Ucal(I
am strong). According to the received text of (Proverbs 30:1) Ithiel
and Ucal must be regarded as proper names; and if so, they must be the
names of disciples or sons of Agur the son of Jakeh, an unknown sage
among the Hebrews. But there is great obscurity about the passage.
Ewald considers both Ithiel and Ucal as symbolical names, employed by
the poet to designate two classes of thinkers to whom he addresses
himself.
Uel(will
of God), one of the family of Bani, who during the captivity had
married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:34) (B.C. 458.)
UknazIn
the margin of (1 Chronicles 4:16) the words "even Kenaz" in the text
are rendered "Uknaz," as the proper name.
Ulai(pure
water) is mentioned by Daniel, (Daniel 8:2,16) as a river near to Susa,
where he saw his vision of the ram and the he-goat. It has been
generally identified with the Eulaeus of the Greek and Roman
geographers, a large stream in the immediate neighborhood of that city.
The Eulseus has been by many identified with the Choaspes, which is
undoubtedly the modern Kerkhah, an affluent of the Tigris, flowing into
it a little below Kurnah . Recent surveys show that the Choarspes once
divided into two streams about 20 miles above Susa. The eastern was the
Ulai. This bifurcation explains (Daniel 8:16)
Ulam(porch).
+A descendant of Gilead, the grandson of Manasseh and father of Bedan.
(1 Chronicles 7:17) (B.C. 1450.)
+The first-born of Eshek, a descendant of the house of Saul. (1
Chronicles 8:39,40) (B.C. 588.)
Ulla(yoke),
an Asherite, head of a family in his tribe. (1 Chronicles 7:30) (B.C.
about 1014.)
Ummah(union),
one of the cities of the allotment of Asher. (Joshua 10:30) only.
Probably 'Alma, in the highlands of the coast, about five miles
east-northeast of Ras en-Nakhura .
Unclean
MeatsThese
were things strangled, or dead of themselves or through beasts or birds
of prey; whatever beast did not both part the hoof and chew the cud;
and certain other smaller animals rated as "creeping things;" certain
classes of birds mentioned in Levi 11 and Deuteronomy 14 twenty or
twenty-one in all; whatever in the waters had not both fins and scales
whatever winged insect had not besides four legs the two hindlegs for
leaping; Besides things offered in sacrifice to idols; and ail blood or
whatever contained it (save perhaps the blood of fish, as would appear
from that only of beast and bird being forbidden,) (Leviticus 7:26) and
therefore flesh cut from the live animal; as also all fat, at any rate
that disposed in masses among the intestines, and probably wherever
discernible end separable among the flesh. (Leviticus 3:14-17; 7:23)
The eating of blood was prohibited even to "the stranger that
sojourneth among you." (Leviticus 17:10; 12:14) As regards blood, the
prohibition indeed dates from the declaration to Noah against "flesh
with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof" in (Genesis 9:4)
which was perhaps by Moses as still binding upon all Noah's
descendants. It is noteworthy that the practical effect of the rule
laid down is to exclude all the carnivora among quadrupeds, and, so far
as we can interpret the nomenclature the raptores among birds. They
were probably excluded as being not averse to human carcasses, and in
most eastern countries acting as the servitors of the battle-field and
the gibbet. Among fish those which were allowed contain unquestionably
the most wholesome varieties, save that they exclude the oyster.
Practically the law left among the allowed Meats an ample variety. As
Orientals have minds sensitive to teaching by types, there can be
little doubt that such cere menial distinctions not only tended to keep
Jew and Gentile apart (and so prevented the Jews from becoming
contaminated with the idolatry of the Gentiles), but were a perpetual
reminder to the former that he and the latter were not on one level
before God. Hence, when that ceremony was changed we find that this was
the very symbol selected to instruct St. Peter in the truth that God
was not a "respecter of persons." It remains to mention the sanitary
aspect of the case. Swine are said to peculiarly liable to disease in
their own bodies. This probably means that they are more easily led
than other creatures to the foul feeding which produces it. As regards
the animals allowed for food, comparing them with those forbidden,
there can be no doubt on which side the balance of wholesomeness lies.
