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The Histories · Old Testament

2 Chronicles 26

2 Chronicles 26: Uzziah's strength and his leprosy in the temple

General context

All the people of Judah make Uzziah king at sixteen in place of Amaziah, and he builds Eloth and restores it to Judah. He reigns fifty-two years; his mother is Jecoliah. He does right as Amaziah did and seeks God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; as long as he seeks the Lord, God makes him prosper. He breaks the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod and builds cities among the Philistines; God helps him against Philistines, Arabians and Mehunims; the Ammonites give gifts and his name reaches the border of Egypt. He builds towers in Jerusalem and the desert, digs wells for his cattle and keeps farmers and vinedressers because he loves husbandry. His army, counted by Jeiel and Maaseiah under Hananiah, has 2,600 heads of families over 307,500 armed men, with engines on the towers to shoot arrows and stones. His name spreads far, for he is marvellously helped until he is strong. When strong, his heart is lifted up; he enters the temple to burn incense. Azariah the priest and eighty priests withstand him, saying incense belongs to the sons of Aaron, and tell him to leave. Uzziah is angry, censer in hand, and leprosy rises in his forehead beside the incense altar. The priests thrust him out and he hurries out himself because the Lord has struck him. He remains a leper until death in a separate house, cut off from the house of the Lord, while Jotham runs the king's house and judges the people. He is buried in the burial field of the kings, because they say he is a leper, and Jotham reigns.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 26:1, 2 Chronicles 26:2, 2 Chronicles 26:3, 2 Chronicles 26:4, 2 Chronicles 26:5, 2 Chronicles 26:6, 2 Chronicles 26:7, 2 Chronicles 26:8, 2 Chronicles 26:9, 2 Chronicles 26:10, 2 Chronicles 26:11, 2 Chronicles 26:12, 2 Chronicles 26:13, 2 Chronicles 26:14, 2 Chronicles 26:15, 2 Chronicles 26:16, 2 Chronicles 26:17, 2 Chronicles 26:18, 2 Chronicles 26:19, 2 Chronicles 26:20, 2 Chronicles 26:21, 2 Chronicles 26:22, 2 Chronicles 26:23

2 Chronicles 26 (KJV)

1Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.

2He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

3Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

4And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah did.

5And 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.

6And 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.

7And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunims.

8And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.

9Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.

10Also 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.

11Moreover 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 king’s captains.

12The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred.

13And 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.

14And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.

15And 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.

16But 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.

17And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant men:

18And 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.

19Then 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.

20And 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.

21And 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 king’s house, judging the people of the land.

22Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

23So 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.

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Historical context

The Zechariah in whose days Uzziah sought God is described only as one who had understanding in the visions of God; the chapter does not link him to Zechariah the son of Jehoiada who was stoned two reigns earlier. Azariah the priest, called the chief priest when the priests look at the king, shares his name with several other men in these chapters and is identified here only by his office. The narrator states the turning point as a sequence: prosperity as long as the king sought the Lord, then a lifted heart when he was strong. The accusation of the priests is that incense belongs to the consecrated sons of Aaron, and the chapter ties the leprosy to that trespass. Jotham is over the king's house and judging the people while his father is still alive and isolated, an arrangement stated without dates. The note that Eloth was restored after the king slept with his fathers refers to Amaziah. Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, is named as the writer of Uzziah's acts, and the chapter does not say where that record is. The burial is in the field belonging to the kings rather than the sepulchres, with the stated reason that he was a leper. Several place and people names, Gur-baal, the Mehunims, Jabneh, are given without further description.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 26:5, 2 Chronicles 24:20, 2 Chronicles 26:17, 2 Chronicles 26:20, 2 Chronicles 26:16, 2 Chronicles 26:18, 2 Chronicles 26:21, 2 Chronicles 26:2, 2 Chronicles 26:22, 2 Chronicles 26:23, 2 Chronicles 26:7

Literary context

The chapter has a long ascent and a short fall. Wars, buildings, wells, herds, an army with its officers and numbers, its equipment and its engines pile up in a list, and the narrator repeats that his name spread abroad and that he was helped, until one word turns the account: strong. The next sentence begins with the same word and the heart lifted up, and the whole descent occupies a few verses. The priests' speech states the rule in full, and the leprosy appears while the king is still angry and still holding the censer, so the answer arrives before he can act. His expulsion is told twice in one verse, thrust out by the priests and hurrying out himself. The man who broke down city walls and built towers ends confined to a separate house and cut off from the house he entered. The chapter closes with the word leper three times, in the account of his isolation and in the reason given at his burial, and the earlier warning to Amaziah about a heart lifted up to boast now describes the son.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 26:8, 2 Chronicles 26:15, 2 Chronicles 26:16, 2 Chronicles 26:18, 2 Chronicles 26:19, 2 Chronicles 26:20, 2 Chronicles 26:6, 2 Chronicles 26:21, 2 Chronicles 26:23, 2 Chronicles 25:19

Key moments

  1. Seeking God in Zechariah's days (2 Chronicles 26:5). Uzziah prospers as long as he seeks the Lord.
  2. A king who loved husbandry (2 Chronicles 26:10). He builds desert towers, digs wells and keeps farmers and vinedressers.
  3. Engines on the towers (2 Chronicles 26:15). Uzziah's inventions and fame grow until he is strong.
  4. Into the temple with a censer (2 Chronicles 26:16). Strong and lifted up, the king enters to burn incense himself.
  5. Eighty priests withstand him (2 Chronicles 26:18). Azariah and the priests tell him incense belongs to Aaron's sons.
  6. Leprosy in his forehead (2 Chronicles 26:19). While he rages, leprosy breaks out beside the incense altar.
  7. A leper until death (2 Chronicles 26:21). Uzziah lives apart while Jotham governs the king's house.

For reflection

The narrator ties Uzziah's fall to the moment when he was strong, right after a long list of what he built and won. Does anything in that list explain why he walked into the temple with a censer, or does the text leave the reason inside him unstated?

People in this chapter

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