2 Chronicles 26:15

15 In Jerusalem he set up machines, invented by skilled workers, on the towers and the corners for shooting arrows and large stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong.

2 Chronicles 26:15 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 26:15

And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to
be on the towers, and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great
stones withal
Such as with the Romans were called "catapultae", "ballistae" ^F21, "scorpiones" ^F23 and by this it appears that these were not first invented in Greece and Rome, but in Judea. It is said ^F24, that the Romans received the machine to batter cities from the Greeks, and that the Trojan horse was no other than a battering ram; but if they did, the invention of them must be ascribed, not to them, but rather to the Syrians and Phoenicians, according to Pliny {y}; though others ^F26 suppose the Carthaginians, who were a colony of theirs, to be the inventors of them; yet, after all, they seem to be the device of some skilful men among the Jews, in the times of Uzziah; according to Diodorus Siculus ^F1, they were not found out when Nineveh was besieged in the times of Sardanapalus:

and his name spread far abroad;
in distant countries, for his warlike dispositions and preparations, which made them stand in fear of him:

for he was helped until he was strong;
he was wonderfully helped by the Lord to build fortified places, raise a numerous army, and provide all sorts of armour for them, and invent such machines as would greatly annoy the enemy, whereby he became very potent, and injected dread round about him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Cicero. Tusculan. Quaest. l. 2. Tacit. Hist. l. 3. c. 23.
F23 Ammian. Marcellin. l. 23.
F24 Vid. Valtrinum de re militari Roman. l. 5. c. 6.
F25 Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56.
F26 Vitruvius de Architectura, l. 10. c. 19. Tertullian. de Pallio, c. 1. & Salmasius in ib. Vid. Turnebi Adversaria, l. 29. c. 18.
F1 Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 113.

2 Chronicles 26:15 In-Context

13 Under their command was an army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.

14 Uzziah provided for all the army the shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging.

15 In Jerusalem he set up machines, invented by skilled workers, on the towers and the corners for shooting arrows and large stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong.

16 But when he had become strong he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was false to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to make offering on the altar of incense.

17 But the priest Azariah went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor;