Topical Bible: Urijah

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Topical Encyclopedia

1. Urijah the Priest

Urijah, also spelled Uriah, was a prominent priest during the reign of King Ahaz of Judah. He is primarily mentioned in the context of King Ahaz's religious reforms, which were influenced by the practices of the Assyrians. Urijah's role is detailed in 2 Kings 16:10-16.

When King Ahaz visited Damascus to meet with Tiglath-Pileser III, the king of Assyria, he saw an altar that impressed him. Ahaz sent a model and detailed plans of this altar to Urijah the priest, instructing him to construct a similar altar in Jerusalem. Urijah complied with the king's request, building the altar before Ahaz returned from Damascus. Upon his return, Ahaz offered sacrifices on this new altar, which was contrary to the traditional worship practices established by God for the Israelites.

Urijah's actions demonstrate the challenges faced by religious leaders in maintaining fidelity to God's commands amidst political and cultural pressures. His compliance with Ahaz's orders reflects the complex relationship between religious authority and royal power in ancient Judah.

2. Urijah the Prophet

Another notable figure named Urijah is Urijah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim, a prophet during the reign of King Jehoiakim. His account is recorded in Jeremiah 26:20-23. Urijah prophesied against Jerusalem and Judah, delivering a message similar to that of the prophet Jeremiah, warning of impending disaster due to the people's disobedience to God.

King Jehoiakim and his officials sought to kill Urijah for his prophecies. Fearing for his life, Urijah fled to Egypt. However, King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Achbor and some men to Egypt to capture him. They brought Urijah back to Jerusalem, where the king had him executed and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.

Urijah's fate underscores the peril faced by prophets who spoke God's truth in times of widespread apostasy and highlights the resistance of the people and their leaders to divine warnings.

3. Urijah the Father of Meremoth

Urijah is also mentioned as the father of Meremoth, a priest who played a significant role in the rebuilding of the temple during the time of Nehemiah. This Urijah is referenced in Ezra 8:33 and Nehemiah 3:4, 21. Meremoth, the son of Urijah, was entrusted with the responsibility of weighing and recording the gold, silver, and other temple articles brought back from Babylon. He also participated in the repair of the walls of Jerusalem, demonstrating the continuity of priestly service and dedication to the restoration of worship in post-exilic Judah.

4. Urijah the Son of Koz

In Nehemiah 3:4, 21, Urijah is mentioned as the father of Meremoth, who was involved in the repair of the wall of Jerusalem. This Urijah is likely the same as the one mentioned in Ezra 8:33, indicating his family's ongoing commitment to the religious and communal life of the Jewish people during the period of restoration.

Biblical References:

· 2 Kings 16:10-16 : "Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Urijah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction. And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all the instructions that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. By the time King Ahaz returned from Damascus, Urijah the priest had completed the altar."

· Jeremiah 26:20-23 : "Now there was another man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and this land in words like all those of Jeremiah. King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and officials heard his words, and the king sought to put him to death. But Uriah heard of it and fled in fear to Egypt. Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor and certain other men with him. They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him struck down with a sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people."

· Ezra 8:33 : "On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and the sacred articles into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest, along with Eleazar son of Phinehas. They were accompanied by the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui."

· Nehemiah 3:4, 21 : "Next to them, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, made repairs. Next to him, Meshullam son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to him, Zadok son of Baana made repairs... Next to him, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the doorway of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib."

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Urijah

(light of Jehovah).

Urijah the priest in the reign of Ahaz, (2 Kings 16:10) probably the same as URIAH,
A priest of the family of Koz or Hakkoz, the same as URIAH,
One of the priests who stood at Ezra's right hand when he read the law to the people. (Nehemiah 8:4) (B.C. 458.)
The son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim. He prophesied in the days of Jehoiakim, B.C. 600, and the king sought to put him to death; but he escaped, and fled into Egypt. His retreat was soon covered; Elnathan and his men brought him up out of Egypt, and Jehoiakim slew him with the sword and cast his body forth among the graves of the common people (Jeremiah 26:20-23)

ATS Bible Dictionary

Urijah

1. A high-priest in the time of king Ahaz. He is called a faithful witness by Isaiah, Isaiah 8:2; but erred in constructing and using at the king's request an altar unlike that prescribed in the law, Exodus 27:1-8; 38:1-7; 2 Kings 16:9-12.

