Uzziah’s Reign

¹All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place.[#tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 15:1-8 has the variant spelling “Azariah.”]

²Uzziah built up Elat and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah had passed away.[#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Uzziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.; #tn Heb “after the king”; the referent (Amaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.; #tn “slept with his fathers.”]

³Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem.[#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.]

⁴He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Amaziah had done.[#tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, according to all which Amaziah his father had done.”]

⁵He followed God during the lifetime of Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed the Lord , God caused him to succeed.[#tn Heb “sought.”; #tn Heb “in the days of.”; #tn Heb “in the days of his seeking.”; #tn Or “prosper.”]

⁶Uzziah attacked the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He built cities in the region of Ashdod and throughout Philistine territory.[#tn Heb “went out and fought.”; #tn Heb “in Ashdod and among the Philistines.”]

⁷God helped him in his campaigns against the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur Baal, and the Meunites.[#tn The words “in his campaigns” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons]

⁸The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah and his fame reached the border of Egypt, for he grew in power.[#tn Heb “and his name went to.”]

⁹Uzziah built and fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, Valley Gate, and at the Angle.[#tn On the meaning of the Hebrew word מִקְצוֹעַ (miqtsoa’), see HALOT 628 s.v. עַ(וֹ)מִקְצֹ. The term probably refers to an “angle” or “corner” somewhere on the eastern wall of Jerusalem.]

¹⁰He built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns, for he owned many herds in the lowlands and on the plain. He had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and in Carmel, for he loved agriculture.[#tn Heb “Shephelah.”; #tn Heb “workers and vinedressers in the hills and in Carmel.” The words “he had” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.; #tn Heb “for a lover of the ground he [was].”]

¹¹Uzziah had an army of skilled warriors trained for battle. They were organized by divisions according to the muster rolls made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the authority of Hananiah, a royal official.

¹²The total number of family leaders who led warriors was 2,600.

¹³They commanded an army of 307,500 skilled and able warriors who were ready to defend the king against his enemies.[#tn Heb “help.”]

¹⁴Uzziah supplied shields, spears, helmets, breastplates, bows, and slingstones for the entire army.

¹⁵In Jerusalem he made war machines carefully designed to shoot arrows and large stones from the towers and corners of the walls. He became very famous, for he received tremendous support and became powerful.[#tn Heb “and his name went out to a distant place, for he did extraordinarily to be helped until he was strong.”]

¹⁶But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He disobeyed the Lord his God. He entered the Lord ’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar.[#tn Heb “his heart was high [i.e., proud] to destroy.”; #tn Or “was unfaithful to.”]

¹⁷Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests of the Lord followed him in.

¹⁸They confronted King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not proper for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the Lord . That is the responsibility of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have disobeyed and the Lord God will not honor you!”[#tn Heb “stood against.”; #tn Or “been unfaithful.”]

¹⁹Uzziah, who had an incense censer in his hand, became angry. While he was ranting and raving at the priests, a skin disease appeared on his forehead right there in front of the priests in the Lord ’s temple near the incense altar.[#tn Heb “angry.”; #tn Traditionally “leprosy,” but this was probably a skin disorder of some type, not leprosy (technically known today as Hansen’s disease). See 2 Kgs 5:1.]

²⁰When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king himself wanted to leave quickly because the Lord had afflicted him.[#tn Heb “turned toward.”; #tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.]

²¹King Uzziah suffered from a skin disease until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters, afflicted by a skin disease and banned from the Lord ’s temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.[#tn The precise meaning of בֵּית הַחָפְשִׁית (bet hakhafshiyt, “house of [?]”) is uncertain. NASB, NIV, NRSV all have “in a separate house”; NEB has “in his own house…relieved of all duties.” For a discussion of various proposals, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 166-67.]

²²The rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from start to finish, were recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.[#tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Uzziah, the former and the latter, Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, recorded.”]

²³Uzziah passed away and was buried near his ancestors in a cemetery belonging to the kings. (This was because he had a skin disease.) His son Jotham replaced him as king.[#tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”; #tn Heb “fathers.”; #tn Heb “a field of burial.”; #tn Heb “for they said, ‘He had a skin disease.’”]