Uzziah

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("strength of Jehovah".) UZZAIH or AZARIAH. (See Azariah .) ( 2 Kings 14:2;  2 Kings 14:22;  2 Kings 15:1-7;  2 Kings 15:13), "helped by Jehovah". The two names, as nearly equivalent, were used promiscuously; so the Kohathite Uzziah and Azariah ( 1 Chronicles 6:9;  1 Chronicles 6:24) king of Judah (2 Chronicles 26).

1. A Kohathite, ancestor of Samuel ( 1 Chronicles 6:24).

2. Uzziah, king of Judah. After the murder of his father Amaziah Uzziah succeeded at the age of 16 by the people's choice, 809 B.C. Energetic, wise, and pious for most part of his 52 years' reign. His mother was Jecholiah of Jerusalem. He did not remove the high places, whereat, besides the one only lawful place, the Jerusalem temple, the people worshipped Jehovah. He recovered Elath or Eloth from Edom, which had revolted from Joram ( 2 Kings 8:20), and "built" i.e. enlarged and fortified it, at the head of the gulf of Akaba, a capital mart for his commerce. "(See Zechariah , who had understanding in the visions of God," influenced Uzziah for good so that in his days Uzziah "sought God"; he must have died before Uzziah's fall, and so cannot be the Zechariah of  Isaiah 8:2, a Levite Gershonite of Hezekiah's reign ( 2 Chronicles 29:13).

Uzziah was the biting "serpent" ( Isaiah 14:28-31) to the Philistines, out of whose "root," after that "the rod of Uzziah which smote them was broken" by their revolt under the feeble Ahaz ( 2 Chronicles 28:18), came forth a "cockatrice" and "fiery flying serpent," namely, Hezekiah ( 2 Kings 18:8). Uzziah broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod; and built cities in the domain of Ashdod and in other domains of the Philistines; this avenged Judah's invasion by the Philistines under Jehoram ( 2 Kings 21:16-17), when they carried away all the substance found in the king's house and his sons, all except the youngest Jehoahaz. Uzziah also smote the Philistines' allies in that invasion, the Arabians of Gurbaal, and the Mehunim of Mann (in Arabia Petraea S. of the Dead Sea); Ammon became tributary (compare  Isaiah 16:1-5;  2 Kings 3:4), and Uzziah's fame as a conqueror reached to Egypt, to whose borders he carried his conquests.

He built towers at the N.W. corner gate, the valley gate (on the W. side, the Jaffa gate, now opening to Hinnom), and the turning of the wall of Jerusalem, E. of Zion, so that the tower at this turning defended both Zion and the temple from attacks from the S.E. valley; and fortified them at the weakest points of the city's defenses. His army was 307,500, under 2600 chiefs, heads of fathers' houses; and they were furnished with war engines for discharging arrows and great stones. The Assyrian Tiglath Pileser II relates that in his fifth year (741 B.C.) he defeated a vast army under Azariah (Uzziah) king of Judah. (Rawlinson Anc. Mon., 2:131.) Uzziah also built towers in the desert of Judah, in the steppe lands W. of the Dead Sea, to protect his herds, a main constituent of his wealth, against the predatory bands of Edom and Arabia.

He dug many wells for cattle in the Shephelah toward the Mediterranean, (not "the low country," but the low hills between the mountain and the plain) and in the plain (the mishor) E. of the Dead Sea from the Arnon to Heshbon and Rubbath Ammon; this Uzziah probably reconquered from Ammon (verse 8) who had taken it from Israel (Keil). Husbandmen and vinedressers he had in the mountains and in Carmel, for he loved husbandry, Hosea prophesied "in the days of Uzziah" a scarcity of food ( Hosea 1:1;  Hosea 2:9;  Hosea 4:3;  Hosea 9:2). So Amos ( Amos 1:1-2;  Amos 4:6-9;  Amos 5:16-17). The precarious state of the supply of food in Israel undesignedly harmonizes with Uzziah's special attention to husbandry; as also the prophecy in the days of Uzziah's descendant, Ahaz, that "on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come there the fear of briers and thorns," etc. ( Isaiah 7:25).

