King of Judah

Uzziah

uh-ZY-uh · Also called Azariah

A long-reigning king called Azariah in 2 Kings, remembered for major military and building achievements that made Judah prosperous, but ultimately struck with leprosy after presumptuously entering the temple to burn incense himself.

Life and work

Uzziah became king at sixteen and reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem, and 2 Chronicles says that 'as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper,' crediting him with successful campaigns against the Philistines, Arabians, and Ammonites, fortification towers in Jerusalem, agricultural development, and a large, well-equipped army (2 Chronicles 26:1-15).

2 Kings, using the name Azariah, gives a brief parallel account of his reign, noting he did what was right but did not remove the high places, and that the people continued sacrificing there (2 Kings 15:1-4).

Once powerful, Uzziah 'grew proud, to his destruction,' entering the temple to burn incense on the altar himself, a duty reserved for priests; when the priest Azariah and eighty others confronted him, he became enraged and leprosy broke out on his forehead on the spot (2 Chronicles 26:16-20).

Uzziah lived the rest of his life isolated in a separate house because of his disease, excluded from the temple, while his son Jotham governed the palace and judged the people in his place; he was buried near, but not in, the royal tombs because of his leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:21-23; 2 Kings 15:5-7).

Occupation: King of Judah
Places: Jerusalem

Extra-biblical evidence

Uzziah Tablet Discovered 1931 by E. L. Sukenik in the collection of the Russian Convent of the Ascension, Mount of Olives

A limestone plaque with an Aramaic inscription in Jewish square script reading 'Hither were brought the bones of Uzziah, King of Judah. Not to be opened,' apparently marking a reburial of remains identified as Uzziah's.

Weight: The tablet itself is dated on script grounds to roughly the first century AD/CE — centuries after Uzziah's eighth-century BC reign — so it is not a contemporary record but a Second Temple-period reburial marker reflecting later tradition about the location of his remains; its exact original findspot was not documented, so some scholars question whether it is authentically ancient.

Scripture references

2 Kings 15:1-7 — Reign summary as 'Azariah'
2 Chronicles 26:1-23 — Military and building successes; presumptuous incense offering and leprosy
Matthew 1:8-9 — Named in Jesus's genealogy

More people

Capstone Bible is a free interactive study app — a map of every place in this library, a zoomable timeline of biblical and church history, the Bible text with every name in it linked to its article, reading plans and personal notes.

Open Capstone Bible