2 Kings 15:5

_SIXTEEN YEARS OLD WAS HE WHEN HE BEGAN TO REIGN, AND HE REIGNED TWO AND FIFTY YEARS IN JERUSALEM. AND HIS MOTHER'S NAME WAS JECHOLIAH OF JERUSALEM._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

1-7 Uzziah did for the most part that which was right. It was happy for the kingdom that a good reign was a long one....

Verse 2 Kings 15:5. _THE LORD SMOTE THE KING, SO THAT HE WAS A LEPER_] The reason of this plague is well told in the above quoted chapter, 2 Chronicles 26:16. That his heart being elated, he went into the temple to burn incense upon the altar, assuming to himself the functions of the high priest; that Azariah the priest, with _fourscore_ others, went in after him, to prevent him; and that while they were remonstrating against his conduct, the Lord struck him with the _leprosy_, which immediately appeared on his _forehead_; that they thrust him out as an unclean person; and that he himself _hurried_ _to get out_, feeling that the Lord had smitten him; that he was obliged to dwell in a _house by himself_, being leprous, to the day of his death; and that during th...

THE LORD SMOTE THE KING, SO THAT HE WAS A LEPER - The circumstances under which this terrible affliction befel one of the greatest of the Jewish kings, are given at some length by the author of Chronicles (marginal reference), who supplies us with a tolerably full account of this important reign, which the writer of Kings dismisses in half-a-dozen verses. A SEVERAL HOUSE - “A house of liberation,” or, freedom. On the necessity, under which the Law placed lepers, of living apart from other men, see marginal reference Jotham became regent in his father’s room, and exercised the functions of judge (1 Kings 3:9 note), from the time that his father became a leper....

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 15:1 REIGNS OF AZARIAH AND JOTHAM OVER JUDAH; AND OF ZACHARIAH, SHALLUM, MENAHEM, PEKAHIAH, AND PEKAH OVER ISRAEL. 2 KINGS 15:1 THE REIGN OF AZARIAH OVER JUDAS. The writer now more and more compresses his narrative. Into a single chapter he crowds the events of seven reigns, covering the space of nearly seventy years. He is consequent

AND THE LORD SMOTE THE KING,.... With leprosy; the reason of it was, because he intruded into the priest's office, and went into the temple to burn incense on the altar of incense, 2 Chronicles 26:19, SO THAT HE WAS A LEPER UNTO THE DAY OF HIS DEATH; but how long it was to it from his being smitten cannot be said with certainty; Dr. Lightfoot l thinks he died the same year he was smitten: AND DWELT IN A SEVERAL HOUSE: without Jerusalem, as the Targum; for lepers, according to the law, were to dwell separate without the camp or city, Leviticus 13:46 the word for "several" signifies "free" m; here he lived alone, free from the company and conversation of men, free from the business of government, his son doing that for him, and in the country, where he

CHAPTER 15 _ 1. Reign and death of Azariah (Uzziah) (2 Kings 15:1; 2 Chronicles 26)._ 2. Reign and death of Zachariah (2 Kings 15:8) 3. Reign and death of Shallum (2 Kings 15:13) 4. Menahem, King of Israel (2 Kings 15:16) 5. Pul of Assyria and Menahem (2 Kings 15:19; 1 Chronicles 5:26) 6. Death of Menahem ...

REIGN OF AZARIAH (UZZIAH). The long reign of this king passes almost unnoticed in this book. He is called Uzziah elsewhere in Chronicles and Isaiah, except 1 Chronicles 3:12. 2 KINGS 15:5. Yahweh smote the king with leprosy. The isolation of men thus afflicted was enforced (2 Kings 7:3; see Leviticus 13:46; Numbers 5:3). It is uncertain what is meant by a several house. The Heb. word means free. Azariah reigned but did not rule during his latter years. If most of the sixteen years of Jotham's reign fell within his father's lifetime, the

THE LORD SMOTE. Jehovah smote. Chronicles comes in here to explain why. See 2 Chronicles 26:16, and note _on_ "Kings" in title of. Kings (p. 447). A LEPER. One of nine afflicted with leprosy. See note on Exodus 4:6. No reason is given here, but it is given in Chronicles according to the object of the latter book. See note above. SEVERAL HOUSE. a lazar house. See note on 2 Kings 15:7. OVER THE HOUSE, or palace: i.e. the king's house, as regent or co-regent....

_And the Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper_ The more political history in Kings tells us nothing about the reason why Azariah was smitten. The Chronicler however says that the king's successes caused his heart to be lifted up, and he presumed to go into the temple, and to take upon him the priest's office of burning incense. He was withstood by the priest (also called Azariah) and by fourscore other priests, but in his anger he persisted, and then it was that the leprosy rose up in his forehead. Whereupon he hasted to go forth from the temple because the Lord had smitten him. _and dwelt in a several house_ The noun here is connected with the adjective that signifies -free" and which is used of manumitted slaves. It has been suggested that the meaning here is that the place was one where those lived who could no longer mix with their fellows, and take part in the ordinary busine...