5 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 prosper.
6 He went out and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the country of Ashdod, and among the Philistines.
7 God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and the Meunim.
8 The Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah. His name spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt, for he grew exceedingly strong.
9 Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.
10 He built towers in the wilderness, and dug out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plains. He had farmers and vineyard keepers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields, for he loved farming.
11 Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men who 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.
12 The whole number of the heads of fathers’ households, even the mighty men of valor, was two thousand six hundred.
13 Under their hand was an army, three hundred seven thousand five hundred, who made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
14 Uzziah prepared for them, even for all the army, shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging.
15 In Jerusalem, he made devices, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and on the battlements, with which to shoot arrows and great stones. His name spread far abroad, because he was marvelously helped until he was strong.
16 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 Yahweh’s temple to burn incense on the altar of incense.
17 Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of Yahweh, who were valiant men.
18 They resisted Uzziah the king, and said to him, “It isn’t for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed. It will not be for your honor from Yahweh God.”
19 Then Uzziah was angry. He had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in Yahweh’s house, beside the altar of incense.
20 Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead; and they thrust him out quickly from there. Indeed, he himself also hurried to go out, because Yahweh had struck him.
21 Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and lived in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from Yahweh’s house. Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.
22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote.
23 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.” Jotham his son reigned in his place.
7 passages from writers of 2 traditions, in their own words, each with their dates and tradition. The site doesn’t say who is right: read them beside the verses. About these
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Oldest first.
Josephus37–c. 100JewishAntiquities of the Jews · on 2 Chronicles 26:16–23he was corrupted in his mind by pride, and became insolent, and this on account of that abundance which he had of things that will soon perish, and despised that power which is of eternal duration … Accordingly, when a remarkable day was come, and a general festival was to be celebrated, he put on the holy garment, and went into the temple to offer incense to God upon the golden altar, which he was prohibited to do by Azariah the high priest, who had fourscore priests with him … In the mean time a great earthquake shook the ground and a rent was made in the temple, and the bright rays of the sun shone through it, and fell upon the king's face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon him immediately. … So he abode out of the city for some time, and lived a private life, while his son Jotham took the government; after which he died with grief and anxiety at what had happened to him, … and was buried by himself in his own gardens.
he was corrupted in his mind by pride, and became insolent, and this on account of that abundance which he had of things that will soon perish, and despised that power which is of eternal duration … Accordingly, when a remarkable day was come, and a general festival was to be celebrated, he put on the holy garment, and went into the temple to offer incense to God upon the golden altar, which he was prohibited to do by Azariah the high priest, who had fourscore priests with him … In the mean time a great earthquake shook the ground and a rent was made in the temple, and the bright rays of the sun shone through it, and fell upon the king's face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon him immediately. … So he abode out of the city for some time, and lived a private life, while his son Jotham took the government; after which he died with grief and anxiety at what had happened to him, … and was buried by himself in his own gardens.
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Antiquities 9.10.4; translated by William Whiston (1737); the text of Project Gutenberg. The edition
A Jewish priest from Jerusalem who fought Rome in the war of 66–70 and afterwards wrote the history of his people for Greek readers.
Matthew Henry1662–1714English PresbyterianCommentary on the Whole Bible · on 2 Chronicles 26:5He 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.
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.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 26:1–15; 1706–1714; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
An English Presbyterian minister whose commentary on the whole Bible Protestants have read for three centuries.
Matthew Henry1662–1714English PresbyterianCommentary on the Whole Bible · on 2 Chronicles 26:18They 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. … Aaron and his sons were appointed by the law to burn incense, Exo 30:7. … 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.
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. … Aaron and his sons were appointed by the law to burn incense, Exo 30:7. … 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.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 26:16–23; 1706–1714; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
An English Presbyterian minister whose commentary on the whole Bible Protestants have read for three centuries.
John Gill1697–1771BaptistAn Exposition of the Old and New Testament · on 2 Chronicles 26:18And 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 … 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.
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 … 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.
John Gill, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, on 26:18; 1746–1763; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
An English Baptist pastor in London and a scholar of Hebrew and the rabbis, who wrote a verse-by-verse commentary on the whole Bible.
John Wesley1703–1791MethodistExplanatory Notes upon the Old Testament · on 2 Chronicles 26:18–20Withstood - Heb. stood up against Uzziah, not by force, or laying hands upon him to restrain him, for in the next verse you still find the censer in his hand; but only by admonition and reproof, which follows. … Thrust - Not by force, which needed not, for he voluntarily hasted away, as it follows; but by vehement persuasions and denunciations of God's farther judgments upon him, if he did not depart.
