Uzziah and Isaiah

A follow-up on yesterday’s brief comment on 2 Chronicles 26 and Uzziah’s pride: Isaiah 1:1 says that Isaiah prophesied during the reign of Uzziah, but the only other reference to Uzziah in the book is a death notice in 6:1. I’ve argued in an earlier post that the first five chapters are the prophesies of Uzziah’s reign. Now I’ve actually looked at 2 Chronicles 26, which recounts Uzziah’s reign (duh!) and it seems to fit, especially with Isaiah 2-3.

2 Chronicles tells us that Uzziah fought and defeated Philistines, as well as other nations. He was a military success and even invented new ways to make war. His wealth and power made him arrogant, “high,” and that was when he stormed into the temple to offer incense.

Isaiah 2 seems to be tracking just this series of events, but peeking behind the scenes to show what is really happening to Judah in a period of apparent success, prosperity, and calm Isaiah charges that Judah is being influenced by Philistine soothsayers and influences from the east (2:6). It seems that instead of Israelitizing Philistia, Uzziah’s Judah became Philistinized: The conquered conquered the conqueror. Isaiah speaks of a fourfold “filling” of the land – with influences, with gold and silver, with horses and chariots, with idols. This fits Uzziah’s Solomonic wealth, with the added note of militarization. Then Isaiah launches into a condemnation of those who have become “lofty,” using the same word as 2 Chronicles 26.

Chapters 3-5 also seem to fit the situation. Yahweh threatens to remove leaders, as He did Uzziah himself (3:1-15). Yahweh condemns the luxurious lifestyles of Zion’s wealthy women (3:16-4:6), which fits the prosperity of Uzziah’s reign. Judah is a vineyard, producing an apparent abundance of grapes; but the grapes are all wild grapes, counterfeit grapes that cannot produce wine. Six woes, six death sentences, are pronounced against Judah. Then Uzziah dies, and there is an interruption in the sequence to see how Ahaz will respond to the word of Yahweh. When he responds with unbelief, the seventh woe comes (10:1-4).