2 Chronicles 26:14

_THE WHOLE NUMBER OF THE CHIEF OF THE FATHERS OF THE MIGHTY MEN OF VALOUR WERE TWO THOUSAND AND SIX HUNDRED._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

1-15 As long as Uzziah sought the Lord, and minded religion, God made him to prosper. Those only prosper whom God makes to prosper; for prosperity is his gift. Many have owned, that as long as they sought the Lord, and kept close to their duty, they prospered; but when they forsook God, every thing went cross. God never continues either to bless the indolent or to withhold his blessing from the diligent. He will never suffer any to seek his face in vain. Uzziah's name was famed throughout all the neighbouring countries. A name with God and good people makes truly honourable. He did not delight in war, nor addict himself to sports, but delighted in husbandry....

Verse 2 Chronicles 26:14. _SHIELDS, AND SPEARS_] He prepared a vast number of military weapons, that he might have them in readiness to put into the hands of his subjects on any exigency....

The sling was used in war by the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Persians, the Greeks, Romans, and others. Its employment by the Benjamites appears from Judges 20:16, and by the ten tribes, a century before Uzziah, from 2 Kings 3:25....

EXPOSITION The twenty-three verses of this chapter, entirely occupied with the career of Uzziah, have to be content with a parallel of nine verses only, viz. 2 Kings 14:21, 2 Kings 14:22; 2 Kings 15:1. Our chapter first glances at the usual prefatory particulars of the age, pedigree, length of reign, kind of character, and choice between virtue and vice of the new king (2 Chronicles 26:1; but note the remarkable appearance of 2 Chronicles 26:2, looking as though it had strayed). Next, of his good works ...

AND UZZIAH PREPARED FOR THEM THROUGHOUT ALL THE HOST,.... For every soldier in the army: SHIELDS AND SPEARS; defensive and offensive weapons, the one to cover and protect their bodies, the other to push and pierce their enemies: AND HELMETS, AND HABERGEONS; the first of these were a covering for the head in the day of battle, and the other coats of mail, to defend the body: AND BOWS; to shoot arrows out of: AND SLINGS TO CAST STONES; at which the Benjaminites formerly were very expert....

CHAPTER 26 THE REIGN OF UZZIAH _ 1. The beginning of his reign (2 Chronicles 26:1)_ 2. Uzziah's success and fortifications (2 Chronicles 26:6) 3. Uzziah's sin and leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16) 4. The death of Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:22) The Son of Amaziah, Uzziah, in his sixteenth year, was made king by the people. In Second Kings 15 he is called Azariah. (In the annotations on 2 Kings 15:1 an explanation is given on this double name of Uzziah.) Isaiah was then pro

THE REIGN OF UZZIAH (see notes on 2 Kings 14:21 to 2 Kings 15:7). The Chronicler amplifies considerably the account of this reign in 2 K. which is very meagre: his additions are in all probability based, in the main, upon some historical source, since fuller records of this reign, which was one of the longest in the history of Judah, must have been in existence. 2 Chronicles 26:1. Uzziah: called Azariah in 2 Kings 14:21; 2 Kings 15:1, etc., which is probably a mistake; in...

HABERGEONS. bucklers, or coats of mail....

_throughout all the host_ R.V. EVEN FOR ALL THE HOST. _habergeons_ R.V. COATS OF MAIL. Skeat (_Cambridge Companion to the Bible_, p. 549) explains habergeon as "a smaller kind of _hauberk_, a coat of mail covering the neck and breast." Cp. Nehemiah 4:16 (with Ryle's note). _slings to cast stones_ R.V. STONES FOR SLINGING. Such stones needed to be carefully chosen, for they had to be smooth and of a suitable size. A water-course was the most suitable place for finding them (1 Samuel 17:40)....