2 Chronicles 26:1

THE REIGN OF UZZIAH (AZARIAH IN KINGS) OVER JUDAH

IX. UZZIAH (783-742 B.C.)

UZZIAH SUCCEEDS AMAZIAH AS KING

"And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah. He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers. Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jechiliah, of Jerusalem. And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. And 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 Jehovah, God made him to prosper."

"Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign" (2 Chronicles 26:3). The youth of Uzziah probably accounts for the fact that the conspirators against Amaziah waited so long to murder him; for they had surely determined to do so as soon as he worshipped the gods of Edom, an event that took place when Uzziah was an infant.

"He did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah" (2 Chronicles 26:4). As in the case of his father, this only means that he began well. Later in the chapter, we learn of the corruption that fell upon him.

His was a long and powerful reign indeed. "He successfully defended Judah against the belligerent Ammonites, Philistines and Arabians, developed a strong standing army, and rebuilt the nation's fortifications. He even reopened the Red Sea port of Eloth, and promoted commerce."[1] Eloth is the same as Ezion-geber.