Post by Lee on Sept 10, 2014 2:13:37 GMT
THE scriptural record in 2 Kings 15. tells us little about King Uzziah, or Azariah as he is also called. The passage ends with the words, “So Azariah slept with his fathers and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David.” In Chronicles the account is fuller, and concerning his burial it is said (2 Chron. 26.), “So Uzziah slept with his fathers and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said: He is a leper.”
This gives the reason why he was not buried in the tombs of the Davidic kings, though in the same field. The uncleanness that came upon him because of his presumptuous violation of the office of the priests, was counted as defilement even after his death.
These things give interest to the discovery of a funerary tablet with an inscription including the name of the leper king.
Dr. E. L. Sukenik, of the Hebrew University on the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, tells the story of the decipherment-
It is a slab of hard bright limestone 14 by 13½ by 2 inches (rough measurement), almost in perfect condition save for slight breaks on the surface and edges. The lettering is intact in a bevelled frame 2 inches high. It contains four lines of text, the letters are well and deeply cut and the words separated by spaces. One letter only was doubtful and this was satisfactorily settled by the context.
The inscription says:—“The bones of Uzziah King of Judah were brought hither not to be opened.”
Dr. Sukenik says: From the passage in Chronicles it becomes evident that Uzziah was not buried in the sepulchre of the Davidic kings. Quite possibly he was buried outside the City of David. Our inscription proves that the tomb of this king was cleared; on the other hand, it is well known that the Davidic tombs were never cleared.
The tablet is therefore the titulus placed on the tomb of Uzziah’s bones once they were cleared from their original resting place.”
The tablet is an interesting relic and one more addition to the cumulative evidence for the accuracy of the Hebrew records.
The humble mark of sepulture is in contrast with the proud chronicle of Uzziah’s reign. It was a march of success following success. “He was marvellously helped till he was strong.” “Here,” as Dr. Bullinger says somewhere, “is the spiritual danger point.” The story continues: “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction for he transgressed against the Lord and went into the House of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense” (2 Chron. 26.). Defying the authority of the protesting priests he broke the ordinance that none but priestly hands should make the offering, and was stricken with leprosy which clave to him to the end and shut him out from the burial chambers of his fathers.
1932 Christadelphian: Volume 69. 1932 (electronic ed.) (106). Birmingham: Christadelphian Magazine & Publishing Association.
This gives the reason why he was not buried in the tombs of the Davidic kings, though in the same field. The uncleanness that came upon him because of his presumptuous violation of the office of the priests, was counted as defilement even after his death.
These things give interest to the discovery of a funerary tablet with an inscription including the name of the leper king.
Dr. E. L. Sukenik, of the Hebrew University on the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, tells the story of the decipherment-
It is a slab of hard bright limestone 14 by 13½ by 2 inches (rough measurement), almost in perfect condition save for slight breaks on the surface and edges. The lettering is intact in a bevelled frame 2 inches high. It contains four lines of text, the letters are well and deeply cut and the words separated by spaces. One letter only was doubtful and this was satisfactorily settled by the context.
The inscription says:—“The bones of Uzziah King of Judah were brought hither not to be opened.”
Dr. Sukenik says: From the passage in Chronicles it becomes evident that Uzziah was not buried in the sepulchre of the Davidic kings. Quite possibly he was buried outside the City of David. Our inscription proves that the tomb of this king was cleared; on the other hand, it is well known that the Davidic tombs were never cleared.
The tablet is therefore the titulus placed on the tomb of Uzziah’s bones once they were cleared from their original resting place.”
The tablet is an interesting relic and one more addition to the cumulative evidence for the accuracy of the Hebrew records.
The humble mark of sepulture is in contrast with the proud chronicle of Uzziah’s reign. It was a march of success following success. “He was marvellously helped till he was strong.” “Here,” as Dr. Bullinger says somewhere, “is the spiritual danger point.” The story continues: “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction for he transgressed against the Lord and went into the House of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense” (2 Chron. 26.). Defying the authority of the protesting priests he broke the ordinance that none but priestly hands should make the offering, and was stricken with leprosy which clave to him to the end and shut him out from the burial chambers of his fathers.
1932 Christadelphian: Volume 69. 1932 (electronic ed.) (106). Birmingham: Christadelphian Magazine & Publishing Association.