But "when he was strong his heart was lifted up to his destruction" (compare  Isaiah 14:12-15), "pride going before destruction" as in Satan's, Babylon's, Tyre's, and antichrist's cases ( Ezekiel 28:2;  Ezekiel 28:17-23;  Proverbs 16:18;  Proverbs 1:32;  Proverbs 1:2 Thessalonians 2). Uzziah wished, like Egypt's kings, to make himself high priest, and so combine in himself all civil and religious power. Azariah the high priest, therefore, with 80 valiant priests, withstood his attempt to burn incense ( Exodus 30:7-8;  Numbers 16:40;  Numbers 18:7) on the incense altar. In the very height of his wrath at their resistance a leprosy from God rose up in his forehead, so that they thrust him out, yea he hasted to go out of himself, feeling it vain to resist Jehovah's stroke. So Miriam was punished for trying to appropriate Moses' prerogative (Numbers 12).

Uzziah, being thus severed from Jehovah's house, could no longer live in fellowship with Jehovah's people, but had to dwell in a separate house, counted virtually as dead ( Leviticus 13:46;  Numbers 12:12) for the year or two before his death, during which Jotham conducted the government for him; "a several house" ( 2 Kings 15:5), Beth ha-kophshi, "a house of manumission," i.e. release from the duties and privileges of social and religious intercourse with the people of God; Winer and Gesenius, from an Arabic cognate root "he was infirm," translated it "infirmary or lazar house," but the Hebrew has only the sense "free," and the Mosaic law contemplated not the cure of the patient, which could only be by God's extra. ordinary interposition, but his separation from the Lord's people. Isaiah recorded the rest of his acts first and last in a history not extant; "write" marks it as a history, "vision" is the term for his prophecy ( Isaiah 1:1).

Isaiah wrote his first five chapters under Uzziah, and had his vision in the year of Uzziah's death ( Isaiah 6:1, etc.). "They buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper"; therefore not in the tombs of the kings, but near them in the burial field belonging to them, that his body might not defile the royal tombs, probably in the earth according to our mode. One great sin blots an otherwise spotless character ( 2 Chronicles 27:2;  Ecclesiastes 10:1). A mighty earthquake occurred in Uzziah's reign; Josephus (Ant. 9:10, section 4) makes it at the time of Uzziah being smitten with leprosy; the objection is, Amos prophesied "in the days of Jeroboam of Israel, two years before the earthquake" ( Amos 1:1), and Jeroboam II died 26 years before Uzziah died; but what is meant may be, Amos' prophesying continued all the Israelite Jeroboam's days, and so far in the partly contemporary reign of the Jewish king Uzziah as "two years before the earthquake." (See Amos .)

Amos thus would speak his prophecies two years before the earthquake, but not write them out in order until after it. However, Josephus may be wrong, as but for his statement the likelihood is the earthquake was not later than the 17th year of Uzziah's reign. Zechariah ( Zechariah 14:5) alludes to the earthquake, the physical premonitor of convulsions in the social, political, and spiritual world; compare  Matthew 24:7. In the century from Jehu of Israel until late in Uzziah's reign over Judah the Assyrian annals are silent as to Scripture persons and events. Assyria's weakness just then harmonizes with the Scripture statement of the extension of Israel by Jeroboam II and of Judah by Uzziah. Only in the time of Assyria's weakness could such small states have attempted conquests such as those of Menahem ( 2 Kings 15:16).

3. Of the sons of Harim; took a foreign wife ( Ezra 10:21).

4. Father of Athaiah or Uthai ( Nehemiah 11:4).

5. Father of Jehonathan, one of David's overseers ( 1 Chronicles 27:25).

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

Much of the information about the period of Uzziah (or Azariah) comes from the prophets of the time, Amos and Hosea ( Amos 1:1;  Hosea 1:1). Uzziah was king of Judah for 52 years (791-739 BC;  2 Kings 15:1-2;  2 Chronicles 26:1), and for much of that time Judah was untroubled by foreign neighbours. Under Uzziah’s leadership the nation prospered.

