Day 176, more insights

When did King Uzziah begin his reign? The Bible Knowledge Commentary of the O.T., edited by Walvoord and Zuck, ©1985, p.639 gives these insights: Amaziah reigned from 796 to 767, so if Uzziah commenced his reign in 790 he co-reigned with his father for 23 years. Yet the chronicle (and the author of 2Kings as well) seemed to indicate that Uzziah’s tenure followed that of Amaziah and that Uzziah was only 16 years old at the time. How then could his coregency be for 23 years ? The chronological data for both kings are very well established on grounds too complicated to be considered here. (For a full discussion see Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983. pp.113-23) The narratives can be viewed in a way that legitimately comports with the dates mentioned earlier. The best solution appears to be that the leadership of Judah, fearing early in Amaziah’s reign that he was unstable and incompetent, made his young son Uzziah vice-regent. In other words after Amaziah had reigned only six years (796-790) Uzziah, then (in 790) 16 years old, was appointed second to the king. From then until Amaziah’s death (767) they reigned together for 23 years (790-767). Then Uzziah reigned alone for 29 years until his own death. This would require, of course, that the chronicler meant that the people of Judah had made Uzziah vice-regent at the age of 16 (2Chron.26:1). In support of this reconstruction is the fact that Uzziah received religious instruction from Zechariah (v. 5). Zechariah, however, was stoned to death by some Judeans before the death of Amaziah’s predecessor Joash ([2Kings]24:21-22), who died in 796. Uzziah, then, obviously was of a teachable age before 796 (by 796 he would have been 10 years old). His major independent accomplishments could not have come about until his sole regency began in 767 so these are the ones with which the historian is particularly concerned [in 2Kings].

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