2 Chronicles 26:15

And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(15) Engines, invented by cunning men.—The first mention of artillery. Literally, devices, a devising of a deviser. The word “engine” (i.e., ingenium, which is late Latin for ballista) fairly represents chishshābôn. LXX., μηχανὰς, Vulg., machinas.

Bulwarks.—Pinnôth. Zephaniah 1:16, “towers.”

To shoot arrows and great stones.—So that they were like the well-known catapults and ballisters of Roman warfare. An instrument like the ballista is represented on the Assyrian sculptures, and probably both kinds of artillery passed from Assyria to Palestine.

And his name spread.—Went forth (2Chronicles 26:8).

He was marvellously helped.—The Hebrew phrase only occurs here.

Till.—So that he became strong.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

26:1-15 As long as Uzziah sought the Lord, and minded religion, God made him to prosper. Those only prosper whom God makes to prosper; for prosperity is his gift. Many have owned, that as long as they sought the Lord, and kept close to their duty, they prospered; but when they forsook God, every thing went cross. God never continues either to bless the indolent or to withhold his blessing from the diligent. He will never suffer any to seek his face in vain. Uzziah's name was famed throughout all the neighbouring countries. A name with God and good people makes truly honourable. He did not delight in war, nor addict himself to sports, but delighted in husbandry.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Uzziah's engines seem to have corresponded respectively to the Roman balista and catapulta. The balista, which threw stones, was known to the Assyrians as early as the time of Sardanapalus I, the contemporary of Jehoshaphat. The catapult is not represented either on the Assyrian or the Egyptian sculptures. It would seem on the whole most probable that both kinds of engines were invented in Assyria and introduced from thence into Palestine.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

15. he made … engines, invented by cunning men … to shoot arrows and great stones—This is the first notice that occurs in history of the use of machines for throwing projectiles. The invention is apparently ascribed to the reign of Uzziah, and Pliny expressly says they originated in Syria.

he was marvellously helped till he was strong—He conducted himself as became the viceroy of the Divine King, and prospered.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers, and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal,.... Such as with the Romans were called "catapultae", "ballistae" (u), "scorpiones" (w), &c. and by this it appears that these were not first invented in Greece and Rome, but in Judea. It is said (x), that the Romans received the machine to batter cities from the Greeks, and that the Trojan horse was no other than a battering ram; but if they did, the invention of them must be ascribed, not to them, but rather to the Syrians and Phoenicians, according to Pliny (y); though others (z) suppose the Carthaginians, who were a colony of theirs, to be the inventors of them; yet, after all, they seem to be the device of some skilful men among the Jews, in the times of Uzziah; according to Diodorus Siculus (a), they were not found out when Nineveh was besieged in the times of Sardanapalus:

and his name spread far abroad; in distant countries, for his warlike dispositions and preparations, which made them stand in fear of him:

for he was helped until he was strong; he was wonderfully helped by the Lord to build fortified places, raise a numerous army, and provide all sorts of armour for them, and invent such machines as would greatly annoy the enemy, whereby he became very potent, and injected dread round about him.

(u) Cicero. Tusculan. Quaest. l. 2. Tacit. Hist. l. 3. c. 23. (w) Ammian. Marcellin. l. 23. (x) Vid. Valtrinum de re militari Roman. l. 5. c. 6. (y) Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56. (z) Vitruvius de Architectura, l. 10. c. 19. Tertullian. de Pallio, c. 1. & Salmasius in ib. Vid. Turnebi Adversaria, l. 29. c. 18. (a) Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 113.

Geneva Study Bible

And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

15. engines] Cp. 1Ma 6:51-52 and article Engine Hastings’ Bible Dictionary.

bulwarks] R.V. battlements (lit. “corners”).

helped] Cp. 2 Chronicles 26:7.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 15. - Engines; Hebrew, חִשְּׁבֹנות; used only here and Ecclesiastes 7:29 (where it is rendered "inventions"), but the related word חֶשְׁבּון is found three times: Ecclesiastes 7:25 (the "reason"), 27 (the "account"); 9:10 ("device"); while the verb root חָשַׁב, to "devise," occurs about a hundred and thirty times, as in next sub-clause מַחֲשֶׁבֶת חושֵׁב. A strict rendering of the clause would make it read, "He made inventions, the inventing of an inventive man;" and the force of the words might be to appraise very highly the virtue of the invention or machine, while to himself may have been due the credit thereof. The balista which discharged stones is depicted on Assyrian sculptures; not so the machine for discharging darts and arrows, the catapult. Although, as just suggested, it were conceivable that to Uzziah himself was due in part the invention or the great improving of the machines in question, yet the verse may be regarded as simply saying that the introduction of them into Jerusalem was his work. He was marvellously helped (see ver. 7). 2 Chronicles 26:15

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Besides this, he provided Jerusalem with machines for defence on the towers and battlements. חשּׁבנות from השּׁבון, literally excogitata, i.e., machinae, with the addition "invention of the artificers," are ingenious machines, and as we learn from the following וגו לירוא, slinging machines, similar or corresponding to the catapultae and ballistae of the Romans, by which arrows were shot and great stones propelled. Thus his name spread far abroad (cf. 2 Chronicles 26:8), for he was marvellously helped till he was strong.