2 Crônicas 26

BLIVRE · Chapter 26/36

1Então todo o povo de Judá tomou a Uzias, o qual era de dezesseis anos, e puseram-no por rei em lugar de Amazias seu pai.

2Edificou ele a Elote, e a restituiu a Judá depois que o rei descansou com seus pais.

3De dezesseis anos era Uzias quando começou a reinar, e cinquenta e dois anos reinou em Jerusalém. O nome de sua mãe foi Jecolias, de Jerusalém.

4E fez o que era correto aos olhos do SENHOR, conforme a todas as coisas que havia feito Amazias seu pai.

5E persistiu em buscar a Deus nos dias de Zacarias, entendido em visões de Deus; e nos dias que ele buscou ao SENHOR, ele lhe prosperou.

6E saiu, e lutou contra os filisteus, e rompeu o muro de Gate, e o muro de Jabné, e o muro de Asdode; e edificou cidades em Asdode, e na terra dos filisteus.

7E deu-lhe Deus ajuda contra os filisteus, e contra os árabes que habitavam em Gur-Baal, e contra os amonitas.

8E os amonitas deram tributos a Uzias, e divulgou-se seu nome até a entrada do Egito; porque havia se tornado altamente poderoso.

9Edificou também Uzias torres em Jerusalém, junto à porta do ângulo, e junto à porta do vale, e junto às esquinas; e fortificou-as.

10Assim edificou torres no deserto, e abriu muitas cisternas: porque teve muitos gados, assim nos vales como nas planícies; e vinhas, e lavouras, assim nos montes como nos campos férteis; porque era amigo da agricultura.

11Teve também Uzias esquadrões de guerreiros, os quais saíam à guerra em exército, segundo que estavam por lista feita por mão de Jeiel escriba e de Maaseias governador, e por mão de Hananias, um dos príncipes do rei.

12Todo o número dos chefes de famílias, valentes e esforçados, era dois mil e seiscentos.

13E sob a mão destes estava o exército de guerra, de trezentos sete mil e quinhentos guerreiros poderosos e fortes para ajudar ao rei contra os inimigos.

14E preparou-lhes Uzias para todo o exército, escudos, lanças, capacetes, couraças, arcos, e fundas de tirar pedras.

15E fez em Jerusalém máquinas por artifício de peritos, para que estivessem nas torres e nos baluartes, para lançar setas e grandes pedras, e sua fama se estendeu longe, porque se ajudou maravilhosamente, até fazer-se forte.

16Mas quando foi fortificado, seu coração se enalteceu até corromper-se; porque se rebelou contra o SENHOR seu Deus, entrando no templo do SENHOR para queimar incenso no altar do incenso.

17E entrou atrás dele o sacerdote Azarias, e com ele oitenta sacerdotes do SENHOR, dos valentes.

18E puseram-se contra o rei Uzias, e disseram-lhe: Não a ti, ó Uzias, o queimar incenso ao SENHOR, mas sim aos sacerdotes filhos de Arão, que são consagrados para queimá-lo: sai do santuário, por que pecaste, e não te será para glória diante do SENHOR Deus.

19E irou-se Uzias, que tinha o incenso na mão para queimá-lo; e em esta sua ira contra os sacerdotes, a lepra lhe surgiu na testa diante dos sacerdotes na casa do SENHOR, junto ao altar do incenso.

20E olhou-lhe Azarias o sumo sacerdote, e todos os sacerdotes, e eis que a lepra estava em sua testa; e fizeram-lhe sair apressadamente daquele lugar; e ele também se deu pressa a sair, porque o SENHOR o havia ferido.

21Assim o rei Uzias foi leproso até o dia de sua morte, e habitou em uma casa separada, leproso, pelo que havia sido separado da casa do SENHOR; e Jotão seu filho teve cargo da casa real, governando ao povo da terra.

22Os demais dos feitos de Uzias, primeiros e últimos, escreveu-os Isaías profeta, filho de Amoz.

23E descansou Uzias com seus pais, e sepultaram-no com seus pais no campo dos sepulcros reais; porque disseram: Leproso é. E seu filho Jotão reinou Jotão em seu lugar.

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Summary

Uzziah becomes king while still young and reigns for 52 years with great military, agricultural, and building success, seeking God faithfully for much of his reign. However, in his pride, he enters the temple to burn incense, a function reserved only for priests, and is immediately struck with leprosy, remaining isolated until his death.