The favourable political conditions of the time enabled Uzziah to expand Judah’s power in every direction. To the south and west he overran Arab and Philistine territory ( 2 Chronicles 26:6-7), spreading his influence to the borders of Egypt and taking control of Edom’s Red Sea port of Ezion-geber (or Elath) ( 2 Chronicles 26:2;  2 Chronicles 26:8). To the east he overpowered Ammon ( 2 Chronicles 26:8), and to the north he enjoyed peace with the similarly prosperous Israelite kingdom of Jeroboam II ( 2 Kings 14:23-25; see Jeroboam ). He fortified Jerusalem, built up the armed forces, and equipped his troops with the most modern weapons ( 2 Chronicles 26:9;  2 Chronicles 26:11-15).

Uzziah’s conquests gave him control over land and sea trade routes, and his concern for agricultural development increased farm productivity ( 2 Chronicles 26:10). Unfortunately, the prosperity brought with it greed and corruption. Those who profited most from the economic growth were the powerful city people, such as government officials, merchants and judges. Ordinary people, the majority of whom were poor farmers, suffered much from the corruption and oppression of the rich. This injustice was fiercely condemned by the prophets of the time, Amos and Hosea ( Amos 5:10-12;  Amos 6:1;  Amos 8:4-6;  Hosea 12:7-9; see also Amos ; Hosea ).

Early in his reign Uzziah ruled well, because he followed the godly instruction of his chief adviser ( 2 Chronicles 26:5). Later in his reign his power led to pride, which in turn led to his downfall. Despite opposition from the priests, he insisted on taking over the high priest’s position, so that he could become the religious head of the nation as well as the political head. God punished him with leprosy, and his son Jotham had to act as joint ruler till Uzziah’s death ( 2 Chronicles 26:16-23). In the year of Uzziah’s death the prophet Isaiah, following Amos and Hosea, began to bring his messages of judgment to the corrupt nation ( Isaiah 1:1;  Isaiah 6:1).

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

UZZIAH . 1 . A king of Judah. See next article. 2 . A Kohathite Levite (  1 Chronicles 6:24 ). 3 . The father of an officer of David (  1 Chronicles 27:25 ). 4 . A priest (  Ezra 10:21 [  Esther 9:21  Esther 9:21 Azarias ]). 5 . A Judahite (  Nehemiah 11:4 ).

UZZIAH , also called AZARIAH , was king of Judah after his father Amaziah. His name was Azariah originally, whether abbreviated in popular usage or corrupted in the written form can no longer be made out with certainty. His reign is said to have been fifty-two years in length. Religiously he is classed among the good kings (  2 Kings 15:1 ff.). The only event recorded of this king by the Book of Kings is the restoration of Elath, the town at the head of the Gulf of Akabah. As his father Amaziah had conquered Edom, we conclude that this nation had revolted at the accession of Uzziah. The re-building of Elath (  2 Kings 14:22 ) points to some attempt at commerce, but of this our sources say nothing. We should be glad to know whether the subjection of Judah to Israel effected by Jehoash continued in this reign; but here again we are left to conjecture. The Chronicler (  2 Chronicles 26:1-23 ) knows, indeed, of successes against the Philistines, Arabs, and Ammonites, as well as of extensive building operations, but the traditions drawn upon by this author are not always reliable.

The additional fact related by the Book of Kings is that the king was a leper. On account of this disease he withdrew from public business, and his son Jotham acted as his representative ( 2 Kings 15:5 ). This regency, as it may be called, may account for some of the chronological difficulties of the period. Uzziah seems not to have been compelled to leave his palace. The Chronicler has the story of a conflict between Uzziah and the priesthood, according to which the monarch attempted to usurp the function of the chief priest and offer incense. For this the plague was sent upon him, after which he was thrust out as unclean.

Uzziah has been supposed to be mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions in connexion with a campaign of Tiglath-pileser in the Lebanon region. But it is now generally conceded that the inscription in question has reference to some prince of Northern Syria.

H. P. Smith.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Uzzi'ah. (Strength Of Jehovah).

1. King of Judah B.C. 809-8 to 757-6. In some passages, his name appears in the lengthened form Azariah: After the murder of Amaziah, his son Uzziah was chosen by the people, at the age of sixteen, to occupy the vacant throne; and for the greater part of his long reign of fifty-two years, he lived in the fear of God, and showed himself a wise, active and pious ruler. He never deserted the worship of the true God, and was much influenced by Zechariah, a prophet who is mentioned only in connection with him.  2 Chronicles 26:5.