Withstood - Heb. stood up against Uzziah, not by force, or laying hands upon him to restrain him, for in the next verse you still find the censer in his hand; but only by admonition and reproof, which follows. … Thrust - Not by force, which needed not, for he voluntarily hasted away, as it follows; but by vehement persuasions and denunciations of God's farther judgments upon him, if he did not depart.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, on 26:18 and 26:20; Bristol, 1765. The edition
The Anglican priest who began the Methodist movement; his notes on the Bible were written for ordinary readers.
Adam Clarkec. 1760–1832MethodistCommentary on the Holy Bible · on 2 Chronicles 26:10Built towers in the desert - For the defense of his flocks, and his shepherds and husbandmen. … 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.
Built towers in the desert - For the defense of his flocks, and his shepherds and husbandmen. … 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.
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible, on 26:10–13; 1810–1826; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
A Methodist preacher and scholar from Ulster, whose commentary on the whole Bible took him nearly forty years.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brownpublished 1871Presbyterian and AnglicanA Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments · on 2 Chronicles 26:23they 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.
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.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, on 26:23; 1871; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
Three ministers, two Scottish Presbyterians and an Irish Anglican, whose commentary on the whole Bible was written to be short and plain.
2 Chronicles 26
2 Chronicles 26:5–23, World English Bible
2 Chronicles 26 in the Bible · Told in the Story: Chapter 15, Amos and Hosea
What others have written
7 passages from writers of 2 traditions, in their own words, each with their dates and tradition. The site doesn’t say who is right: read them beside the verses. About these
Oldest first.
Josephus37–c. 100JewishAntiquities of the Jews · on 2 Chronicles 26:16–23he was corrupted in his mind by pride, and became insolent, and this on account of that abundance which he had of things that will soon perish, and despised that power which is of eternal duration … Accordingly, when a remarkable day was come, and a general festival was to be celebrated, he put on the holy garment, and went into the temple to offer incense to God upon the golden altar, which he was prohibited to do by Azariah the high priest, who had fourscore priests with him … In the mean time a great earthquake shook the ground and a rent was made in the temple, and the bright rays of the sun shone through it, and fell upon the king's face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon him immediately. … So he abode out of the city for some time, and lived a private life, while his son Jotham took the government; after which he died with grief and anxiety at what had happened to him, … and was buried by himself in his own gardens.
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Antiquities 9.10.4; translated by William Whiston (1737); the text of Project Gutenberg. The edition
A Jewish priest from Jerusalem who fought Rome in the war of 66–70 and afterwards wrote the history of his people for Greek readers.
Matthew Henry1662–1714English PresbyterianCommentary on the Whole Bible · on 2 Chronicles 26:5He 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.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 26:1–15; 1706–1714; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
An English Presbyterian minister whose commentary on the whole Bible Protestants have read for three centuries.
Matthew Henry1662–1714English PresbyterianCommentary on the Whole Bible · on 2 Chronicles 26:18They 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. … Aaron and his sons were appointed by the law to burn incense, Exo 30:7. … 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.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 26:16–23; 1706–1714; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
An English Presbyterian minister whose commentary on the whole Bible Protestants have read for three centuries.
John Gill1697–1771BaptistAn Exposition of the Old and New Testament · on 2 Chronicles 26:18And 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 … 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.
John Gill, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, on 26:18; 1746–1763; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
An English Baptist pastor in London and a scholar of Hebrew and the rabbis, who wrote a verse-by-verse commentary on the whole Bible.
John Wesley1703–1791MethodistExplanatory Notes upon the Old Testament · on 2 Chronicles 26:18–20Withstood - Heb. stood up against Uzziah, not by force, or laying hands upon him to restrain him, for in the next verse you still find the censer in his hand; but only by admonition and reproof, which follows. … Thrust - Not by force, which needed not, for he voluntarily hasted away, as it follows; but by vehement persuasions and denunciations of God's farther judgments upon him, if he did not depart.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, on 26:18 and 26:20; Bristol, 1765. The edition
The Anglican priest who began the Methodist movement; his notes on the Bible were written for ordinary readers.
Adam Clarkec. 1760–1832MethodistCommentary on the Holy Bible · on 2 Chronicles 26:10Built towers in the desert - For the defense of his flocks, and his shepherds and husbandmen. … 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.
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible, on 26:10–13; 1810–1826; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
A Methodist preacher and scholar from Ulster, whose commentary on the whole Bible took him nearly forty years.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brownpublished 1871Presbyterian and AnglicanA Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments · on 2 Chronicles 26:23they 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.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, on 26:23; 1871; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
Three ministers, two Scottish Presbyterians and an Irish Anglican, whose commentary on the whole Bible was written to be short and plain.