2. A faithful prophet, from Kirjathjearim in Judah, in the time of Jehoiakim. He confirmed the predictions of Jeremiah against Judah; and having fled to Egypt for refuge from the enraged king, and been sent back by Pharaoh-necho on demand, he was wickedly slain and dishonorably buried, Jeremiah 26:20-23. Compare 2 Kings 24:4.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The lord is my light.

(1.) A high priest in the time of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:10-16), at whose bidding he constructed an idolatrous altar like one the king had seen at Damascus, to be set up instead of the brazen altar.

(2.) One of the priests who stood at the right hand of Ezra's pulpit when he read and expounded the law (Nehemiah 8:4).

(3.) A prophet of Kirjath-jearim in the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah (Jeremiah 26:20-23). He fled into Egypt from the cruelty of the king, but having been brought back he was beheaded and his body "cast into the graves of the common people."

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

URIJAH

See URIAH, URIJAH.

Greek

3774. Ourias -- Uriah, a Hittite
... Uriah. Of Hebrew origin ('Uwriyah); Urias (ie Urijah), a Hittite -- Urias. see HEBREW
'Uwriyah. (ouriou) -- 1 Occurrence. 3773, 3774. Ourias. 3775 . ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3774.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

223. Uwriyah -- "flame of Yah," the name of a Hittite and of two ...
... "flame of Yah," the name of a Hittite and of two Israelites. Transliteration: Uwriyah
Phonetic Spelling: (oo-ree-yaw') Short Definition: Uriah. Uriah, Urijah ...
/hebrew/223.htm - 5k

223a. Uriyyah -- "flame of Yah," the name of a Hittite and of two ...
... Word Origin from ur and Yah Definition "flame of Yah," the name of a Hittite and
of two Isr. NASB Word Usage Uriah (30), Uriah's (1), Urijah (5). 223, 223a. ...
/hebrew/223a.htm - 5k

Library

From Megiddo to Carchemish, 608-605.
... And they took forth Urijah thence and brought him to the king, and slew him with
the sword, and cast his corpse into the graves of the sons of the people.24. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/smith/jeremiah/1 from megiddo to carchemish.htm

Reading the Law with Tears and Joy
... the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and
beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/reading the law with tears.htm

Tiglath-Pileser iii. And the Organisation of the Assyrian Empire ...
... 2 Kings 16:10-16, where Ahaz is described as offering sacrifice and giving instructions
to the high priest Urijah as to the reconstruction and service of ...
/.../chapter iitiglath-pileser iii and the.htm

Sennacherib (705-681 BC )
... He sent a description of it to the high priest Urijah, with orders to have a similar
one constructed, and erected in the court of the temple at Jerusalem: this ...
/.../chapter isennacherib 705-681 b c.htm

Thesaurus

Urijah (29 Occurrences)
... people.". Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. URIJAH. See URIAH, URIJAH.
Multi-Version Concordance Urijah (29 Occurrences). 2 ...
/u/urijah.htm - 16k

Urijah's (1 Occurrence)
... Multi-Version Concordance Urijah's (1 Occurrence). ... And Jehovah smote the child that
Urijah's wife bore to David, and it became very sick. (DBY). ...
/u/urijah's.htm - 6k

Uri'ah (32 Occurrences)
... 16:10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and
saw the altar that was at Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest ...
/u/uri'ah.htm - 15k

Plans (55 Occurrences)
... Kings 16:10 King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria,
and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest ...
/p/plans.htm - 20k

Uriah (33 Occurrences)
... 20 'uriyahu, "flame of Yahweh" or "my light is Yahweh"; the Septuagint and the New
Testament Our(e)ias, with variants; the King James Version has Urijah in 2 ...
/u/uriah.htm - 22k

Jehoi'akim (34 Occurrences)
... 26:21 And the king Jehoiakim, and all his mighty ones, and all the heads, hear his
words, and the king seeketh to put him to death, and Urijah heareth, and ...
/j/jehoi'akim.htm - 16k

