Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.
We have here an account of two things concerning Uzziah: - I. His piety. In this he was not very eminent or zealous; yet he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. He kept up the pure worship of the true God as his father did, and was better than his father, inasmuch as we have no reason to think he...
Commenting on 2 Chronicles 26:1-15
Moreover, Uzziah had an host of fighting men,.... A standing army: that went out to war by bands; to annoy his enemies, and to scour the country from thieves and robbers, that came in troops to plunder: according to the number of their account, by the hand of Jeiel the scribe; the secretary of war, who ordered these bands, settled their number, and directed their...
Also he built towers in the desert--for the threefold purpose of defense, of observation, and of shelter to his cattle. He dug also a great many wells, for he loved and encouraged all branches of agriculture. Some of these "were in the desert," that is, in the district to the southeast of Jerusalem, on the west of the Dead Sea, an extensive grazing district "in...