UZZIAH, us-zai'a (AZARIAH): Ninth king of
Judah, son and successor of Amaziah (q.v.). His
dates, according to the old chronology, are 808-758;
according to Kamphausen,
77?-736; according to
K. Marti
(EB, i.
797-798), 789-740. His name ap
pears in various forms in the Hebrew: `Uzziyyahu
(
The narrative in If Kings xiv. 21-22, xv. 1-?
makes Uzziah succeed to the throne at the age of
sixteen, assigns to him a reign of fifty-two years,
gives him a good character, even though the high
places were not removed, states that he restored
the possession of Elath (on the eastern arm of the
Red Sea) to Judah and so implies the reconquest of
Edom, and that he became a leper, on account of
which his son Jotham acted as regent. II Chron.
xxvi, agrees with Kings so far as this narrative
goes, but adds: (1) that Uzziah warred successfully
against the Philistines, Arabians, arid Meunim, and
that the Ammonites became tributary; (2) that
he strengthened the fortifications of Jerusalem;
(3)- developed a strong military establishment; (4)
engaged extensively in pastoral, agricultural, and
viticultural pursuits; and (5) that, puffed up with
pride in his achievements, he became vain and en
tered the Temple to burn incense, (according to the
Chronicler) an exclusively priestly prerogative, and
that,
in
spite of priestly remonstrance, he persisted
in his purpose and was stricken on the spot with
leprosy. While the Chronicler's explanation of the
cause of the leprosy may be regarded as a late midrashic legend, the details regarding Uzziah's military
measures receive incidental and weighty corroboration (cf. J. F. McCurdy, in The Expositor, Nov.,
1891). The success of the Assyrians in their assaults
on the Syrian powers would naturally result in such
measures of defense as stronger fortifications and
increase in munitions and forces, and in the creation of such engines of war as are attributed to
Uzziah. Moreover, the control of Philistine terriOry shown by Hezekiah only s few years later
must have dated from this reign (cf.
The passage in the annals of the great TiglathFileser (most accessible in Eng. transl. in
DB; iv.
844; see Assyxie, VI., 3, § 9, cf. VI., '2, § 1) which
refers to "Azariah of Yaudi" is now by
most
scholars held not to refer to the subject of thus
sketch but to a king Azariah of a territory called
Yaudi (the writing o_ which might easily be read
as the Assyrian equivalent of " Judah ") not far
from Alesandretta Bay in northwestern Syria. The
places named in connection with the confederation
against the Assyrians of which the document speaks
are regarded as too - remote from Judah to permit
Aaariah of Judah to' take the leadership in such a
confederation (cf., however, J. F. McCurdy, His
tory, Prophecy, and the Monuments, i. 413-415,
New
York,
1894).
A matter of some interest is the occurrence in Uzziah's reign of an earthquake which
was so severe as to serve as a sort of date of reckoning
(
Bibliography: Besides the pertinent sections in the literature under Ahab; and Israel, History or, consult: E. Sehrader, Reilinsen: s,:en and Geschichtslm'8chung, Giessen. 1878; H. Winckler, Alttestamentliche Forschungen, .i. 123, Leipsic, 1893; J. F. McCurdy, in Expositor, Nov., 1891, pp. 388 sqq.; idem. History, Prophecy, and the Monuments, i. 348-3b1, 413-415, New York, 1894; T. K. Cheyue, Introduction to as Book of Isaiah, pp. 4, 18 sqq., London, 1895; C. F. Kent, Student's O. T., ii. 282 sqq., New York. 1905; Schrader, %AT, i. 54 sqq., 282; DB, iv. 843-845; BB, iv. 5240-44; JE, rii. 393-394.
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