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2 Chronicles 26 KJV

Uzziah King of Judah

Historical Narrative 5 min 23 verses 721 words Ezra uzziah ร—12 incense ร—6 king ร—5 priests ร—5 built ร—4

2 Chronicles Chapter 26: Uzziah King of Judah

Uzziah's engines of war, crafted by 'cunning men' and mounted on towers to hurl stones and arrows, represent one of the earliest biblical depictions of mechanical siege technology, reflecting Judah's adaptation of Assyrian military innovations during a period of regional expansion.

T1๐Ÿ”—hen all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.

2๐Ÿ”— He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

3๐Ÿ”— Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His motherโ€™s name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

4๐Ÿ”— And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did.

5๐Ÿ”— And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.

6๐Ÿ”— And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

7๐Ÿ”— And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims.

8๐Ÿ”— And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.

9๐Ÿ”— Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.

10๐Ÿ”— Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry.

11๐Ÿ”— Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the kingโ€™s captains.

12๐Ÿ”— The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred.

13๐Ÿ”— And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.

14๐Ÿ”— And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.

15๐Ÿ”— 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. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.

16๐Ÿ”— But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

17๐Ÿ”— And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men:

18๐Ÿ”— And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.

19๐Ÿ”— Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.

20๐Ÿ”— And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.

21๐Ÿ”— And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the kingโ€™s house, judging the people of the land.

22๐Ÿ”— Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

23๐Ÿ”— So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah โ€” (See on 2Ki 14:21; 2Ki 15:1).

Classic verse-by-verse commentary on 2 Chronicles 26 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: Uzziah succeeds amaziah and reigns well in the days of zechariah; His buildings; His host, and engines of war; He invades the priest's office, and is smitten with leprosy.

1
Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah โ€” (See on 2Ki 14:21; 2Ki 15:1).
2
He built Eloth โ€” 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 (2Ch 33:13), is placed before the chronological notices (2Ch 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].
Read all 13 notes on 2 Chronicles 26 โ†’
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Chapter Context

Did You Know?

1

Uzziah's engines of war, crafted by 'cunning men' and mounted on towers to hurl stones and arrows, represent one of the earliest biblical depictions of mechanical siege technology, reflecting Judah's adaptation of Assyrian military innovations during a period of regional expansion.

2

The immediate outbreak of leprosy on Uzziah's forehead while he grips the censer inside the temple functions as a precise theological sign, echoing the forehead markings of divine ownership or judgment elsewhere in Scripture and enforcing the boundary between royal and priestly domains.

3

Uzziah's agricultural projects. Digging wells in the desert, tower construction for shepherds, and oversight of vinedressers. Reveal a deliberate royal strategy to reclaim arid land and secure food supplies, illustrating how Chronicles links covenant faithfulness to both military and economic dominion.

4

The eighty priests who confront the king alongside Azariah form a collective priestly resistance unique in Chronicles, modeling institutional checks on monarchy and prefiguring later conflicts between Hasmonean rulers and the temple hierarchy.

5

Uzziah's burial in the adjacent 'field of the burial which belonged to the kings' rather than the royal tombs physically enacts his permanent exclusion from sacred space, a detail that underscores leprosy as both personal affliction and ongoing ritual disqualification for his dynasty.