he.eted. The Hebrew verb ie niph. conjuga- prophet e.seerte the.t hie prophetio inepim- tion of 91:11· It ie interesting to note tbe.t tion we.e in Uzzie.h'e time (lae.. i. 1; vi. 1), this root occum only here and three times or we should have to.ken for granted tlmt, in Esther, viz. iii. 15; vi. 12; viii. 14. e.s he we.s alive in the time of Hezekiah, Uzziah ce.n scarcely have been ignorant the.t grandson to Uzzie.h, be wrote of Uzzie.h he had been de.ring the utmost penalty only from hee.ree.y e.nd previous records. It of the Law (Numb. xvi. 31, 85; xviii. 7). must be couoluded, e.ceordingly, that Ise.ie.h's Ver. 21.-And dwelt in e. severe.I houe. inspiration as o. prophet was eo.rly in hie own The Hebrew for" severe.I house" is r,\i;Dn;i: life, that the beginning of it de.ted not the po.re.lie! (2 Kings xv. 5) showing' yod long bAfore the end of Uzzie.h'e ce.reer, nnd instead of mu in the Ie.st syllable. 'l'he that his life we.a e. prolonged one, while verbal root is ~'"~• e.nd occurs once (Lev. still the most part of the aots flrst e.nd last xix. 20, with the Authorized Version ren- of Ull:Ziah, which he wrote, must he.ve con- dering "we.s free;" in the so.me ver8e is e.lso sisted of e. compilation from other tree.tisea found e. feminine noun derived from it, e.nd e.nd perhaps partly from tradition. rendered in the Authorized Version "free- Ver. 23.-In the fleld of the burial whioh dom "). The e.djecti ve '!?!)~ occurs sixteen belonged to the kings. The pe.re.llel simply times, e.nd is e.lways rendei-od in the Autho- says," with his fathers in the city of David." rized Version " free," except once " nt Judging, however, both from the somewhat liberty" (Jer. xxxiv. 16). The "freedom" reme.rke.ble words in our text, "the field conveyed by the word is that of separation, of the burial'' (i.e. the burie.1-field), e.nd in the use of it e.s found here. The leper from the following ole.uee, for they said, He is and the house in which he livod were kept e. leper, we me.y underste.nd that, though it free from contact with others (Lev. xiii. 46). we.s in the "city of David'' that he was Gesenius e.ppears, however, to prefer the buried, and " with his fathers " so far forth, idee. of "infirmity," "sickness," e.s deter- and also that he lay near them, yet hie mining the cast of the mee.ning of the word actual sepulchre was not one with theirs, in our text, e.nd goes so far e.s to translate e.ny more the.n his house of late had been it e.n " hospital," quoting the word of Suidae, one with the house he had known so well '1'0 VOG'OKOµe"iov. (see Conder's 'Handbook to the Bible,' p. Ver. 22.-Isaiah the prophet. Ise.ie.h the 341).
HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-23.-The reign of fifty-two years spoiled in an howr. Many a reign, indeed, wa6 a spoiled reign which had begun well, promised well, and continued well for some l1JDgt-h of time. But the reign of Uzziah, of all the reigns of Judah and of lsre.el the lougest with t;lie one exception of that of Manasseh, and particularly full of prosperity, and remarkably varied prosperity within, of success iii just foreign wars, and of that which led to these things, viz. the most gracious tokens of the Divine approval and help-was all to be wrecked in an hour apparently, so far as King Uzziah was con- cerned. His people, indeed, were not stricken for his sin. Nor were his priests, whose loyal fidelity to their high office and sacred charge and whose faithful courage shone out to great advantage; but for the king himself, whenever his defection occurred, all the harvest of many years of a well-spent and hitherto glorious reign we.s "blown quite away" by-surely only such it can have been-" one cunning bosom sin" I The preacher may fix close and detailed attention on- I. THE VARIED BENEFICENCE .AND SUCCESS OF M.ANY YEA RB OF UZZIAH'B REIGN. All this left little to Uzziah t.o desire, and little to be desired for him. 'l'hey should have paved the way for an honourable, peaceful, restful old age, with the blessings of a nation and a nation's God upon him. II. THE PLACE IN THE KING WHERE THIS SIN LODGED, It was not a sin of the world, nor a sin of the flesh, and though undoubtedly it was a sin of the devil, it must rather be written, the sin of the devil. It was akin to the sin of Korab, Dathan, and Abiram (Numb. :x.vi. 1-35). It was akin to the turning sin of the life of the first king, Saul. It was, we may perhaps say, akin to the sin of those "angels who lost their first estate." It was a sin particularly legislated against (Numb. :x.viii. 1-7). It is one, probably in our own days, and through all Cbristendom's past ages of history, more largely at work and more malignant, and of more dire disaster to priests even 11,,;d people, than may be generally imagined. It harbours itself, not in the flesh, and cu. xxvr. 1-23,) THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 817