page_title: Uzziah
section_title: Biblical narrative: reign
hierarchical_section_title: Uzziah / Biblical narrative: reign
context_page_description: Uzziah, also known as Azariah, was the tenth king of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, and one of Amaziah's sons. Uzziah was 16 when he became king of Judah and reigned for 52 years. The first 24 years of his reign were as co-regent with his father, Amaziah.
  William F. Albright dated Uzziah's reign to 783 – 742 BC. Edwin R. Thiele's chronology has Uzziah becoming coregent with his father Amaziah in 792/791 BC, and sole ruler of Judah after his father's death in 768/767 BC. Uzziah was struck with leprosy for disobeying God. Thiele dates Uzziah's being struck with leprosy to 751/750 BC, at which time his son Jotham took over the government, with Uzziah living on until 740/739 BC. Pekah became king of Israel in the last year of Uzziah's reign.
  The Gospel of Matthew lists Uzziah in the genealogy of Jesus.
context_section_description: Uzziah took the throne at the age of 16, and reigned for about 52 years. His reign was "the most prosperous excepting that of Jehoshaphat since the time of Solomon." 
  In the earlier part of his reign, under the influence of a prophet named Zechariah, he was faithful to God, and "did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord" (2 Kings 15:3; 2 Chronicles 26:4-5).
  In Jerusalem he made machines designed by skillful men for use on the towers and on the corner defenses to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. According to 2 Chron. 26, Uzziah conquered the Philistines and the Arabians, and received tribute from the Ammonites. He refortified the country, reorganized and reequipped the army, and personally engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was a vigorous and able ruler, and "his name spread abroad, even to the entrance of Egypt" (2 Chronicles 26:8-14).
  Then his pride led to his downfall. He entered the Temple of Yahweh to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the High Priest saw this as an attempt to usurp the prerogatives of the priests and confronted him with a band of eighty priests, saying, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense." (2 Chronicles 26:18). In the meantime a great earthquake shook the ground and a rent was made in the temple, and the bright rays of the sun shone through it, and fell upon the king's face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon him immediately (Josephus Flavius, Antiquities IX 10:4). Uzziah was suddenly struck with tzaraat before he had offered the incense (2 Chronicles 26:19), and he was driven from the Temple and compelled to reside in "a separate house" until his death (2 Kings 15:5, 27; 2 Chronicles 26:3). The government was turned over to his son Jotham (2 Kings 15:5), a coregency that lasted for the last 11 years of Uzziah's life (751/750 to 740/739 BC).
caption: The King Uzziah Stricken with Leprosy, by Rembrandt, 1635.
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