AZARIA (Uzziah): V. OZIA.
AZARIA (Hebr. 'Azarjāh[d]' = "Jahweh helps").
— Name of many biblical personages (from 25 to 30) of whom the most important are:
1) A., son of Ahimaaz (v.), was a minister of Solomon, and was probably the immediate successor of his grandfather Zadok in the high priesthood (1 Kings 4:2; 1 Chronicles 6:9-10 [Masoretic text 5:35-36]; vv. 10bc are misplaced and should refer to the first A.), whom Ahimaaz seems not to have exercised. Another A. (son of Johanan), his descendant, was father of Amariah (ibid. 6:10-11), high priest under King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 19:11); he seems to have been high priest under King Asa. A third A. was high priest under Uzziah, whom he energetically prevented from offering incense in the sanctuary (ibid. 26:16-20), and a fourth under Hezekiah (ibid. 31:10-13).
2) Prophet, son of Oded, who to King Asa of Judah, after his victory over Zerah the Ethiopian, threatened severe punishments and promised great reward, depending on whether he would break or maintain the theocratic alliance (2 Chronicles 15:1-8); the discourse of the prophet A. develops this theme in the spirit of Judges 2:11-23 and Neh. 9:5-37.
3) A., one of the three companions of Daniel, with him deported to Babylon and there educated at court (v. ANANIA, 3), where he received the Babylonian name Abed-Nego (Vulgate: Abdenago, v.).
The beautiful prayer of A. (Dan. 3:25-45) is a deuterocanonical passage, missing in the current Hebrew text; in the Septuagint and Vulgate it is placed before the Song of the Three Children. In the name of all his people, A. humbly confesses that the severe judgment of God toward Israel is due to the sins committed (vv. 25-33), recalls the divine promises to Abraham in contrast to present sufferings (vv. 34-40), implores divine mercy and help so that the glory of Jahweh may shine forth in the restoration of Israel and its oppressors may be humbled (vv. 41-43). Various passages of this sublime prayer have entered the Roman Missal and Breviary; vv. 39-40, in particular, form part of two of the most evocative invocations of the Ordinary of the Mass (G. E. Closen, Dalla preghiera di A. [Dan. 3, 39-40], in Incontro con il Libro sacro, trad. it., Brescia 1943, pp. 1-4-52).
4) Name assumed by the archangel Raphael (Tob. 5:18; 6:7; 9:1) from the time he offered himself to Tobias to guide his son to Rages (v. ANANIA, 2). This name, with its etymological meaning, expresses the "help of God," personified in the angel sent to the pious exile.
5) Two of the five captains of the royal guard, who, led by the high priest Jehoiada, overthrew Athaliah (v.), killing her outside the Temple precinct and proclaiming the boy Joash king of Judah (2 Chronicles 23:1-21; cf. 2 Kings 10:4-12).
6) Son of Hoshaiah: he was one of the military leaders of Judah who came to Mizpah to Gedaliah (Jer. 40:7-14). After the fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.), he accused Jeremiah of deceiving the people by dissuading them from emigrating to Egypt; he was among those who dragged the prophet himself with his secretary Baruch into Egypt (Jer. 43:2-6). He is identified with "Jezaniah" of Jer. 42:1 (and apparently of 40:8).
7) Military leader who, with Joseph son of Zachariah, was put in charge of the defense of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabeus. Violating the prohibition against attacking the enemy, he sought to conquer Jamnia; but Gorgias, in a sortie, defeated them, killing about 2,000 men (1 Macc. 5:18-19, 56-62): a tragic consequence of their disobedience and presumption (ibid. 5:61-62).
8) For the king of Judah, son of Amaziah, V. OZIA.