2 Chronicles 26:18

And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, 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: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) They withstood.—‘Amad ‘al, a late usage. (Comp. 1Chronicles 21:1.)

It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense.—Comp. the construction (1Chronicles 15:2).

Trespassed.—Done faithlessly (ma’al), 2Chronicles 26:16.

Neither shall it be . . . Lord God.—Literally, and not to thee (is it) for honour from Jehovah; i.e., thine act will not issue in honour, as thou thinkest, but in shame. Or, perhaps, And burning incense belongs not to thee as a prerogative from Jehovah (‘ên, not lō,’ would be more natural).

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 26:18. And they withstood Uzziah — Hebrew, stood up against Uzziah, not by force, or laying hands upon him to restrain him, for in the next verse we still find the censer in his hand; but only by admonition and reproof, which follows. Neither shall it be for thine honour, &c. — Expect that God will punish thee, or put some brand of infamy upon thee for this presumption. But this they express modestly, because they considered that he to whom they spake, though an offender, was their sovereign.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

26:16-23 The transgression of the kings before Uzziah was, forsaking the temple of the Lord, and burning incense upon idolatrous altars. But his transgression was, going into the holy place, and attempting to burn incense upon the altar of God. See how hard it is to avoid one extreme, and not run into another. Pride of heart was at the bottom of his sin; a lust that ruins many. Instead of lifting up the name God in gratitude to him who had done so much for him, his heart was lifted up to his hurt. Men's pretending to forbidden knowledge, and seeking things too high for them, are owing to pride of heart. 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 to be accepted by God, Re 8:3. Though Uzziah strove with the priests, he would not strive with his Maker. But he was punished for his transgression; he continued a leper to his death, shut out from society. The punishment answered the sin as face to face in a glass. Pride was at the bottom of his transgression, and thus God humbled him, and put dishonour upon him. Those that covet forbidden honours, forfeit allowed ones. Adam, by catching at the tree of knowledge which he might not eat of, debarred himself of the tree of life which he might have eaten of. Let all that read say, The Lord is righteous. And when the Lord sees good to throw prosperous and useful men aside, as broken vessels, if he raises up others to fill their places, they may rejoice to renounce all worldly concerns, and employ their remaining days in preparation for death.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

To his destruction - Rather, "to do wickedly." Uzziah appears to have deliberately determined to invade the priest's office (marginal reference "m"), thus repeating the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram Numbers 16:1-35.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2Ch 26:16-21. He Invades the Priest's Office, and Is Smitten with Leprosy.

16-21. he transgressed against the Lord, &c.—(See on [455]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. Rage and threats were the only answers he deigned to return, but God took care to vindicate the sacredness of the priestly office. At the moment the king lifted the censer, He struck him with leprosy. The earthquake mentioned (Am 1:1) is said to have been felt at the moment [Josephus].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

They withstood Uzziah; Heb. stood up against Uzziah; not by force, or laying hands upon him to restrain him, for in the next verse you still find the censer in his hand; but only by admonition and reproof, which here follows.

Neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God; expect that God will punish thee, or put some brand of infamy upon thee, for this presumption. But this they express modestly, and by a figure called meiosis, where more is meant than is expressed, because they considered that he to whom they spake, though an offender, was their lord and sovereign.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they withstood Uzziah the king,.... They not only stood against him, but stood about him, surrounded him, so as to hinder him from approaching the altar of incense:

and said unto him, it appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord; it did not belong to his office as a king, it was no part of it

but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense; and to them only; for even the Levites might not do it, only those of the tribe of Levi, that descended from Aaron, see Numbers 16:35,

go out of the sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed; by going into that:

neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God; but to his hurt, and be a brand of infamy upon him; for more is designed than is expressed, and as the event showed.

Geneva Study Bible

And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, 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: {k} go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.

(k) Though his zeal seemed to be good and also his intention, yet because they were not governed by the word of God, he did wickedly and was therefore both justly resisted and also punished.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18. the priests the sons of Aaron] Cp. 2 Chronicles 13:10-11 and Numbers 16:40. neither shall it be for thine honour] A euphemism, a threat of danger and disgrace.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - They withstood. A somewhat more forcible rendering would be justified by the Hebrew text, such e.g. as, "They confronted Uzziah to his face," or "They stood in the way of Uzziah," since our "withstood" almost always conveys the idea of argumentative confronting only. There was expostulation here, as we are immediately told, but there was something else also, as ver. 20 makes very plain, "They thrust him out." 2 Chronicles 26:18

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The king's purpose was consequently opposed by the high priest Azariah and eighty priests, valiant men, who had the courage to represent to him that to burn incense to the Lord did not appertain to the king, but only to the sanctified Aaronite priests; but the king, with the censer in his hand, was angry, and the leprosy suddenly broke out upon his forehead. When the priests saw the leprosy, they removed the king immediately from the holy place; and Uzziah himself also hurried to go forth, because Jahve had smitten him; for he recognised in the sudden breaking out of the leprosy a punishment from God. Azariah is called הראשׁ כּהן, i.e., a high priest, and is in all probability the same person as the high priest mentioned in 1 Chronicles 6:10 (see on the passage). לכבוד לך לא, "It (the offering of incense) is not for thine honour before Jahve." זעף, to foam up in anger. וּבזעפּו, and while he foamed against the priests, i.e., was hot against them, the leprosy had broken out. מעל־למּזבּח, from by equals near, the altar. Thus was Uzziah visited with the same punishment, for his haughty disregard of the divinely appointed privileges of the priesthood, as was once inflicted upon Miriam for her rebellion against the prerogatives assigned to Moses by God (Numbers 12:10).