UncleannessThe
distinctive idea attached to ceremonial uncleanness among the Hebrews
was that it cut a person off for the time from social privileges, and
left his citizenship among God's people for the while in abeyance.
There is an intense reality in the fact of the divine law taking hold
of a man by the ordinary infirmities of flesh, and setting its stamp,
as it were, in the lowest clay of which he is moulded. The sacredness
attached to the human body is parallel to that which invested the ark
of the covenant itself. It is as though Jehovah thereby would teach men
that the "very hairs of their head were all numbered" before him and
that "in his book were all their members written." Thus was inculcated
so to speak a bodily holiness. Nor were the Israelites to be only
"separated from other people," but they were to be "holy to God,"
(Leviticus 20:24,26) "a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation." The
importance to physical well-being of the injunctions which required
frequent ablution, under whatever special pretexts, can be but feebly
appreciated in our cooler and damper climate. Uncleanness, as referred
to men, may be arranged in three degrees:
+That which defiled merely "until even." and was removed by bathing and
washing the clothes at the end of it; such were all contacts with dead
animals.
+That graver sort which defiled for seven days, and was removed by the
use of the "water of separation;" such were all defilements connected
with the human corpse.
+Uncleanness from the morbid perpetual or menstrual state, lasting as
long as that morbid state lasted; and in the case of leprosy lasting
often for life. As the human person was itself the seat of a covenant
token, so male and female had each their ceremonial obligations in
proportion to their sexual differences. There is an emphatic reminder
of human weakness in the fact of birth and death-man's passage alike
into and out of his mortal state-- being marked with a stated
pollution. The corpse bequeathed a defilement of seven days to all who
handled it, to the "tent" or chamber of death, and to sundry things
within it. Nay, contact with one slain in the field of battle or with
even a human bone or grave, was no less effectual to pollute than that
with a corpse dead by the course of nature. (Numbers 19:11-18) This
shows that the source of pollution lay in the mere fact of death. The
duration of defilement caused by the birth of a female infant being
double that due to a male, extending respectively to eighty and forty
days in All, (Leviticus 12:2-5) may perhaps represent the woman's
heavier share in the first sin and first curse. (Genesis 3:16; 1
Timothy 2:14) Among causes of defilement should be noticed the fact
that the ashes of the red heifer burnt whole which were mixed with
water and became the standing resource for purifying uncleanness in the
second degree, themselves became a source of defilement to all who were
clean, even as of purification to the unclean, and so the water.
Somewhat similarly the scapegoat, who bore away the sins of the people,
defiled him who led him into the wilderness, and the bringing forth aid
burning the sacrifice on the Great Day of Atonement had a similar
power. This lightest form of uncleanness was expiated by bathing the
body and washing the clothes. Besides the water of purification made as
afore said, men and women, in their "issues," were, after seven days,
reckoned from the cessation of the disorder, to bring two turtle-doves
or young pigeons to be killed by the priests. All these kinds of
uncleanness disqualified for holy functions: as the layman so affected
might not approach the congregation and the sanctuary, so any priest
who incurred defilement must abstain from holy things. (Leviticus
22:2-8) [[1251]Leper, Leprosy] The religion of the persians shows a
singularly close correspondence with the Levitical code.