So the southern kingdom was raised to a condition of prosperity which it had not known since the death of Solomon. The end of Uzziah was less prosperous than his beginning. Elated with his splendid career, he determined to burn incense on the altar of God, but was opposed by the high priest Azariah and eighty others. See  Exodus 30:7-8;  Numbers 16:40;  Numbers 18:7.

The king was enraged at their resistance, and, as he pressed forward with his censer, he was suddenly smitten with leprosy. This lawless attempt to burn incense was the only exception to the excellence of his administration.  2 Chronicles 27:2. Uzziah was buried "with his fathers," yet apparently not actually in the royal sepulchres.  2 Chronicles 26:23. During his reign, a great earthquake occurred.  Amos 1:1;  Zechariah 14:5.

2. A Kohathite Levite, and ancestor of Samuel.  1 Chronicles 6:24.

3. A priest of the sons of Harim, who had taken a foreign wife in the days of Ezra.  Ezra 10:21. (B.C. 458).

4. Father of Athaiah or Uthai.  Nehemiah 11:4.

5. Father of Jehonathan, one of David's overseers.  1 Chronicles 27:25. (B.C. about 1053).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Son ofAmaziah and father of Jotham. He reigned over Judah fifty-two years, B.C. 810 to 759. At the commencement of his reign he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord prospered him. He greatly strengthened the kingdom, and organised his army well. He was successful against the Philistines, the Arabians, and the Mehunims; and the Ammonites were tributary, so that his fame was spread abroad.

A prophet named Zechariah counselled him, and he did well as long as the prophet lived; but on the prophet's death he became 'strong,' and his heart was lifted up to his destruction, for he went into the temple to offer incense. The priests withstood him, and on his persisting he was smitten with leprosy, and had to dwell in a separate house to the day of his death. His son Jotham acted as regent while he lived.

Uzziah is a solemn instance of one walking well until he was 'strong,' and of one not chosen of God attempting to exercise priestly service. His history evinces the truth that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."  2 Chronicles 26:1-23;  Isaiah 1:1;  Hosea 1:1;  Amos 1:1;  Zechariah 14:5 . He is called AZARIAHin  2 Kings 14:21;  2 Kings 15:1-27;  1 Chronicles 3:12; and OZIASin  Matthew 1:8,9 .

2. Son of Uriel, a Kohathite.   1 Chronicles 6:24 .

3. Father of Jehonathan, one of David's overseers.   1 Chronicles 27:25 .

4. Priest who had married a strange wife.   Ezra 10:21 .

5. Father of Athaiah who returned from exile.   Nehemiah 11:4 .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Uzziah ( Uz-Zî'Ah ), Might Of Jehovah. 1. The son and successor of Amaziah, king of Judah; called Azariah in  2 Kings 14:21 and elsewhere; began to reign at 16, and reigned 52 years, b.c. 808-756. His career was most prosperous. He walked in the ways of his father David, and as a consequence was blessed with victory over his enemies, and great fame and love. But he was puffed up by success so long continued, and presumed to burn incense on the altar like the priests. Azariah, the high priest, and 80 others opposed him; but God most effectually checked him by making him a leper, dwelling in a separate house until death.  2 Kings 15:1-7;  2 Chronicles 26:1-23. A great earthquake occurred in bis reign.  Amos 1:1;  Zechariah 14:5. There are five persons of this name mentioned in the Bible.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The father of Jehonathan, one of David's overseers ( 1 Chronicles 27:25 ).

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Uzziah'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/u/uzziah.html. 1897.

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

UZZIAH. —A king of Judah, named as a link in our Lord’s genealogy ( Matthew 1:8).

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Uzz'iyah, עֻזַּיָּה , Strength Of Jehovah but in the prolonged form Uzziya'hu, עֻזַּיָּהוּ , except in  2 Kings 15:13;  2 Kings 15:30;  1 Chronicles 6:24;  Ezra 10:21;  Nehemiah 11:4;  Hosea 1:1;  Amos 1:1;  Zechariah 14:5]; Sept. usually Ο᾿Ζίας , but with many v.r.; Vulg. Ozias or, Azias), the name of five Hebrews. (See Uzzia).

