was sufficiently insulting: The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trod down the thistle. Thou sayest, lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou and Judah with thee?* Whether this warning was in derision or sincerity, it was unavailing; for Amaziah would not hear, for it came of God that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.† The hostile armies met at Bethshemesh, and the monarchs, it is said, looked each other in the face; but Judah was beaten and every man fled to his tent. And Joash took Amaziah prisoner, and pressing forward to Jerusalem, brake down 400 cubits of the wall of the city, from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate. And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.§ The mother of Amaziah was Jehoaddan, of Jerusalem ; and he reigned twenty-nine years: at first he did that which was right in the sight of Jehovah, but not with a perfect heart, as we have already seen. And after he had turned away from following Jehovah, a conspiracy broke out against him, and he fled to Lachish; but the conspirators sent after 2 Chron. xxv. 18, 19. 2 Kings, xiv. 9, 10. Who kept the house of Asuppim, or the Collections. 1 Chron. xxvi. 15. A. CLARKE. 2 Chron. xxv. 21. 24. 2 Kings, xiv. 11-14. 2 Chron. xxv. 1, 2. and slew him there. And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of David;* and he was succeeded by his son, 'A. C. 810. UZZIAH.† THIS monarch, whose mother was Jecoliah of Jerusalem, was only sixteen years old when he ascended the throne; and he built Eloth, and restored it to Judah. He did that which was right in the sight of Jehovah, save that the high places were not removed; the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.§ And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought Jehovah, God made him to prosper. And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines. And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal,|| and the Mehunims. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly. Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem, at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them. Also, he built towers for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen in the desert, and digged many wells; * 2 Chron. xxv. 27, 28. 2 Kings, xiv. 19, 20. + Or Azariab. 2 Chron. xxvi. 1-3. 2 Kings, xiv. 21, 22. xv. 2. || Or Petra-according to the Sept. Petra was the chief city of Edom, the remarkable ruins of which, a vast barren rock, have lately been discovered. See Keith's Evidence from Prophecy, p.p. 180. 236. also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel; for he loved husbandry. Moreover, Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account, by the hand of Jeiel, the scribe, and Maaseiah, the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains. The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were 2,600. And under their hand was an army, 307,500, that made war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy. And Uzziah prepared for them, throughout all the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and harbergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones. And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal.* And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped till he was strong.t Thus far all went well; but the wise and pious Zechariah being most probably dead, and Uzziah having become strong, his heart was lifted up to destruction; for he transgressed against Jehovah, his God, and went into the temple of Jehovah to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah, the priest, went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of Jehovah that were valiant men; and they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto Jehovah, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense; go out of the sanctuary for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from Jehovah, God. Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in "This account is long prior to any thing of the kind among either the Greeks or Romans." A. CLARKE. † 2 Chron. xxvi. 4—15. his forehead, before the priests, in the house of Jehovah, from beside the incense altar. And Azariah, the chief priest, and all the priests looked upon him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because Jehovah had smitten him. It does not appear that Uzziah ever gave into the idolatrous worship which had so long infected both the kingdoms; but still, not having properly humbled himself under this severe dispensation, he remained a leper until the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being cut off from the house of Jehovah ;† and Jotham, his son, was over the king's house, judging the people of the land, quasi regent.‡ During part of the reign of this monarch flourished the holy prophets, Isaiah,§ Hosea,|| and Amos;¶ and also during his reign a formidable earthquake took place, probably on account of his great sin,** in presuming to offer up incense, * 2 Chron. xxvi. 16-20. + Lev. xiii. 46. 2 Chron. xxvi. 21. 2 Kings, xv. 5. § Isaiah, i. 1. vi. 1. It is evident some chronicle of the transactions of this monarch has been lost, for in 2 Kings, xv. 6. we are referred to the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah; and 2 Chronicles, xxvi. 22, informs us that the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write; whereas, no such relation is to be found in the evangelical prophet. Hosea, i. I. ¶ Amos, i. 1. Josephus informs us, that the infliction of leprosy upon this monarch was preceded by a tremendous earthquake, accompanied with other indications of the wrath of Jehovah. "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. And before the city, at a place called EROGE, half the mountain broke off from the rest on the west, and rolled itself four furlongs, and stood still at the east mountain, till the roads, as well as and which had left so strong an impression on the minds of the people, as to be proverbial amongst them, as late as the æra of Zechariah the prophet, who lived about three hundred years afterwards. After a long reign of fifty-two years, Uzziah died at Jerusalem, under sentence of the Levitical regulations for leprosy, and he slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers, in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; and he was succeeded by his son,* A. C. JOTHAM, WHO ascended the throne of Judah at the age of twenty-five. His mother was Jerushah, the daughter $758. of Zadok; and he did that which was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father Uzziah did; howbeit he entered not into the temple of Jehovah; the high places were not removed; and the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of Jehovah, and on the wall of Ophel he built much. Moreover, he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers. He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him, the same year, an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year and the third.† So Jotham the king's gardens, were spoiled by the destruction." Josephus, vol. ii. 35. And that some signal earthquake took place during this reign, appears from Zech. xiv. 5. 2 Chron. xxvi. 23. 2 Kings, xv. 7. See the prophecies against Ammon-their remarkable fulfilinent and the present state of that country and its cities, well illustrated in Keith's Evidence from Prophecy, p. 160. |