Presents (38 Occurrences)
... And Jehovah gave victory to David whithersoever he went. (See JPS). 2 Samuel
11:8 And David said to Urijah, Go down to thy house and wash thy feet. ...
/p/presents.htm - 18k

Copy (18 Occurrences)
... went to Damascus for a meeting with Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria; and there
he saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest ...
/c/copy.htm - 13k

Tiglathpileser (3 Occurrences)
... of his visit to Damascus to do homage to his suzerain Tiglath-pileser, that Ahaz
fancied the idolatrous altar, a pattern of which he sent to Urijah, the priest ...
/t/tiglathpileser.htm - 11k

Tiglath-pileser (6 Occurrences)
... of his visit to Damascus to do homage to his suzerain Tiglath-pileser, that Ahaz
fancied the idolatrous altar, a pattern of which he sent to Urijah, the priest ...
/t/tiglath-pileser.htm - 12k

Resources

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Urijah (29 Occurrences)

2 Samuel 11:3
and David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Urijah the Hittite?
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:6
And David sent to Joab saying, Send me Urijah the Hittite. And Joab sent Urijah to David.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:7
And when Urijah had come to him, David asked how Joab prospered, and how the people prospered, and how the war prospered.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:8
And David said to Urijah, Go down to thy house and wash thy feet. And Urijah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him presents from the king.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:9
And Urijah slept at the entrance of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:10
And they had told David saying, Urijah did not go down to his house; and David said to Urijah, Art thou not come from a journey? why didst thou not go down to thy house?
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:11
And Urijah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields: shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:12
And David said to Urijah, Abide here to-day also, and to-morrow I will let thee depart. And Urijah abode in Jerusalem that day and the morrow.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:14
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by Urijah.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:15
And he wrote in the letter saying, Set Urijah in the front of the thickest fight, and withdraw from him, that he may be smitten and die.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:16
And it came to pass as Joab watched the city, that he assigned Urijah to a place where he knew that the valiant men were.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:17
And the men of the city went out and fought with Joab; and there fell some of the people, of the servants of David; and Urijah the Hittite died also.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:21
Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast the upper stone of a handmill from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why did ye go near the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Urijah the Hittite is dead also.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:24
And the shooters shot from upon the wall against thy servants; and some of the king's servants are dead, and thy servant Urijah the Hittite is dead also.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 11:26
And the wife of Urijah heard that Urijah her husband was dead, and she mourned for her husband.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 12:9
Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah to do evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Urijah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
(DBY)

2 Samuel 12:10
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Urijah the Hittite to be thy wife.
(DBY)

1 Kings 15:5
because David did that which was right in the sight of Jehovah, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Urijah the Hittite.
(DBY)

2 Kings 16:10
King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and its pattern, according to all its workmanship.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS)

2 Kings 16:11
Urijah the priest built an altar: according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so did Urijah the priest make it against the coming of king Ahaz from Damascus.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS)

2 Kings 16:16
Urijah the priest did so, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Ezra 8:33
And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Urijah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites:
(DBY)

Nehemiah 3:4
And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz. And next unto them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.
(KJV DBY WBS YLT)

Nehemiah 3:21
After him repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah the son of Koz another piece, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib.
(KJV DBY WBS YLT)

Nehemiah 8:4
And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
(KJV DBY WBS YLT)

Isaiah 8:2
And I took unto me to witness, sure witnesses, Urijah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
(DBY)

Jeremiah 26:20
And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.
(KJV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 26:21
And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;
(KJV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 26:23
And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
(KJV DBY WBS YLT)

Subtopics

Urijah

Urijah: A Priest in Ahaz: Builds a New Altar for Ahaz

Urijah: A Priest in Ahaz: Probably Identical With Uriah, Witness to a Prophecy of Isaiah

Urijah: A Priest: Assistant to Ezra

Urijah: A Prophet in the Time of Jehoiakim: Fled to Egypt; Taken; Killed by Jehoiakim

Urijah: A Prophet in the Time of Jehoiakim: Prophesies Against Judah

Related Terms

Urijah's (1 Occurrence)

Uri'ah (32 Occurrences)

Plans (55 Occurrences)

Uriah (33 Occurrences)