1. A Kohathite Levite, son of Uriel and father of Shaul among Samuel's ancestors ( 1 Chronicles 6:24 [Heb. 19]). B.C. cir. 1515. He is apparently the same with JAZARIAH (See Jazariah) (q.v.) the son of Joel and father of Zephaniah in the parallel list (Heb. 19:36).

2. The father of Jehioathan, David's overseer of depositories in kind ( 1 Chronicles 27:25). B.C. cir. 1053. 3. The tenth king of the separate kingdom of Judah, B.C. 808-756. Like No.1 above, he is sometimes called AZARIAH (See Azariah) (q.v.). By Josephus (Ant. 9:10, 3:sq.), and in the New Test. ( Matthew 1:8-9) the name occurs in the same Greek form as in the Sept. ( Ο᾿Ζίας ). The date of the beginning of Uzziah's reign ( 2 Kings 15:1) in the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboalim 11 is reconciled by Usher and others with the statement that Uzziah's father, Amaziah, whose whole reign was twenty-nine years only came to the throne in the second year of Joash (14, 1); and by the supposition that Jeroboam's reign had two commencements, the first not mentioned in Scripture, on his association with his father, Joash, during the Syrian war, B.C. 835. Keil, after Capellus and Grotius, more violently supposes that the number כז is an error of the Hebrew copyists for יט יו יג , so that instead of twenty-seventh of Jeroboam we ought to read thirteenth, fourteenth, etc.

After the murder of Amaziah, his son Uzziah was chosen by the people to occupy the vacant throne, at the age of sixteen; and for the greater part of his reign of fifty-two years he lived in the fear of God, and showed himself a wise, active, and pious ruler. He began his reign by a successful expedition against his father's enemies, the Edomites, who had revolted from Judah in Jehoram's time, eighty years before, 4pd penetrated as far as the head of the Gulf of Akiaba, where he took the important place of, Elatli, fortified it, and probably established it as a mart for foreign commerce, which Jehoshaphat-had failed to do. This success is recorded in 2 Kings ( 2 Kings 14:22), but from 2 Chronicles ( 2 Chronicles 26:1, etc.) we learn much more. Uzziah waged other victorious wars in the South, especially against the Mehunim (q.v.), or people of Maali, and the Arabs of Guirbaal. A fortified town named Maan still exists in Arabia, Petrsea, south of the Dead Sea. The situation of Gurbaal (q.v.) is unknown. (For conjectures more or less probable, see Ewald, Gesch. 1, 321.) .

Such enemies would hardly maintain a long resistance after the defeat of so formidable a tribe as the Edomites. Towards the west, Uzziah fought with equal success against the Philistines, leveled to the ground the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod, and founded new fortified cities in the Philistine territory. Nor was he less vigorous in defensive than offensive operations. He strengthened the walls of Jerusalem at their weakest- point's, furnished them with formidable engines of war, and equipped an army of 307, 500 men with the best inventions of military art. He was also a great patron of agriculture, dug wells, built towers in, the wilderness for the protection of the flocks, and cultivated rich vineyards and arable land on his own account. He never deserted the worship of the true God, and was much influenced by Zechariah, a prophet who is only mentioned in connection with him ( 2 Chronicles 26:5); for, as he probably died before Uzziah, he is thought not to have been the same as the Zechariah of  Isaiah 8:2. So the southern kingdom was raised to a condition of prosperity which it had not known since the death of Solomon; and as the power of Israel was gradually falling away in the latter period of Jehu's dynasty, that of Judah extended itself over the Ammonites and Moabites, and other tribes beyond Jordan, from whom Uzziah exacted tribute. See  2 Chronicles 26:8, and  Isaiah 16:1-5, from which it would appear that the annual tribute of sheep ( 2 Kings 3:4) was revived either during this reign, or soon after. The end of Uzziah was less prosperous than his beginning. Elated with his splendid career, he determined to burn incense on the altar of God, but was opposed by the high-priest Azariah and eighty others. (See  Exodus 30:7-8;  Numbers 16:40;  Numbers 18:7.)

