2 Chronicles 26:17
in 2 Chronicles 26Then Azariah the priest, along with eighty brave priests of the LORD, went in after him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of Jehovah, that were valiant men:
KJV
And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant men:
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 26
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnd Azariah the priest went in after him,.... To hinder him from doing it, and to persuade him to go out. This was the high priest, as appears from 2Ch 26:20 and is thought to be the same that is spoken of in 1Ch 6:10. and with him eighty priests of the Lord, that were valiant men; not only able bodied men, but men of spirit and courage, and zealous for the honour of God.
This site's exposition
fourscore priests of the Lord
on 2 Chronicles 26:17-18
Azariah the priest and fourscore priests of the Lord follow the king into the sanctuary and stand against him, a confrontation Chronicles alone records. Their charge names the law plainly: it appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense. Wesley notes that withstood renders a Hebrew phrase meaning they stood up against him by admonition and reproof rather than by force, since the censer stays in the king's hand through the next verse.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
When King Uzziah carried a censer and violently took on himself to sacrifice, against the law of God, and refused to submit or give place, despite the opposition of Azariah the priest, he was confounded by God's indignation and defiled with the markings of leprosy on his forehead, branded by the Lord's anger on that part of the body on which those who win the Lord's favor are sealed.
In the midst of paradise God had planted the Tree of Knowledge to separate off, above and below, sanctuary from Holy of Holies. Adam made bold to touch and was smitten like Uzziah: the king became leprous, Adam was tripped. Being struck like Uzziah, he …
Remember Uzziah, how he entered the sanctuary; by seeking to seize the priesthood he lost his kingdom. Adam, by wishing to enrich himself, incurred a double loss. Recognize in the sanctuary the Tree, in the censer the fruit and in the leprosy the nakedness. From …
A commentator
Apostolic ConstitutionsCONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 2.27 · Written before 380.
proposed
As, therefore, it was not lawful for one of another tribe that was not a Levite to offer anything or to approach the altar without the priest, so also do you do nothing without the bishop; for if anyone does anything without the bishop, he does it to no purpose. For it will not be esteemed as of any avail to him.… For as Uzziah the king, who was not a priest and yet would exercise the functions of the priests, was smitten with leprosy for his transgression; so every lay person shall not be unpunished who despises God, and is so mad as to affront his priests and unjustly to snatch that honor to himself: not imitating Christ, "who glorified not himself to be made an high priest" but waited till he heard from his Father, "The Lord swore and will not repent, You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." If, therefore, Christ did not glorify himself without the Father, how dare anyone thrust himself into the priesthood who has not received that dignity from his superior and do such things that it is lawful only for the priests to do?
A commentator
Apostolic ConstitutionsCONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 3.10 · Written before 380.
proposed
Neither do we permit the laity to perform any of the offices belonging to the priesthood, as, for instance, neither the sacrifice, nor baptism, nor the laying on of hands nor the blessing, whether the smaller or the greater, for "no one takes this honor to himself, but he that is called of God." For such sacred offices are conferred by the laying on of the hands of the bishop. But a person to whom such an office is not committed but seizes on it for himself, he shall undergo the punishment of Uzziah.
3 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
Uzziah is described as at first having been righteous, and then it is related that he was lifted up in mind and dared to offer sacrifice to God himself, and his face became leprous in consequence. But Josephus carefully studied the additional comments of the expounders as well, and a Hebrew of the Hebrews as he was, hear his description of the events of those times. He tells: "Though the priests urged Uzziah to go out of the temple and not to break the law of God, he angrily threatened them with death unless they held their peace. And meanwhile an earthquake shook the earth, and a bright light shone through a breach in the temple and struck the king's face, so that at once it became leprous. And before the city at the place called Eroga, the western half of the Mount was split asunder and rolling four stadia stopped at the eastern mountain, so as to block up the royal approach and gardens." This I take from the work of Josephus on Jewish antiquities. And I found in the beginning of the prophet Amos the statement that he began to prophecy "in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, two years before the earthquake." What earthquake he does not clearly say. But I think the same prophet further on suggests this earthquake when he says, "I saw the Lord standing on the altar. And he said, Strike the altar, and the doors shall be shaken, and strike the heads of all, and the remnant I will slay with the sword."Here I understand a prediction of the earthquake, and of the destruction of the ancient solemnities of the Jewish race and of the worship practiced by them in Jerusalem, the ruin that should overtake them after the coming of our Savior, when, since they rejected the Christ of God, the true High Priest, leprosy infected their souls, as in the days of Uzziah, when the Lord himself standing on the altar gave leave to him that struck, saying, "Strike the altar."