Undergirding(Acts
27:17) [[1252]Ship]
Unicornthe
rendering of the Authorized Version of the Hebrew reem, a word which
occurs seven times in the Old Testament as the name of some large wild
animal. The reem of the Hebrew Bible, however, has nothing at all to do
with the one-horned animal of the Greek and Roman writers, as is
evident from (33:17) where in the blessing of Joseph it is said; "his
glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the
horns of a unicorn ;" not, as the text of the Authorized Version
renders it, "the horns of unicorns ." The two horns of the ram are "the
ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh." This text puts
a one-horned animal entirely out of the question. Considering that the
reem is spoken of as a two-horned animal of great strength and
ferocity, that it was evidently well known and often seen by the Jews,
that it is mentioned as an animal fit for sacrificial purposes, and
that it is frequently associated with bulls and oxen we think there can
be no doubt that, some species of wild ox is intended. The allusion in
(Psalms 92:10) "But thou shalt lift up, as a reeym, my horn," seems to
point to the mode in which the Bovidae use their horns, lowering the
head and then tossing it up. But it is impossible to determine what
particular species of wild ox is signified probably some gigantic urus
is intended. (It is probable that it was the gigantic Bos primigeniua,
or aurochs, now extinct, but of which Caesar says, "These uri are
scarcely less than elephants in size, but in their nature, color and
form are bulls. Great is their strength and great their speed; they
spare neither man nor beast when once; they have caught sight of
them"--Bell. Gall. vi. 20.-ED.)
Unni(depressed).
+One of the Levite doorkeepers in the time of David. (1 Chronicles
15:18,20) (B.C. 1043.)
+A second Levite (unless the family of the foregoing be intended)
concerned in the sacred office after the return from Babylon. (Nehemiah
12:9) (B.C. 535.)
Uphaz(Jeremiah
10:9; Daniel 10:5) [[1253]Ophir]
Urwas
the land of Haran's nativity, (Genesis 11:28) the place from which
Terah and Abraham started "to go into the land of Canaan." (Genesis
11:31) It is called in Genesis "Ur of the Chaldaeans," while in the
Acts St. Stephen places it, by implication, in Mesopotamia. (Acts
7:2,4) These are all the indications which Scripture furnishes as to
its locality. It has been identified by the most ancient traditions
with the city of Orfah in the highlands of Mesopotamia, which unite the
table-land of Armenia to the valley of the Euphrates. In later ages it
was called Edessa, and was celebrated as the capital of Abgarus or
Acbarus who was said to have received the letter and portrait of our
Saviour. "Two, physical features must have secured Orfah, from the
earliest times, as a nucleus for the civilization of those regions. One
is a high-crested crag, the natural fortifications of the crested
citadel....The other is an abundant spring, issuing in a pool of
transparent clearness, and embosomed in a mass of luxuriant verdure,
which, amidst the dull brown desert all around, makes and must always
have made, this spot an oasis, a paradise, in the Chaldaean wilderness.
Round this sacred pool,'the beautiful spring Callirrhoe,' as it was
called by the Greek writers, gather the modern traditions of the
patriarch."--Stanley, Jewish Church, part i.p.7. A second tradition,
which appears in the Talmud, finds Ur in Warka, 120 miles southeast
from Babylon and four east of the Euphrates. It was the Orchoe of the
Greeks, and probably the Ereck of Holy Scripture. This place bears the
name of Huruk in the native inscriptions, and was in the countries
known to the Jews as the land of the Chaldaeans. But in opposition to
the most ancient traditions, many modern writers have fixed the site of
Ur at a very different position, viz. in the extreme south of Chaldaea,
at Mugheir, not very far above-- and probably in the time of Abraham
actually upon--the head of the Persian Gulf. Among the ruins which are
now seen at the spot are the remains of one of the great temples, of a
model similar to that of Babel, dedicated to the moon, to whom the city
was sacred. (Porter and Rawlinson favor this last place.)
Urbane,
Or Urbane(of
the city; polite), the Greek form of the Latin Urbanus, as it is given
in the Revised Version. He was a Christian disciple who is in the long
list of those whom St. Paul salutes in writing to Rome. (Romans 16:9)
(A.D. 55.)
Urbanusthe
form given in the Revised Version for Urbane.
Uri(fiery).
+The father of Bezaleel, one of the architects of the tabernacle.
(Exodus 31:2; 35:30; 38:22; 1 Chronicles 2:20; 2 Chronicles 1:5) He was
of the tribe of Judah, and grandson of Caleb ben-Hezron. (B.C. 1491.)
