| King Uzziah |
| Amos 1:1 In the
days of Uzziah King of Judah |
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| The
Uzziah tablet. Resides in the Israel Museum. |
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| The
tablet warns not to open the grave. Uzziah was
struck with Leprosy according to the Biblical
text. |
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History
Uzziah of Judah was the king of the ancient Kingdom
of Judah, and one of Amaziah's sons, whom the
people
appointed to replace his father. He is one
of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of
Jesus in the
Gospel of
Matthew.
His long reign of about fifty-two years was "the
most prosperous excepting that of Jehoshaphat
since the time of Solomon." He was a vigorous
and able ruler, and "his name spread abroad,
even to the entering in of Egypt" (2 Chr.
26:8, 14). In the earlier part of his reign,
under the influence of Zechariah, he was faithful
to the Lord and "did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord"
but toward the close of his long life "his
heart was lifted up to his destruction," and
he wantonly invaded the priest's office (2
Chr. 26:16), and entering
the sanctuary proceeded to offer incense on
the golden altar. Azariah the High Priest saw
the tendency of such a daring act on the part
of the king, and with a band of eighty priests
he withstood him saying, "It
appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn
incense." Uzziah was
suddenly struck with leprosy while in the act of offering incense
and he was driven from the Temple
and compelled to reside in "a several
house" to the day of his death (2 Chr.
26:3).
The Uzziah Tablet
In 1931 an archeological find, now known as the
Uzziah Tablet was discovered by Professor E.I.
Sukenik of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The Funerary Inscription of King Uzziah was found
in the collection of the Russian Convent on the
Mount of Olives, but there is no record of the
place from which it was removed. The Aramaic
inscription is incised on a stone tablet (35
x 34 cm.) and the style of the script dates it
to the latter part of the Second Temple period.
It tells of the reburial of the remains of Uzziah,
King of Judah (733 BCE)
Inscription on the tablet:
"Hither were brought
the bones of Uzziah King of Judah and do not
open"
Scriptures
2Chronicles 26:23 So Uzziah slept
with his fathers, and they buried him with
his fathers in
the field of the burial which belonged
to the kings; for they said, He is a
leper:
Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king
Uzziah died
I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up, and his train filled
the temple.
Amos 1:1 The words
of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa,
which he saw concerning
Israel in the days of Uzziah
king of Judah
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