Intertextuality Pair

2 Chronicles 26:3-23 → 2 Kings 15:1-7

Quotation

Later text

2 Chronicles 26:3-23BSB

Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother's name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God throughout the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. And as long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success. Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, and he tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built cities near Ashdod and among the Philistines. God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs living in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites. The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, for he had become exceedingly powerful. Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the angle in the wall, and he fortified them. Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields. Uzziah had an army ready for battle that went out to war by assigned divisions, as recorded by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officers. The total number of family leaders of the mighty men of valor was 2,600. Under their authority was an army of 307,500 trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. Uzziah supplied the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones. And in Jerusalem he made skillfully designed devices to shoot arrows and catapult large stones from the towers and corners. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was helped tremendously so that he became powerful. But when Uzziah grew powerful, his arrogance led to his own destruction. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Then Azariah the priest, along with eighty brave priests of the LORD, went in after him. They took their stand against King Uzziah and said, "Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the LORD. Only the priests, the descendants of Aaron, are consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully; you will not receive honor from the LORD God." Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But while he raged against the priests in their presence in the house of the LORD before the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw his leprous forehead, they rushed him out. Indeed, he himself hurried to get out, because the LORD had afflicted him. So King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He lived in isolation, leprous and cut off from the house of the LORD, while his son Jotham had charge of the royal palace to govern the people of the land. As for the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from beginning to end, they are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. And Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in a field of burial that belonged to the kings; for the people said, “He was a leper.” And his son Jotham reigned in his place.

Earlier text

2 Kings 15:1-7BSB

In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam's reign over Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah became king of Judah. He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother's name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there. And the LORD afflicted the king with leprosy until the day he died, so that he lived in a separate house while his son Jotham had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land. As for the rest of the acts of Azariah, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And Azariah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in the City of David. And his son Jotham reigned in his place.

Significance

These are parallel accounts with the most dramatic difference in coverage of any Kings-Chronicles pair. Kings devotes only seven verses to Uzziah's 52-year reign, noting his leprosy without explaining its cause. The Chronicler expands to 21 verses, describing Uzziah's military strength, his agricultural innovations, his 307,500-man army, and his pride-driven attempt to burn incense in the temple — a role reserved for Aaronic priests. When eighty priests confronted him, Uzziah grew angry, and leprosy (צָרַעַת, tsara'at) broke out on his forehead while he raged against the priests "in the house of the LORD before the altar of incense." The Chronicler's account transforms an unexplained affliction into a paradigmatic lesson about the boundaries between royal and priestly authority.

Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s)
Redemptive-Historical Progression — the Chronicler expands Kings' seven verses on Azariah (2 Kgs 15:1-7) into a full narrative of Uzziah's God-given strength, pride, and temple intrusion, advancing the canonical account by explaining the unexplained affliction of 2 Kings 15:5 as judgment for usurping the incense ministry reserved for "the priests, the descendants of Aaron" (2 Chr 26:18) — the later history re-presents the earlier one with its covenantal cause disclosed.

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