+The father of Geber, Solomon's commissariat officer in Gilead. (1
Kings 4:19) (B.C. before 1010.)
+One of the gatekeepers of the temple in the time of Ezra. (Ezra 10:24)
(B.C. 458.)
Uriah(light
of Jehovah).
+One of the thirty commanders of the thirty bands into which the
Israelite army of David was divided. (1 Chronicles 11:41; 2 Samuel
23:39) Like others of David's officers he was a foreigner--a Hittite.
His name, however and his manner of speech (2 Samuel 11:11) indicate
that he had adopted the Jewish religion. He married Bath-sheba a woman
of extraordinary beauty, the daughter of Eliam--possibly the same as
the son of Ahithophel, and one of his brother officers, (2 Samuel
23:34) and hence, perhaps, Uriah's first acquaintance with Bath-sheba.
It may be inferred from Nathan's parable, (2 Samuel 12:3) that he was
passionately devoted to his wife, and that their union was celebrated
in Jerusalem as one of peculiar tenderness. In the first war with
Ammon, B.C. 1035, he followed Joab to the siege, and with him remained
encamped in the open field. (2 Samuel 12:11) He returned to Jerusalem,
at an order from the king on the pretext of asking news of the
war--really in the hope that his return to his wife might cover the
shame of his own crime. The king met with an unexpected obstacle in the
austere, soldier-like spirit which guided all Uriah's conduct, and
which gives us a high notion of the character and discipline of David's
officers. On the morning of the third day David sent him back to the
camp with a letter containing the command to Joab to cause his
destruction in the battle. The device of Joab was to observe the part
of the wall of Rabbath-ammon where the greatest force of the besieged
was congregated, and thither, as a kind of forlorn hope to send Uriah.
A sally took place. Uriah and the officers with him advanced as far as
the gate of the city, and were there shot down by the archers on the
wall. Just as Joab had forewarned the messenger, the king broke into a
furious passion on hearing of the loss. The messenger, as instructed by
Joab, calmly continued, and ended the story with the words, "Thy
servant also Uriah the Hittite, is dead." In a moment David's anger is
appeased. It is one of the touching parts of the story that Uriah falls
unconscious of his wife's dishonor.
+High priest in the reign of Ahaz. (Isaiah 8:2; 2 Kings 16:10-16) He is
probably the same as Urijah the priest, who built the altar for Ahaz.
(2 Kings 16:10) (B.C. about 738.)
+A priest of the family of Hakkoz, the head of the seventh course of
priests. (Ezra 8:33; Nehemiah 3:4,21) (B.C. 458.)
Urias
+Uriah, the husband of Bath-sheba. (Matthew 1:6)
+[1254]Urijah
+1 Esdr. 9:43.
Uriel
+A Kohathite Levite, son of Tahath. (1 Chronicles 6:24)
+Chief of the Kohathites in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 15:5,11)
(B.C. 1043.)
+Uriel of Gibeah was the father of Maachah or Michaiah the favorite
wife of Rehoboam and mother of Abijah. (2 Chronicles 13:2) (B.C. before
973.) In (2 Chronicles 11:20) she is called "Maachah the daughter of
Absalom." Probably her mother, Tamer, was the daughter of Absalom. (the
fire of God), an angel named only in 2 Esdr. 4:1,36; 5:20; 10:28.
Urijah(light
of Jehovah).
+Urijah the priest in the reign of Ahaz, (2 Kings 16:10) probably the
same as [1255]Uriah,
+A priest of the family of Koz or Hakkoz, the same as [1256]Uriah,
+One of the priests who stood at Ezra's right hand when he read the law
to the people. (Nehemiah 8:4) (B.C. 458.)
