Azariah

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According to the inscription, the grave slab of the second burial of King Uzziah (Israel Museum)

Azariah ( Hebrew עֲזַרְיָה 'ǎzarjāh ) in the 2nd Book of Kings , Usija ( Hebrew עֻזִיָּה 'uzzîjāh ) in the 2nd book of the chronicles was king of Judah . His reign is dated to 783–742 BC. BC (Albright) or 767–740 BC Chr. (Thiele) dated.

The biblical Azariah / Usija

In the Bible there are different statements about the name of this king, which are completely different in their meaning.

Azariah in the book of 2 Kings

In the 27th year of Jeroboam II's reign , Azariah became king of Judah at the age of 16 ( 2 Kings 15.1  ELB ). He ruled in Jerusalem for 52 years and his deeds were seen positively by YHWH. But the people continued to sacrifice to other gods on the mountains. YHWH made Azariah suffer from leprosy. Because of the leprosy, he was assigned a special place. The government was entrusted to his son Jotam (2 Kings 15: 5). Azariah was buried with his fathers in the city ​​of David . Jotam was appointed the new king in the 2nd year of Pekach's reign (2nd Kings 15.32 and 15.7). From the biblical tradition it is not clear in which year of government Azariah / Uziah he took over the government.

Uzija in the book of 2 Chronicles

In the second book of the Chronicle, Azariah is named Uzziah.

Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. Uzziah was able to win the battles against the Philistines and conquered Gath , Jawne (biblical Jabne) and Ashdod . In the further course he built further cities in the area of ​​Ashdod and in the land of the Philistines ( 2 Chr 26,6–7  ELB ). He was also able to defeat the Arabs of Gur-Baal and the Mëunites and made Ammon subject to tribute . His victories made him known as far as Egypt (2. Chron. 26,9). Further buildings in Jerusalem and in the desert followed. He promoted agriculture and armed his army (2. Chron. 26: 10-14). Due to his increasing self-confidence, he also took on priestly tasks that were not actually his due. A priest named Azariah, along with eighty other priests, told him not to perform religious rites himself, as this was the job of the priests (2 Chron. 26: 17-18). Uzziah did not listen to the demands of the priests, which caused YHWH to punish Uzziah with leprosy (2 Chron. 26: 19-20).

After isolation because of leprosy, his son Jotam took over government duties ( 2 Chr 26,21  ELB ). He was buried with his fathers, but apart from the other graves, since he still had not recovered from leprosy when he died (2 Chron. 26:23). It cannot be ruled out that the author of Book 2 Chronicles added the disease exegetically only afterwards.

Historical sources

The name Azariah appears in the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III. around 740 BC Chr. On. There he is mentioned as a usurper who was led by Tiglat-Pileser III. was captured.

A find caused a sensation, which, according to its inscription, represented "Usija's grave slab". The content of the inscription is provided with a warning, in which it is explicitly stated that the grave must not be opened. It is a grave slab that completed a second grave and was dated by historians to the first half of the 1st century AD.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Herbert Donner (see literature), p. 285
  2. ↑ Kurt Galling: Text book on the history of Israel (TGI), p. 54. Spellings Az-ri-a-ú and Az-ri-ia-a-ú ( read here )
  3. ↑ Kurt Galling: Textbuch zur Geschichte Israels (TGI), p. 55. There note B: Since 1865 AD, this grave slab has been in the possession of a small museum of the Greek Orthodox Eleonakirche on the Mount of Olives.
  4. ^ Kurt Galling: Textbook on the history of Israel (TGI), p. 55.

literature

  • Kurt Galling et al. (Ed.): Text book on the history of Israel. 3rd revised edition. Mohr, Tübingen 1979, ISBN 3-16-142361-5 .
  • Herbert Donner : History of the people of Israel and its neighbors in outline . Volume 2: From the royal era to Alexander the great. With a view of the history of Judaism to Bar Kochba (=  floor plans for the Old Testament 4, 2). 3rd revised and supplemented edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-51680-0 .
predecessor Office successor
Amaziah King of Judah
783–742 BC Chr. 		Iotam
personal data
SURNAME Azariah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Uziya
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Judah
DATE OF BIRTH 9th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH around 740 BC Chr.