Explanation

Uzziah represents one of the longest and, initially, most successful reigns of Judah, marked by military conquests, agricultural innovations, and even the development of war machines advanced for his time. However, his success feeds a dangerous pride: he decides, without authorization, to perform a priestly function reserved exclusively for the descendants of Aaron, ignoring the limits God had set even for powerful kings. His immediate punishment with leprosy, a disease that would isolate him physically for the rest of his life, is a severe reminder that even successful and generally faithful leaders are not exempt from serious consequences when they cross boundaries clearly established by God.

Fun facts

  • The prophet Isaiah, whose prophetic book opens precisely 'in the year that king Uzziah died' (Isaiah 6:1), lived through much of this king's reign, and his majestic vision of God in the temple may have been, in part, a response to the leadership crisis caused by Uzziah's isolating disease.
  • Uzziah's military innovations, including machines for shooting arrows and great stones from the towers of Jerusalem, are described as inventions of 'skillful men,' one of the first explicit biblical records of advanced, specialized military technology.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Crônicas 26:1After Amaziah’s violent death, all the people choose Uzziah, only sixteen years old, to take the throne in his father’s place.
  2. 2 Crônicas 26:2Uzziah rebuilds the port city of Eloth and restores it to Judah’s control, after his father’s death.
  3. 2 Crônicas 26:3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he governed fifty-five years in Jerusalem — one of the longest reigns in the book; his mother’s name was Jecoliah, of Jerusalem.
  4. 2 Crônicas 26:4The Chronicler praises Uzziah, saying he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, following the example of his father Amaziah.
  5. 2 Crônicas 26:5Uzziah seeks God throughout the days he has the guidance of Zechariah, a man well versed in the things of God, and he prospers as long as he keeps up that pursuit.
  6. 2 Crônicas 26:6Uzziah wages war against the Philistines, tears down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod, and builds cities of his own in the midst of Philistine territory.
  7. 2 Crônicas 26:7God helps Uzziah both against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gur-baal and against the Meunites.
  8. 2 Crônicas 26:8Even the Ammonites come to pay tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spreads as far as the border of Egypt, so strong had his kingdom become.
  9. 2 Crônicas 26:9Uzziah builds fortified towers in Jerusalem, at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the angle of the wall.
  10. 2 Crônicas 26:10He also builds towers in the wilderness and digs many wells, because he owned a great deal of livestock; he was a man who loved farming, with plowmen and vinedressers working the fertile land.
  11. 2 Crônicas 26:11Uzziah maintains an organized army of experienced soldiers, arranged in companies under officers such as Jeiel and Maaseiah, under the authority of the official Hananiah.
  12. 2 Crônicas 26:12The total number of family heads leading these valiant warriors came to two thousand six hundred men.
  13. 2 Crônicas 26:13Under the command of these leaders was an army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred soldiers, trained to fight with great power to help the king against his enemies.
  14. 2 Crônicas 26:14Uzziah equips this entire army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and even slings for throwing stones.
  15. 2 Crônicas 26:15Uzziah has “engines, invented by cunning men,” built on the towers of Jerusalem to shoot arrows and large stones — one of the earliest recorded descriptions of this kind of military technology, almost like a primitive catapult.
  16. 2 Crônicas 26:16After years of success, Uzziah decides he has the right to burn incense in person inside the temple, a role reserved only for priests. The pride behind this overreach — a king wanting to do a priest’s job — is what leads to the leprosy that isolates him for the rest of his life.
  17. 2 Crônicas 26:17When Uzziah enters the temple to burn incense, the priest Azariah follows him in, along with eighty other courageous priests.
  18. 2 Crônicas 26:18The priests confront Uzziah directly: burning incense belongs exclusively to the descendants of Aaron, not to the king, and they ask him to leave the sanctuary.
  19. 2 Crônicas 26:19Uzziah becomes furious at the rebuke, and right there, censer in hand, leprosy breaks out on his forehead in front of the priests themselves, beside the altar of incense.
  20. 2 Crônicas 26:20Seeing the leprosy on the king’s forehead, the priests hurry him out of the temple, and Uzziah himself, realizing that the Lord had struck him, hurries out as well.
  21. 2 Crônicas 26:21Uzziah remains a leper until the day he dies, living isolated in a separate house and excluded from the temple; his son Jotham takes over the administration of the kingdom and begins judging the people.
  22. 2 Crônicas 26:22The rest of Uzziah’s story was recorded by the prophet Isaiah himself, son of Amoz — a direct reference to a well-known prophetic source.
  23. 2 Crônicas 26:23Uzziah dies and is buried in a field near the royal tombs, but not inside them, because of his leprosy; his son Jotham reigns in his place.

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