+The son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim. He prophesied in the days of
Jehoiakim, B.C. 600, and the king sought to put him to death; but he
escaped, and fled into Egypt. His retreat was soon covered; Elnathan
and his men brought him up out of Egypt, and Jehoiakim slew him with
the sword and cast his body forth among the graves of the common people
(Jeremiah 26:20-23)
Urim
And Thummim(light
and perfection). When the Jewish exiles were met on their return from
Babylon by a question which they had no data for answering, they agreed
to postpone the settlement of the difficulty till there should rise up
"a priest with Urim and Thummim." (Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65) The
inquiry what those Urim and Thummim themselves were seems likely to
wait as long for a final and satisfying answer. On every side we meet
with confessions of ignorance. Urim means "light," and Thummim
"perfection." Scriptural statements.--The mysterious words meet us for
the first time, as if they needed no explanation, in the description of
the high Priest's apparel. Over the ephod there is to be a "breastplate
of judgment" of gold, scarlet, purple and fine linen, folded square and
doubled, a "span" in length and width. In it are to be set four rows of
precious stones, each stone with the name of a tribe of Israel engraved
on it, that Aaron "may bear them on his heart." Then comes a further
order. In side the breastplate, as the tables of the covenant were
placed inside the ark, (Exodus 25:16; 28:30) are to be placed "the Urim
and the Thummim," the light and the perfection; and they too are to be
on Aaron's heart when he goes in before the Lord. (Exodus 28:15-30) Not
a word describes them. They are mentioned as things-already familiar
both to Moses and the people, connected naturally with the functions of
the high priest as mediating between Jehovah and his people. The
command is fulfilled. (Leviticus 8:8) They pass from Aaron to Eleazar
with the sacred ephod and other pontificalia . (Numbers 20:28) When
Joshua is solemnly appointed to succeed the great hero-law-giver he is
bidden to stand before Eleazar, the priest, "who shall ask counsel for
him after the judgment of Urim," and this counsel is to determine the
movements of the host of Israel. (Numbers 27:21) In the blessings of
Moses they appear as the crowning glory of the tribe of Levi: "thy
Thummim and thy Urim are with thy Holy One." (33:8,9) In what way the
Urim and Thummim were consulted is quite uncertain. Josephus and the
rabbins supposed that the stones gave out the oracular answer by
preternatural illumination; but it seems to be far simpler and more in
agreement with the different accounts of inquiries made by Urim and
Thummim, (1 Samuel 14:3,18,19; 23:2,4,9,11,12; 28:6; Judges 20:28; 2
Samuel 5:23) etc., to suppose that the answer was given simply by the
word of the Lord to the high priest comp. (John 11:51) when, clothed
with the ephod and the breastplate, he had inquired of the Lord. Such a
view agrees with the true notion of the breastplate.
Usury(The
word usury has come in modern English to mean excessive interest upon
money loaned, either formally illegal or at least oppressive. In the
Scriptures, however the word did not bear this sense, but meant simply
interest of any kind upon money. The Jews were forbidden by the law of
Moses to take interest from their brethren, but were permitted to take
it from foreigners. The prohibition grew out of the agricultural status
of the people, in which ordinary business loans were not needed. and
loans as were required should be made only as to friends and brothers
in need.--ED.) The practice of mortgaging land, sometimes at exorbitant
interest, grew up among the Jews during the captivity, in direct
violation of the law. (Leviticus 25:36,37; Ezekiel 18:8,13,17) We find
the rate reaching 1 in 100 per month, corresponding to the Roman
centisimae usurae, or 12 per cent. per annum.
Ut(wooded).
+A son of Aram, (Genesis 10:23; 1 Chronicles 1:17) end consequently a
grand son of Shem. (B.C. 2400-2300.)
+A son of Nahor by Milcah. (Genesis 22:21) Authorized Version, Huz.
(B.C. about 1900.)
+A son of Dishan, and grandson of Seir. (Genesis 36:28) (B.C. after
1800.)
