2 Chronicles 26:20

20 And when Azariah, the bishop, had beheld him, and also all the other priests, they saw leprosy in his forehead, and anon they putted the king out of the temple; but also he was afeared, and hasted to go out; for he feeled anon the vengeance of the Lord. (And when the High Priest Azariah, and all the other priests, beheld him, and they saw that leprosy had sprung out on his forehead, they put the king out of the Temple at once; and he was afraid, and hastened to go out; for he felt at once the vengeance of the Lord.)

2 Chronicles 26:20 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 26:20

And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked
upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead
He was leprous all over his body, no doubt, but it appeared in his forehead very remarkably, and was seen by them all, who, without doubt, informed him of his case, and of which he soon became sensible:

and they thrust him out from thence;
the holy place, he being now unfit to be in a common dwelling house, or his own palace, and much less to be in the house of God:

yea, himself also hasted to go out, because the Lord had smitten him;
fearing, should he continue there, that something worse would befall him; the Targum is, the Word of the Lord. The leprosy was a disease sent immediately from God, as the case of Miriam, and this of Uzziah, show; and so the Persians F4 had a notion, that those had it who sinned against the sun, and for that reason, and which they accounted and worshipped as God.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 Herodot. Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 138.

2 Chronicles 26:20 In-Context

18 which against-stood the king, and said to him, Uzziah, it is not of thine office, that thou burn incense to the Lord, but of the priests of the Lord, that is, the sons of Aaron, that be hallowed to such service; go thou out of the saintuary; and despise thou not God; for this thing shall not be areckoned of the Lord God to thee into glory. (who stood against the king, and said to him, Uzziah, it is not thy duty to burn incense to the Lord, but only the duty of the priests of the Lord, that is, the sons of Aaron, who be consecrated for such service; go thou out of the sanctuary; offend thou not; for this thing shall not be counted as glory for thee by the Lord God.)
19 And Uzziah was wroth, and he held in his hand the censer for to offer incense, and he menaced the priests; and anon leprosy was sprung forth in his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, upon the altar of incense. (And Uzziah was angry, and he held in his hand the censer to offer incense, and he threatened the priests; and at once leprosy sprung out on his forehead, in front of the priests in the House of the Lord, as they stood by the altar of incense.)
20 And when Azariah, the bishop, had beheld him, and also all the other priests, they saw leprosy in his forehead, and anon they putted the king out of the temple; but also he was afeared, and hasted to go out; for he feeled anon the vengeance of the Lord. (And when the High Priest Azariah, and all the other priests, beheld him, and they saw that leprosy had sprung out on his forehead, they put the king out of the Temple at once; and he was afraid, and hastened to go out; for he felt at once the vengeance of the Lord.)
21 Therefore king Uzziah was leprous unto the day of his death, and dwelled in an house by itself (and lived in a house set apart), and he was full of leprosy; for which he was cast out of the house of the Lord. And Jotham, his son, governed the house of the king, and deemed the people of the land.
22 And Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote the residue of the former and of the last words of Uzziah. (And the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, wrote down the rest of the first and the last deeds of Uzziah.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.