And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper ,.... See Gill on 2 Kings 15:5 , for he was cut off from the house of the Lord ; not, suffered to enter into that, because of his uncleanness: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land ; see 2 Kings 15:5 . read more
And dwelt in a several house - He was separated, because of the infectious nature of his disorder, from all society, domestic, civil, and religious. Jotham - was over the king ' s house - He became regent of the land; his father being no longer able to perform the functions of the regal office. 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
A clouded close. We could have wished that the end of Uzziah's life had answered to the beginning; that a reign which began so well, which had so commendable and even distinguished a record, bad closed in light and honour. But it was not to be. That powerful temptation which assails the strong and the victorious proved too powerful for the Hebrew king; he fell beneath its force, and he paid a heavy penalty for his fall. We have— I. A PAINFUL SPECTACLE in the person of a leprous... read more
Uzziah the leprous. I. UZZIAH 'S TRANSGRESSION . Pride. "His heart was lifted up." This the inevitable tendency of too much material and temporal prosperity ( Deuteronomy 8:13 , Deuteronomy 8:14 ). Exemplified in Amaziah ( 2 Chronicles 25:18 , 2 Chronicles 25:19 ; 2 Kings 14:9 ), Sennacherib ( 2 Chronicles 32:31 ; 2 Kings 18:19-35 ), Nebuchadnezzar ( Daniel 4:30-34 ; Daniel 5:20 ). 2 . The nature of it. "He went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense... read more
And dwelt in a several house. The Hebrew for "several house" is הַחָפְשׁוֹת : the parallel ( 2 Kings 15:5 ) showing yod instead of van in the last syllable. The verbal root is חָפַשׁ , and occurs once (Le 19:20, with the Authorized Version rendering "was free;" in the same verse is also found a feminine noun derived from it, and rendered in the Authorized Version "freedom''). The adjective חָפְשִׁי occurs sixteen times, and is always rendered in the Authorized Version... read more
A several house - See the marginal reference “q” note; and compare Psalms 88:0, which is supposed by some to refer to Uzziah. read more
2 Chronicles 26:21. Uzziah was a leper unto the day of his death God would have this leprosy to be incurable, as a lasting monument of his anger against such presumptuous invaders of the priest’s office. Dwelt in a several house, &c. As he was obliged to do by law, which he durst not now resist, being under the hand of God, and under the fear of worse plagues, if he did not so. For he was cut off from the house of the Lord He dwelt in a several house, because he might not come into... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Chronicles 26:16-23
Here is the only blot we find on the name of king Uzziah, and it is such a one as lies not on any other of the kings. Whoredom, murder, oppression, persecution, and especially idolatry, gave characters to the bad kings and some of them blemishes to the good ones, David himself not excepted, witness the matter of Uriah. But we find not Uzziah charged with any of these; and yet he transgressed against the Lord his God, and fell under the marks of his displeasure in consequence, not, as other... read more