+The country in which Job lived. (Job 1:1) As far as we can gather,
"the land of Uz" lay either east or southeast of Palestine, (Job 1:3)
adjacent to the Sabaeans and the Chaldaeans, (Job 1:15,17) consequently
north of the southern Arabians and west of the Euphrates; and, lastly,
adjacent to the Edomites of Mount Seir, who at one period occupied Uz,
probably as conquerors, (Lamentations 4:21) and whose troglodyte habits
are described in (Job 30:6,7) From the above data we infer that the
land of Uz corresponds to the Arabia Deserta of classical geography, at
all events to so much of it as lies north of the 30th parallel of
latitude.
Uta1
Esdr. 5:30. It appears to be a corruption of [1257]Akkub. (Ezra 2:45)
Uthai(helpful),
+The son of Ammihud, of the children of Pharez the son of Judah. (1
Chronicles 9:4) (B.C. 536.)
+One of the sons of Bigvai, who returned in the second caravan with
Ezra. (Ezra 8:14) (B.C.459.)
Uthii1
Esdr. 8:40. [[1258]Uthai,2]
Uzai(strong),
the father of Palal who assisted Nehemiah in rebuilding the city wail.
(Nehemiah 3:25) (B.C. before 446.)
Uzal(separate),
the sixth son of Joktan, (Genesis 10:27; 1 Chronicles 1:21) whose
settlements are clearly traced in the ancient name of San'a, the
capital city of the Yemen (a district of Arabia), which was originally
Awzal . From its position in the centre of the best portion of that
kingdom it must always have been an important city. (San'a is situated
about 150 miles from Aden and 100 miles from the coast of the Red Sea.
It is one of the most imposing cities of Arabia -ED.)
Uzza(strength).
+A Benjamite of the sons of Ehud. (1 Chronicles 8:7) (B.C. 1445.)
+Elsewhere called [1259]Uzza, Or Uzzah. (1 Chronicles 13:7,9,10,11)
[[1260]Uzza, Or Uzzah]
+The children of Uzza were a family of Nethinim who returned with
Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:49; Nehemiah 7:51) (B.C. before 536.)
+Properly Uzzah. As the text now stands, Uzzah is a descendant of
Merari, (1 Chronicles 6:29) (14); but there appears to be a gap in the
verse. Perhaps he is the same as Zina or Zizah the son of Shimei. (1
Chronicles 23:10,11) for these names evidently denote the same person,
and, in Hebrew character, are not unlike Uzzah.
Uzza,
Or Uzzah(strength),
one of the sons of Abinadab, in whose house at Kirjath-jearim the ark
rested for twenty years. Uzzah probably was the second and Ahio the
third. They both accompanied its removal when David first undertook to
carry it to Jerusalem. (B.C. 1043.) Ahio apparently went before the new
cart, (1 Chronicles 13:7) on which it was placed, and Uzzah walked by
the side. "At the threshing-floor of Nachon" (2 Samuel 6:6) or Chidon
(1 Chronicles 13:9) perhaps slipping over the smooth rock oxen
stumbled. Uzzah caught the ark to prevent its falling. The profanation
was punished by his instant death to the great grief of David, who
named the place Perez-uzzah (the breaking-forth on Uzzah). But Uzzah's
fate was not merely the penalty of his own rashness. The improper mode
of transporting the ark, which ought to have been borne on the
shoulders of the Levites was the primary cause of his unholy deed; and
David distinctly recognized it as a punishment on the people in general
"because we sought him not after the due order."
Uzza,
The Garden Ofthe
spot in which Manasseh king of Judah and his son Amon were buried. (2
Kings 21:18,26) It was the garden attached to Manasseh's palace. ver.
18. The fact of its mention shows that it was not where the usual
sepulchres of the kings were. No clue, however, is afforded to its
position.
Uzzensherah(ear
(or point) of Sherah) a town founded or rebuilt by Sherah, an
Ephraimite woman the daughter either of Ephraim himself or of Beriah.
It is named only in (1 Chronicles 7:24) in connection with the two
Beth-horons.
Uzzi(strong).
+Son of Bukki and father of Zerahiah, in the line of the high priests.
