Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 14
When Amaziah escaped to Lachish, Judah probably had no national government. The people still considered him to be their king, but they did not accept his authority over them. However, they did not appoint anyone to replace him until after his death.
After Amaziah’s death, the people chose Azariah, who is also called Uzziah, to be their king. He was Amaziah’s son, and he was probably born after his father’s defeat in the war against Jehoash.
‘Azariah’ means ‘in God is help’; Uzziah means ‘his strength is God’. These names therefore have a similar meaning in the Hebrew language, so the people called him by both names.
In the family records of Christ, ‘Uzziah’ appears as ‘the son of Joram’ (Matthew 1:8). The writer does not include Joram’s son Ahaziah, his grandson Joash, or Uzziah’s father Amaziah. That is probably because of God’s judgment against Ahab’s whole family (1 Kings 21:21-24). Joram married Ahab’s daughter, so his family joined with Ahab’s family. So, because of that judgment, God stopped the family record with Joram. God only allowed the record to continue at the time of Uzziah.
Uzziah, or Azariah, had an extremely long and successful rule. Perhaps one of his first successes was to regain control over Elath, the port on Edom’s coast with the Red Sea. Solomon had made great profits from his use of that port (1 Kings 9:26-28). So, it would have brought great hope to Judah’s people when their young king rebuilt that port.
Next part: The second king called Jeroboam (2 Kings 14:23-24)
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