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UzziahAid to Bible Understanding
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3. King of Judah, also called Azariah. The son of Amaziah by his wife Jecoliah, Uzziah is credited with a reign of fifty-two years (829-777 B.C.E.). During this period Jeroboam (II), Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah and Pekah ruled in succession over the northern kingdom. (2 Ki. 15:1, 2, 8, 10, 13, 14, 17, 23, 25, 27; 2 Chron. 26:3) The prophets Isaiah (1:1; 6:1), Hosea (1:1) and Amos (1:1) were contemporaries of Uzziah. This king’s reign witnessed an unusually great earthquake.—Zech. 14:5.
After the death of his father, sixteen-year-old Uzziah was made king by the people of Judah. (2 Ki. 14:21; 2 Chron. 26:1) According to 2 Kings 15:1, however, Uzziah became king in the twenty-seventh year of Israelite King Jeroboam (II). As this would place the beginning of Uzziah’s rule approximately twelve years after the death of his father, this must refer to his ‘becoming king’ in a special sense. It may be that in the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam the two-tribe Judean kingdom was freed from subjection to the northern kingdom, a subjection that perhaps began when Israelite King Jehoash defeated Uzziah’s father Amaziah. (2 Chron. 25:22-24) So it may be that Uzziah became king a second time in the sense of being free from the domination of Israelite King Jeroboam (II).
Uzziah did what “was upright in Jehovah’s eyes.” This was largely due to his heeding the good instruction of a certain Zechariah (not the prophet by that name who lived in a later period). But his subjects continued improper sacrificing at high places.—2 Ki. 15:3, 4; 2 Chron. 26:4, 5.
Uzziah became famous for his military successes, attained with Jehovah’s help. He restored Elath (Eloth) to the kingdom of Judah and rebuilt that city located at the head of the Gulf of Aqabah. He warred successfully against the Philistines, breaking through the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod, after which he built cities in the territory of Ashdod. Uzziah gained victories over the Arabians and Meunim, and made the Ammonites tributaries to Judah. His powerful, well-equipped fighting force came to consist of 375,000 men under the control of 2,600 heads of paternal houses. Uzziah strengthened the fortifications of Jerusalem and built engines of war there.—2 Ki. 14:22; 2 Chron. 26:2, 6-9, 11-15.
This king also had great interest in agriculture and raising livestock. Uzziah hewed out many cisterns to provide an ample water supply for the livestock and erected towers in the wilderness, likely to protect the grazing herds and flocks from marauders. Farming and vinedressing operations were carried on under his direction in the mountains and in Carmel.—2 Chron. 26:10.
It appears that Uzziah’s brilliant successes resulted in his becoming haughty to the point of invading the Holy compartment of the temple to burn incense. High Priest Azariah, accompanied by eighty underpriests, immediately followed the king into the temple and censured him for this unlawful act, urging him to leave the sanctuary. With the censer for burning incense in his hand and raging against the priests, Uzziah was miraculously stricken with leprosy in his forehead, whereupon the priests excitedly ushered him out of the temple. As an unclean leper Uzziah was cut off from all worship at the sanctuary and could not perform the kingly duties. Therefore, while Uzziah remained in a certain house until the day of his death, his son Jotham administered the affairs of state.—2 Chron. 26:16-21.
Concerning his death and burial, 2 Chronicles 26:23 reports: “Finally Uzziah lay down with his forefathers; and so they buried him with his forefathers, but in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said: ‘He is a leper.’” This may mean that, because of his leprosy, Uzziah was buried in the ground of a field connected with the royal cemetery rather than being placed in a rock-hewn tomb.
A limestone plaque, found at Jerusalem and thought to date from the first century C.E., bears the following inscription: “Hither were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah. Not to be opened.”
4. A Levite priest of the “sons of Harim” (1 Chron. 24:8; Ezra 2:36, 39) among those dismissing their foreign wives in compliance with Ezra’s exhortation.—Ezra 10:10, 11, 21, 44.
5. A descendant of Judah through Perez whose “son” Athaiah is listed among the residents of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s time.—Neh. 11:4.
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UzzielAid to Bible Understanding
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UZZIEL
(Uzʹzi·el) [my strength is God].
1. Last named of Kohath’s four sons; grandson of Levi; uncle of Moses and Aaron. Uzziel’s three sons, Mishael, El(i)zaphan and Sithri became heads of tribal families in Levi.—Ex. 6:16, 18, 20, 22; Lev. 10:4; Num. 3:19, 30; 1 Chron. 6:2, 18; 23:12; see UZZIELITES.
2. Family head in the tribe of Benjamin; son or descendant of Bela.—1 Chron. 7:6, 7.
3. A Levitical musician of the family of Heman, appointed to head David’s eleventh musical service division; also called Azarel.—1 Chron. 25:4, 18.
4. Levitical descendant of Jeduthun who helped dispose of the unclean objects removed from the temple at the beginning of Hezekiah’s reign.—2 Chron. 29:12, 14, 16.
5. One of four Simeonite sons of Ishi who led five hundred men into Mount Seir to wipe out the remnant of Amalekites and take up living there; contemporaries of Hezekiah.—1 Chron. 4:41-43.
6. A goldsmith who helped to repair Jerusalem’s wall under Nehemiah’s direction; son of Harhaiah.—Neh. 3:8.
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UzzielitesAid to Bible Understanding
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UZZIELITES
(Uz·ziʹel·ites).
Levitical descendants of Kohath’s fourth son Uzziel. (Num. 3:19, 27) They camped to the S of the tabernacle, and one of the Uzzielites, El(i)zaphan, was chieftain of all the Kohathites. (Num. 3:29, 30) One hundred and twelve Uzzielites under Amminadab accompanied the ark of the covenant when David had it brought to Jerusalem. (1 Chron. 15:3, 4, 10) Uzzielites were further involved in David’s organization of temple service.—1 Chron. 23:6, 20; 24:24; 26:23, 24.
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VahebAid to Bible Understanding
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VAHEB
(Vaʹheb) [Heb., wa·hevʹ, possibly, a gift].
Apparently a now unknown place near the Arnon, “in Suphah.”—Num. 21:14.
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VaizathaAid to Bible Understanding
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VAIZATHA
(Vai·zaʹtha) [perhaps of Persian origin, son of the atmosphere or wind].
One of Haman’s ten sons.—Esther 9:9, 10.
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ValleyAid to Bible Understanding
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VALLEY
Jehovah God is properly credited with the development of earth’s topographical features, including its many valleys. (Ps. 104:8) The Promised Land itself abounded with these depressions between bluffs, hills or mountains. In Scripture, some were called merely valleys. (Josh. 8:11; 1 Sam. 13:18) Others were “valley plains,” low-lying level areas between mountains and hills. (Deut. 11:11) There were also “torrent valleys,” sometimes having perennial streams but often flowing with water only in the rainy season. (Deut. 8:7) Certain translations use “vale” or “valley(s)” where the references are to “low plain(s)” (Gen. 14:3; 1 Chron. 12:15), and “vale” or “lowland(s)” for the “Shephelah,” the hilly lowland between the Philistine coastal plain and the highlands of central Palestine.—Deut. 1:7; 1 Ki. 10:27.
Among the notable valleys mentioned in the Scriptures are the valley of Moab “in front of Beth-peor” (Deut. 3:29; 34:6) and the Valley of Salt (2 Sam. 8:13),
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