(1 Chronicles 6:5,61; Ezra 7:4) Though Uzzi was the lineal ancestor of
Zadok, it does not appear that he was ever high priest. He must have
been contemporary with, but rather earlier than, Eli. (B.C. before
1161.)
+Son of Tola the son of Issachar. (1 Chronicles 7:2,3) (B.C. 1706.)
+Son of Bela, of the tribe of Benjamin. (1 Chronicles 7:7) (B.C. 1706.)
+Another, or the same, from whom descended some Benjamite houses, which
were settled at Jerusalem after the return from captivity. (1
Chronicles 9:8)
+A Levite, son of Bani and overseer of the Levites dwelling at
Jerusalem, in the time of Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 11:22)
+A priest, chief of the father's house of Jedaiah, in the time of
Joiakim the high priest. (Nehemiah 12:19) (B.C. about 500.)
+One of the priests who assisted Ezra in the dedication of the wall of
Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 12:42) Perhaps the same as the preceding. (B.C.
446.)
Uzzia(strength
of Jehovah), one of David's guard, and apparently a native of Ashtaroth
beyond Jordan. (1 Chronicles 11:44) (B.C. 1053.)
Uzziah(strength
of Jehovah).
+King of Judah B.C. 809-8 to 757-6. In some passages his name appears
in the lengthened form Azariah: After the murder of Amaziah, his son
Uzziah was chosen by the people, at the age of sixteen, to occupy the
vacant throne; and for the greater part of his long reign of fifty-two
years he lived in the fear of God, and showed himself a wise, active
and pious ruler. He never deserted the worship of the true God, and was
much influenced by Zechariah, a prophet who is mentioned only in
connection with him. (2 Chronicles 26:5) So the southern kingdom was
raised to a condition of prosperity which it had not known since the
death of Solomon. The end of Uzziah was less prosperous than his
beginning. Elated with his splendid career, he determined to burn
incense on the altar of God, but was opposed by the high priest Azariah
and eighty others. See (Exodus 30:7,8; Numbers 16:40; 18:7) The king
was enraged at their resistance, and, as he pressed forward with his
censer was suddenly smitten with leprosy. This lawless attempt to burn
incense was the only exception to the excellence of his administration.
(2 Chronicles 27:2) Uzziah was buried "with his fathers," yet
apparently not actually in the royal sepulchres. (2 Chronicles 26:23)
During his reign a great earthquake occurred. (Amos 1:1; Zechariah 14:5)
+A Kohathite Levite, and ancestor of Samuel. (1 Chronicles 6:24) (9).
+A priest of the sons of Harim, who had taken a foreign wife in the
days of Ezra. (Ezra 10:21) (B.C. 458.)
+Father of Athaiah or Uthai. (Nehemiah 11:4)
+Father of Jehonathan, one of David's overseers. (1 Chronicles 27:25)
(B.C. about 1053.)
Uzziel(my
strength is God).
+Fourth son of Kohath, father of Mishael, Eizaphan or Elizaphan and
Zithri, and uncle to Aaron. (Exodus 6:18,22; Leviticus 10:4) (B.C.
before 1491.)
+A Simeonite captain, son of Ishi, in the days of Hezekiah. (1
Chronicles 4:42)
+Head of a Benjamite house, of the sons of Bela. (1 Chronicles 7:7)
(B.C. 1706.)
+A musician, of the sons of Heman in David's reign. (1 Chronicles 25:4)
+A Levite, of the sons of Jeduthun, in the days of Hezekiah. (2
Chronicles 29:14,18) (B.C. 726.)
+Son of Harhaiah, probably a priest in the days of Nehemiah, who took
part in repairing the wall. (Nehemiah 3:8) (B.C. 446.) He is described
as "of the goldsmiths," i.e. of those priests whose hereditary office
it was to repair or make the sacred vessels.
Uzzielites,
Thethe
descendants of Uzziel, and one of the four great families of the
Kohathites. (Numbers 3:27; 1 Chronicles 26:23)