OZIA (AZARIA; Heb. 'Uzzijjah). — The tenth king of Judah after the schism of the northern tribes. He succeeded his father Amaziah (q.v.) at the age of sixteen and reigned for a little over thirty years (probably 769–738 or 737 BC). In 2 Kgs 14:21; 15:1–7 he is also called Azariah, but the name Uzziah is more frequent (ibid. 15:13, 30–34; 2 Chr 26; Isa 6:1 and other prophets; Mt 1:8).
The entire chapter 2 Chr 26 describes Uzziah’s reign as one of the most flourishing and fortunate in the history of Judah.
He reconquered and rebuilt the port of Elath, an important commercial center on the Gulf of Elath (2 Kgs 14:22; 2 Chr 26:2), after subduing the Edomites, who had rebelled under Amaziah (q.V. 2 Kgs 14:7). He also conducted successful campaigns against the Meunites, Philistines, Arabs, and Ammonites (2 Chr 26:6–8). Contemporary with King Jeroboam II (q.v.), he maintained friendly relations with the Kingdom of Israel. He strengthened Jerusalem with well-fortified walls and fortified other towns in the land. He organized a strong army under skilled captains such as Maaseiah and Hananiah (2 Chr 26:9–15).
He promoted agriculture through important reclamation works, especially in the sectors of pastoralism and viticulture, so much so that the chronicler praises him: “he loved the land” (ibid. 26:10). In this way, thanks also to the revived trade with the Red Sea following the reconquest of the port of Elath, the kingdom of Judah reached a high degree of prosperity, to which Isa 2:7 ff. seems to allude.
His successes, both internally and externally, were the reward for his zeal for the worship of Yahweh, to which he had been educated by his mother Jecholiah and by a prophet named Zechariah, who was his faithful advisor for many years (2 Chr 29:3, 5). “As long as he sought Yahweh, God made him prosper” (ibid. 26:5). The worship on the high places (bāmāth), however, was not eradicated (2 Kgs 15:3–4).
In his later years, proud of his power, he sought to intrude upon functions strictly reserved for the priesthood and to enter the inner sanctuary to burn incense on the altar of incense. He was immediately struck with leprosy, which forced him in his final years to withdraw from the court and public affairs (Flavius Josephus, Ant. Jud. 9.10.4, greatly amplifies and dramatizes the account in 2 Chr 26:16 ff.). For this reason, his son Jotham took over the administration; he was associated with his father in the kingship for the remaining eleven (or thirteen) years and reigned alone for another five (or three) years after Uzziah’s death (2 Kgs 15:5).
Contemporaries of this king were the prophets Isaiah (6:1), Hosea (1:1), and Amos (1:1); the first began his prophetic ministry in the very year of Uzziah’s death (Isa 6:1), and very likely in the first chapters (ibid. 2–5) alludes to the social conditions of the nation under this king (material prosperity of some, misery of others, moral decay). Amos (1:1) and Zechariah (14:5) mention a famous earthquake that occurred in the time of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam II, king of Israel, though no other details about it are known.
Uzziah (or Azariah), king of Judah, does not seem to be identifiable (as was once admitted even by some Catholic scholars, e.g., A. Deimel, O. Hellmann, etc.) with a certain Azrijahu of Ja’hudi, mentioned in the annals of Tiglath-Pileser III, by whom this Assyrian king defeated and made tributary along with Menahem of Samaria and Rezin of Damascus. Most scholars now believe this refers to a namesake king of a small state in northern Syria, mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions of Zenjirli discovered in 1902.
(photo: Soprint. Mon. Napoli)
Ozio — The Idler, painting by M. Cammarano (late 19th c.) — Naples, Pinacoteca di Capodimonte.
OZIA. – Son of Micha, of the tribe of Simeon, the chief Bethulia (v.) at the time of the siege and liberation of that city (Jdt. 6:15 ff.). He kindly received Achior, leader of the Ammonites, dismissed from the army of Holofernes, and from him learned the decisions of the Assyrian commander against Bethulia. Yielding to the pressure of the people, O. was already on the point of opening the gates to the enemy; but he waited another 5 days: the courageous intervention of Judith (v.) saved the situation (ibid. 8–13).
After the killing of Holofernes, O. went to meet the heroic woman, to whom he addressed, on behalf of all the people, fervent words of gratitude and blessing, which have remained famous (ibid. 13:18–20: the passage, very fittingly applied to the Virgin Mary, is read almost verbatim in the place of the Epistle at the Mass for the two feasts of the Seven Sorrows and in the new Mass of the Assumption). Finally, he urged the Israelites to pursue the fleeing enemy (ibid. 15:4 ff.).