Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah ,.... Of this and the three following verses, see the notes on 2 Kings 14:21 where Uzziah is called Azariah. See Gill on 2 Kings 14:21 , 2 Kings 14:22 , 2 Kings 15:2 , 2 Kings 15:3 read more
He built Eloth - See the notes on 2 Kings 14:21 . This king is called by several different names; see the note on 2 Kings 15:1 . read more
Premature responsibility, etc. In these verses we have a picture or a suggestion of— I. PREMATURE RESPONSIBILITY . "All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king." They all agreed to set a lad upon the throne. Events seem to have justified their course; and if Zechariah the prophet, or, what is more likely, some prominent "prince of Judah," acted as prime minister or protector, he may have succeeded even in the earlier years of his... read more
Uzziah the prosperous. I. A YOUTHFUL SOVEREIGN . ( 2 Chronicles 26:1-3 .) 1 . His names. Uzziah, "Might of Jehovah" ( 2 Kings 15:13 , 2 Kings 15:30 , 2 Kings 15:32 , 2 Kings 15:34 ; Isaiah 1:1 ; Isaiah 6:1 ; Amos 1:1 ; Zechariah 14:5 ); Azariah, "Whom Jehovah aids" ( 2 Kings 14:21 ; 2 Kings 15:1 , 2 Kings 15:6 , 2 Kings 15:8 , 2 Kings 15:17 , 2 Kings 15:23 , 2 Kings 15:27 ; 1 Chronicles 3:12 );—the former, the designation taken by or conferred... read more
The reign of fifty-two years spoiled in an hour. Many a reign, indeed, was a spoiled reign which had begun well, promised well, and continued well for some length, of time. But the reign of Uzziah, of all the reigns of Judah and of Israel the longest with the one exception of that of Manasseh, and particularly full of prosperity, and remarkably varied prosperity within, of success in just foreign wars, and of that which led to these things, viz. the most gracious tokens of the Divine... read more
Eloth ; Hebrew, אֶת־אֵילוֹת ; the parallel reads אֵילַת . This place was at the head of the Gulf Akaba ( 2 Chronicles 8:17 ; 1 Kings 9:26 ); Judah had lost hold of it at a past revolt of Edom, and Uzziah, after his father's crippling of Edom, seizes the opportunity of making it Judah's again and rebuilding it, thus finishing very probably a work that he knew had been in his father's heart to do. This consideration may explain alike the following clause in our verse. and the placing... read more
Prosperity followed by disaster (25:1-28:27)Succeeding kings of Israel are passed over in silence (2 Kings 13:1-25). Judah was to have nothing to do with the northern kingdom, not even to the hiring of Israelite soldiers. Amaziah took the advice, and was rewarded with victory in a battle against Edom. But the victory, instead of increasing his dependence on God, gave him a feeling of independence. He turned from God and worshipped idols. The ungodly northern kingdom then became God’s instrument... read more
king: i.e. Amaziah. slept with his fathers. See note on Deuteronomy 31:16 . read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Chronicles 26:1-15
We have here an account of two things concerning Uzziah:? I. His piety. In this he was not very eminent or zealous; yet he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. He kept up the pure worship of the true God as his father did, and was better than his father, inasmuch as we have no reason to think he ever worshipped idols as his father did, no, not in his latter days, when his heart was lifted up. It is said (2 Chron. 26:5), He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who, some think, was... read more