Uzziah

Uzziah, also called Azariah, was the son of Amaziah and king of Judah. He came to the throne as a youth, reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-two years, sought God under the instruction of the prophet Zechariah, and prospered in war, building, and agriculture. At the height of his strength his heart was lifted up; he trespassed against Yahweh by burning incense in the temple, and the leprosy broke forth in his forehead. He lived out his days as a leper in a separate house while his son Jotham judged the people, and his death is the date marker for Isaiah's vision of the throne.

Accession and Long Reign

Uzziah was made king by the people of Judah after his father Amaziah. The accession is recorded in both the books of Kings and Chronicles: "And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah" (2 Ki 14:21); "And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah" (2 Ch 26:1). The synchronism in 2 Ki 15:1-2 places his accession "in the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel" and gives the length of the reign: "He was sixteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem." 2 Ch 26:3 gives the same fifty-two years and names his mother Jechiliah.

His first recorded act was the rebuilding of the southern port: "He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers" (2 Ki 14:22; cf. 2 Ch 26:2, "He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah").

Righteous Beginning

The early reign is summarized in the same terms as that of his father Amaziah. "And he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, according to all that his father Amaziah had done" (2 Ki 15:3; 2 Ch 26:4). The Chronicler attaches a condition: "And he set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God: and as long as he sought Yahweh, God made him to prosper" (2 Ch 26:5). Kings notes the qualification on the worship of the people: "Nevertheless the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places" (2 Ki 15:4).

Wars, Tribute, and Building

Uzziah's military success was directed first against the Philistines: "And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in [the country of] Ashdod, and among the Philistines. And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Meunim" (2 Ch 26:6-7). Tribute followed: "And the Meunites gave tribute to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt; for he waxed exceedingly strong" (2 Ch 26:8).

Building works in the capital and the wilderness consolidated the gains. "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" (2 Ch 26:9). Outside the city he supported husbandry: "And he built towers in the wilderness, and hewed out many cisterns, for he had much cattle; in the lowland also, and in the plain: [and he had] husbandmen and vinedressers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields; for he loved husbandry" (2 Ch 26:10).

The standing army and its equipment are catalogued in detail. He had "an army of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their reckoning made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains" (2 Ch 26:11). The muster ran to "two thousand and six hundred" heads of fathers' houses, with "three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred" fighting men under their hand (2 Ch 26:12-13). Uzziah supplied "shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and stones for slinging," and "made in Jerusalem engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and on the battlements, with which to shoot arrows and great stones" (2 Ch 26:14-15). The summary clause is heavy with the irony that follows: "And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, until he was strong" (2 Ch 26:15).

Trespass at the Altar of Incense

The break comes at the moment of strength. "But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up, so that he did corruptly, and he trespassed against Yahweh his God; for he went into the temple of Yahweh to burn incense on the altar of incense" (2 Ch 26:16). Azariah the priest, with eighty priests of Yahweh, "valiant men," went in after him and confronted him: "It does not pertain to you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither will it be for your honor from Yahweh God" (2 Ch 26:17-18).

The judgment was immediate. "Then Uzziah was angry; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy broke forth in his forehead before the priests in the house of Yahweh, beside the altar of incense" (2 Ch 26:19). The priests "looked on him, and saw that he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out quickly from there; yes, he himself hurried also to go out, because Yahweh had struck him" (2 Ch 26:20).

Leprosy and Regency

From that day Uzziah lived under quarantine. "And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land" (2 Ch 26:21). Kings tells the same story in summary: "And Yahweh struck the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house. And Jotham the king's son was over the household, judging the people of the land" (2 Ki 15:5).

Death and Burial

The closing notice in Kings gives the standard formula: "And Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead" (2 Ki 15:7). Chronicles adds the qualification imposed by his disease: "So Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead" (2 Ch 26:23).

History Written by Isaiah

The Chronicler names the author of the prophetic record: "Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote" (2 Ch 26:22). Isaiah's own book opens by dating his ministry within the same reign and those that followed: "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah" (Isa 1:1).

The Year of His Death

The death of Uzziah is the date marker for Isaiah's throne vision: "In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple" (Isa 6:1). His name is also the chronological anchor in Hosea's superscription: "The word of Yahweh that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel" (Hos 1:1).

The Earthquake in His Days

A separate datum fixes a particular event in his reign. Amos opens by dating his oracles "in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake" (Amos 1:1). Long afterward Zechariah recalls the same event: "And you⁺ will flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you⁺ will flee, like you⁺ fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah; and Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with you" (Zec 14:5).