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Uzziah (; , meaning ''Jehovah is my strength'';〔 (ギリシア語:Οζίας); (ラテン語:Ozias)), also known as Azariah (; (ギリシア語:Αζαρις); (ラテン語:Azarias)), was a king of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, and one of Amaziah's sons. () (According to James F. Driscoll, the second form of his name most likely is the result of a copyist's error.)〔 Uzziah was 16 when he became king of Judah and reigned for 52 years. The first 24 years of his reign were as co-regent with his father, Amaziah. William F. Albright has dated Uzziah's reign to 783 – 742 BC. Edwin R. Thiele's chronology has Uzziah becoming coregent with his father Amaziah in 792/791 BC,〔 and sole ruler of Judah after his father's death in 768/767 BC. Uzziah was struck with leprosy for disobeying Jehovah (God) (, ). Thiele dates Uzziah's being struck with leprosy to 751/750 BC, at which time his son Jotham took over the government, with Uzziah living on until 740/739 BC.〔Edwin R. Thiele, ''The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings'' (3rd ed.; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983) 217.〕 Pekah became king of Israel in the last year of Uzziah's reign. The Catholic Encyclopedia dates his reign from 809-759 BC.〔(Driscoll, James F. "Ozias." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 30 November 2009 )〕 The Gospel of Matthew lists Uzziah of Judah in the genealogy of Jesus. ==Reign== Uzziah took the throne at the age of 16,〔("Uzziah", ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' )〕 and reigned for about 52 years. His reign was "the most prosperous excepting that of Jehoshaphat since the time of Solomon." In the earlier part of his reign, under the influence of a prophet named Zechariah, he was faithful to God, and "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord" (; ) In Jerusalem he made machines designed by skillful men for use on the towers and on the corner defenses to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. According to 2 Chron. 26, Uzziah conquered the Philistines and the Arabians, and received tribute from the Ammonites. He refortified the country, reorganized and reequipped the army, and personally engaged in agricultural pursuits.〔 He was a vigorous and able ruler, and "his name spread abroad, even to the entering in of Egypt". () Then his pride led to his downfall. He entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the High Priest saw this as an attempt to usurp the prerogatives of the priests〔 and confronted him with a band of eighty priests, saying, "It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense." () In the meantime a great earthquake shook the ground and a rent was made in the temple, and the bright rays of the sun shone through it, and fell upon the king's face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon him immediately. (Josephus Flavius, Antiquities IX 10:4). Uzziah was suddenly struck with ''tzaraat'' while in the act of offering incense (), and he was driven from the Temple and compelled to reside in "a separate house" until his death (, 27; ). The government was turned over to his son Jotham (), a coregency that lasted for the last 11 years of Uzziah's life (751/750 to 740/739 BC). He was buried in a separate grave "in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings" (2 Kings 15:7; 2 Chr. 26:23). "That lonely grave in the royal necropolis would eloquently testify to coming generations that all earthly monarchy must bow before the inviolable order of the divine will, and that no interference could be tolerated with that unfolding of the purposes of God... (Dr. Green's ''Kingdom of Israel''). Isaiah sees the Lord "in the year that king Uzziah died" (). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Uzziah」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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