a proper name, but to signify, as the word denotes, "fruitful fields" (Margin).

11–14. HIS HOST, AND ENGINES OF WAR. (Ch2 26:11-15)

an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands--He raised a strong body of militia, divided into companies or regiments of uniform size, which served in rotation. The enumeration was performed by two functionaries expert in the drawing up of military muster-rolls, under the superintendence of Hananiah, one of the high officers of the crown. The army consisted of 307,500 picked men, under the command of two thousand gallant officers, chiefs or heads of fathers' houses, so that each father's house formed a distinct band. They were fully equipped with every kind of military accoutrements, from brazen helmets, a habergeon or coat of mail, to a sling for stones.

15. he made . . . engines, invented by cunning men . . . to shoot arrows and great stones--This is the first notice that occurs in history of the use of machines for throwing projectiles. The invention is apparently ascribed to the reign of Uzziah, and PLINY expressly says they originated in Syria.

he was marvellously helped till he was strong--He conducted himself as became the viceroy of the Divine King, and prospered.

16–20. HE INVADES THE PRIEST'S OFFICE, AND IS SMITTEN WITH LEPROSY. (Ch2 26:16-21)

he transgressed against the Lord, &c.--(See on Kg2 15:5). This daring and wicked act is in both records traced to the intoxicating influence of overweening pride and vanity. But here the additional circumstances are stated, that his entrance was opposed, and strong remonstrances made (Ch1 6:10) by the high priest, who was accompanied by eighty inferior priests. Rage and threats were the only answers he deigned to return, but God took care to vindicate the sacredness of the priestly office. At the moment the king lifted the censer, He struck him with leprosy. The earthquake mentioned (Amo 1:1) is said to have been felt at the moment [JOSEPHUS].

21–22. dwelt in a several house--in an infirmary [BERTHEAU].

23. they buried him . . . in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings--He was interred not in, but near, the sepulcher of the kings, as the corpse of a leper would have polluted it.

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 27