The king was enraged at their resistance, and, as he pressed forward with his censer, was suddenly smitten with leprosy, a disease which, according to Gerlach (Ad loc.), is often brought but by violent excitement. In  2 Kings 15:5 we are merely told that "the Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in several house; but his invasion of the priestly office is not specified. This catastrophe compelled Uzziah to reside outside the city, so that the kingdom was administered till his death by his son, Jotham as regent. Uzziah was buried "with his fathers," yet apparently not actually in the royal sepulchers ( 2 Chronicles 26:23). During his reign an earthquake (q.v.) occurred, which, though not mentioned in the historical books, was apparently very serious in its consequences, for it is alluded to as a chronological epoch by Amos ( Amos 1:1), and mentioned in  Zechariah 14:5 as a convulsion from which the people "fled." Josephus ( Ant.' 9 :10, 4) connects it with Uzziah's sacrilegious attempt to offer incense, and this is likely, as it agrees with other chronological data. (See Amos).

The first six chapters of Isaiah's prophecies belong to this reign, and we are told ( 2 Chronicles 26:22) that a full account of it was written by that prophet. Some notices of the state of Judah at this time may also be obtained from the contemporary prophets Hosea and Amos, though both of these labored more particularly in Israel. We gather from their writings ( Hosea 4:15;  Hosea 6:11;  Amos 6:1), as well as from the early chapters of Isaiah, that though the condition of the southern kingdom was far superior, morally and religiously, to that of the northern, yet that it was by no means free from the vices which are apt to accompany wealth and prosperity. At the same time, Hosea conceives bright hopes of the blessings which were to arise from it; and though doubtless these hopes pointed to something far higher than the brilliancy of Uzziah's administration, and though the return of the Israelites to "David their king" can only be adequately explained of Christ's kingdom, yet the prophet, in contemplating the condition of Judah, at this time, was plainly cheered by the thought that there God was really honored, aid his worship visibly maintained, and that therefore with it was bound up every hope that his promises to his people would at last be fulfilled ( Hosea 1:7;  Hosea 3:3). It is to be observed, with reference to the general character of Uzziah's reign, that the writer of the second book of Chronicles distinctly states that his lawless attempt to burn incense was the only exception to the excellence of his administration ( 2 Chronicles 27:2). (See Kingdom Of Judah).

4. Son of Zechariah and father of Athaiah, the last afdescendant of Perez the son of Judah resident in Jerusalem after the Exile ( Nehemiah 11:4). B.C. ante 536.

5. A priest of the "sons" of Harim who renounced his Gentile wife married after the return from Babylon ( Ezra 10:21). B.C. 458.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Uzzi´ah (might of Jehovah), otherwise called Azariah, a king of Judah, who began to reign B.C. 809, at the age of sixteen, and reigned fifty-three years, being, with the sole exception of Manasseh's, the longest reign in the Hebrew annals. Uzziah was but five years old when his father was slain. He was sixteen before he was formally called to the throne: and it is disputed by chronologers, whether to count the fifty-two years of his reign from the beginning or from the end of the eleven intervening years. In the first half of his reign, Uzziah behaved well, and was mindful of his true place as viceroy of the Divine King. He accordingly prospered in all his undertakings. His arms were successful against the Philistines, the Arabians, and the Ammonites. He restored and fortified the walls of Jerusalem, and planted on them engines for discharging arrows and great stones; he organized the military force of the nation into a kind of militia, composed of 307,500 men, under the command of 2600 chiefs, and divided into bands liable to be called out in rotation; for these he provided vast stores of all kinds of weapons and armor—spears, shields, helmets, breastplates, bows, and slings.

Nor were the arts of peace neglected by him: he loved and fostered agriculture; and he also dug wells, and constructed towers in the desert, for the use of the flocks. At length, when he had consolidated and extended his power, and developed the internal resources of his country, Uzziah fell. His prosperity engendered the pride which became his ruin. In the twenty-fourth year of his reign, incited probably by the example of the neighboring kings, who united the regal and pontifical functions, Uzziah, unmindful of the fate of Dathan and Abiram, dared to attempt the exercise of one of the principal functions of the priests, by entering the holy place to burn incense at the golden altar. But, in the very act, he was smitten with leprosy, and was thrust forth by the priests. He continued a leper all the rest of his life, and lived apart as such, the public functions of the government being administered by his son Jotham, as soon as he became of sufficient age (; 2 Chronicles 26).