SUMMARY
This politically powerful king dies from leprosy, and the Chronicler suggests that his pride in taking priestly duties for himself accounts for this undignified death.
ANALYSIS
Uzziah is the third king in the Chronicler’s triptych of kings who started out well but ended poorly. In Uzziah’s case, it is easy to see why this approach was necessary. The account in 2 Kings had reported that Uzziah (sometimes called Azariah in Kings) built Elath, restoring it to JudahJudah was the name of Jacob's fourth son and one of the 12 tribes. More (2 Kings 14:22), and that God had stricken Uzziah with leprosy (15:5). The conflicting notices of blessingBlessing is the asking for or the giving of God's favor. Isaac was tricked into blessing Jacob instead of his firstborn Esau. At the Last Supper Jesus offered a blessing over bread and wine. To be blessed is to be favored by God. More and judgment generated the present form of the Chronicler’s presentation.
The initial evaluation of Uzziah’s reign sets the scene: “He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done” (2 Chronicles 26:4). Though identical to the evaluation in 2 Kings 15:3, the Chronicler’s overall evaluation of Amaziah is not altogether positive (25:2), which suggests some of the ambiguity that Uzziah’s reign evoked. The Chronicler’s familiar cultic terminology appears as well. Uzziah’s “seeking” (darash) of the LORD characterizes the positive period of his reign and is rewarded with building projects and military victory (vv. 5-15, no parallel in 2 Kings). His cultic offense in burning incense, however, is labeled ma’al (v. 18, “acted unfaithfully,” NRSVUE), the Chronicler’s primary indicator of infidelity. Here, it leads to Uzziah’s leprosy, his banishment from the TempleThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... More, and his burial in a field [though the latter is still classified as royal burial with his ancestors (vv. 16-23)]. 2 Kings 15:7 claims he was buried in the city of DavidSecond king of Israel, David united the northern and southern kingdoms. More. This discrepancy between rural and urban burials is likely not a contradiction in retellings of a single event. Given the discovery of an ancient inscription in Jerusalem detailing the transport of Uzziah’s bones, it appears that both accounts are correct in their descriptions of the king’s two separate burials.