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
7 ), that is, all that were not priests. Korah and his accomplices, though Levites, paid dearly for offering to burn incense, which was the work of the priests only, Num. xvi. The incense of our prayers must be by faith put into the hands of our Lord Jesus, the great high priest of our profession, else we cannot expect it should be accepted by God, Rev. viii.
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The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
he transgressed against the Lord, &c.--(See on 2Ki 15:5). This daring and wicked act is in both records traced to the intoxicating influence of overweening pride and vanity. But here the additional circumstances are stated, that his entrance was opposed, and strong remonstrances made (1Ch 6:10) by the high priest, who was accompanied by eighty inferior priests.
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The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּבֹ֥א | vaiyavo' | and he went | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אַחֲרָ֖יו | ʾacharav | after him | H310 → | 715 times |
| עֲזַרְיָ֣הוּ | ʾazaryahu | Azariah | H5838 → | 49 times |
| הַכֹּהֵ֑ן | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| וְעִמּ֞וֹ | veimo | and [were] with him | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| כֹּהֲנִ֧ים׀ | kohanim | priests | H3548 → | 750 times |
| לַיהוָ֛ה | layahweh | of Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| שְׁמוֹנִ֖ים | shemonim | eighty | H8084 → | 38 times |
| בְּנֵי־ | benei- | sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| חָֽיִל׃ | chayil | strength | H2428 → | 246 times |
וַיָּבֹ֥אand he went
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
אַחֲרָ֖יוafter him
ʾacharavH310 →715 times
עֲזַרְיָ֣הוּAzariah
ʾazaryahuH5838 →49 times
הַכֹּהֵ֑ןthe priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
וְעִמּ֞וֹand [were] with him
veimoH5973 →1050 times
כֹּהֲנִ֧ים׀priests
kohanimH3548 →750 times
לַיהוָ֛הof Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
שְׁמוֹנִ֖יםeighty
shemonimH8084 →38 times
בְּנֵי־sons of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
חָֽיִל׃strength
chayilH2428 →246 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Chronicles 12:28and Zadok, a mighty young man of valor, with 22 commanders from his own family.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 8:17
Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the scribe;
- 1 Chronicles 6:8
Ahitub was the father of Zadok, Zadok was the father of Ahimaaz,
- 1 Chronicles 6:53
Zadok his son, and Ahimaaz his son.
- 2 Samuel 8:17
Through
1 Chronicles 6:10Johanan was the father of Azariah, who served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem,
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 3:1
Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had prepared on the…
- 1 Kings 6:1–7
In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the month of Ziv, the second month of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over…
- 2 Chronicles 3:4
The portico at the front, extending across the width of the temple, was twenty cubits long and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold.
- 2 Chronicles 3:1
Through
1 Chronicles 26:6Also to his son Shemaiah were born sons who ruled over their families because they were strong, capable men.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 12:28
and Zadok, a mighty young man of valor, with 22 commanders from his own family.
- 2 Timothy 2:3
Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
- 1 Chronicles 12:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Chronicles
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 2.27; Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 3.10; Cyprian, Treatise I. On the Unity of the Church 18; Ephrem the Syrian, HYMNS ON PARADISE 3.14; Ephrem the Syrian, HYMNS ON PARADISE 12.4; Eusebius of Caesarea, PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 6.18; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.