seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Chronicles 26:1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah,[a] who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his ancestors.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear[b] of God.As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.
6 He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.
9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the angle of the wall, and he fortified them. 10 He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
11 Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions according to their numbers as mustered by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials. 12 The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. 14 Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army. 15 In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.
a. 2 Chronicles 26:1 Also called Azariah
b. 2 Chronicles 26:5 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Syriac; other Hebrew manuscripts vision
The easy English site has a few "matter of fact" type clarifications.
Amaziah died in about 767 BC. But Uzziah ruled in Jerusalem from about 790 BC. That was about 23 years before Amaziah died. This may have been because Amaziah was a prisoner of King Jehoahaz for some time. Uzziah became king at 16 years of age and he ruled for 52 years. He became king about three years after Jeroboam II became king in Israel at the age of 24 (2 Kings 15:1). Uzziah had another name. It was Azariah.
Uzziah built again the town called Eloth. Eloth was a port on the Red Sea in the territory of Edom. Uzziah made Eloth a part of Judah. It was important for Judah’s trade with countries in the east.
The Corner Gate was probably at the north and west corner of Jerusalem. The Valley Gate was at the south and west of Jerusalem. And the place where the wall turned was at the east of Jerusalem. Uzziah built buildings for defence at these three parts of the city. He repaired the damage that Jehoash had done in the time of Amaziah. Also, Uzziah built buildings for defence in the country.
Uzziah was very interested in his farms. These were in both the low lands and in the hills. He employed farmers to look after his animals, his fields and his vineyards. Each of these activities depended on the supply of water. So, Uzziah dug many wells.
Uzziah gave to the army all the armour and the weapons that they needed. Also, he had new machines that the soldiers could shoot arrows or large stones from. He put these machines for use to defend the city and the towns.
OK... I found a verbal picture.... at one of the pages at wordpress.com.The Hebrew uses three related words to make a punny phrase that cannot easily be rendered into English. The things built on the towers are called hishbonot mahashebet hosheb. All three nouns come from the same consonantal root. A loose translation would be something like “little inventions of inventions of inventors”. It’s a literary device, and being used to describe something new that the writer didn’t have good vocabulary to describe.
The second half of the description mentions that these devices were installed in the migdalim (towers) and pinnot (“corners,” probably towers at the corners of the wall) and somehow enabled the shooting of stones and arrows.
I tried to get a real picture.... but the commentaries don't seem to know of any real pictures. There's also some confusion about what this is. Some describe it like catapults and crossbows. The problem stated.... no one recorded seeing this weapon so early. As a matter of fact.... the invention is accredited to Greece, Syria, or Egypt.
The obvious explanation is that these devices were catapults. But this merely raises another question. The generally accepted history of the catapult holds that it was first invented in the Greek city-state of Syracuse on the island of Sicily in 399 BC. The Syracusan general Dionysius I had led a military coup in 405 BC that overthrew Syracuse”s democratically elected government and installed himself as a dictator. His first acts were to put Syracuse’s society and economy on a war footing in preparation for attacking Carthage, who controlled the western half of Sicily, and seize total control of the island.
It should be noted that almost the above cases portray catapults being used in a defensive manner. The Egyptians and Uzziah’s alleged stone throwers were used to defend a city under siege. At Paleopaphos the rocks were dropped from the walls onto attackers. Could all of these references be misremembered or misinterpreted references to structures built atop walls that facilitated archers and rock-droppers? It is an interesting speculation, but one that for now must remain so due to a lack of firm evidence.
Here's an ancient photo to "show" the invention.....
If the opposing army put a ladder on the wall.... the guys on the corner could see them and take care of the problem. They had a different angle. The problem was apparently known during the time of David.
The purpose of the inventions is said to be to “shoot arrows and hurl large stones.” The word translated as “shoot” and “hurl” is the Hebrew verb yarah, which is used many times to describe a bow shooting an arrow. But it is also used in 2 Samuel 11:20-24. David has ordered the Israelite army besieging the city of Rabbah-ben-Ammon to approach close to the walls in order that Uriah the Hittite may be killed and David can then marry his wife. Several of his men were killed by this reckless action, including Uriah. Joab sent a messenger to deliver the news to David, and warned the messenger that David might be upset and ask him “Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who struck down Abimelek the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?”
I'm not so sure this invention was a crossbow. I think it was the platform itself. I think building the sides of the tower proud of the wall, allowed the soldiers the proper angle knock the people off ladders easily. Standing on top of the wall and shooting down is awkward.... but if there sufficient cover.... and the angle is right.... these towers could be very very useful. They built little holes to shoot through.... so the soldier could fight without worrying about being shot off the wall. Better angle and more protection.... it's a winner... right?
