“403. ENGINES OF WAR—2 KINGS 14:21-22; 15:1-7; 2 CHRONICLES 26”

Engines of War—2Ki_14:21-22; 2Ki_15:1-7; 2 Chronicles 26

The facility with which Jerusalem had been taken in the time of Amaziah, seems to have made a strong impression upon the mind of his son Uzziah, and to have rendered him studious of means by which cities might be defended. The ordinary fortifications, in their strongest form, were applied to the walls of Jerusalem and other towns; but beyond this, we now first in history or monument hear of military engines for the defence of towns, mounted upon the walls. It is said of Uzziah—“He made in Jerusalem engines invented by cunning men, to be upon the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal.” And it is immediately added, that “his name spread far abroad.” It may be asked, Were these properly “inventions?” We have no doubt that it is so stated; that is to say, that the word does signify “invented;” and if inventions, they were new inventions, for to speak of old and well-known things as the invention of cunning men, would have been unusual and absurd. We therefore conclude that they were invented for Uzziah—he probably suggesting the want, the object; and the “cunning men” devising the means, under his encouragement and at his expense, of giving effect to his views. “It is not said that the inventors were Jews.” No; but as it is not said that they were not Jews, the inference is that they were—the rather, as the sacred historians usually record the fact, when any great or curious works are wrought by foreigners. There seems an unaccountable reluctance in these days to regard the Jews as inventors in any sense. But why not? They were at least as ingenious and competent as any other ancient people; and they had such wants as lead to the inventions ascribed to them. Why should the people so high in literature—of which their monuments are the most ancient in the world—be below other nations in capacity for the material arts? Here, 800 years before the Christian era, inventions are ascribed to them which must have wrought a most important revolution in ancient warfare; and if we can establish no prior claim for another people, why should not the Jews be allowed whatever credit belongs to the invention? It cannot now be said we lack materials for judging of the claims of others. We possess sculptures and paintings at Nineveh and in Egypt, ascending to a much higher date, and abounding in representations of the defence and attack of towns, without any trace of military engines of the sort here said to have been invented under Uzziah’s auspices; and until evidence can be produced for their earlier existence, we shall rest content with this testimony. It is indeed a remarkably corroborative fact, that Pliny assigns a Syrian origin to these inventions, and in his view, as in ours, Palestine belonged to Syria. Such engines for throwing stones and darts, once invented, continued to be used in the siege and defence of towns down to the invention of artillery.

Ancient Ballista

The engines for throwing stones are known in military history by the name of ballistae, and those for casting darts, catapultae. They varied in power, like our cannon. Some of the ballistae used in sieges threw stones of three hundred, some of a hundred, some of fifty pounds weight, while those employed in the battle-field cast still smaller weights. The darts projected from the catapultae, varied in like manner from small beams to large arrows, and their range exceeded a quarter of a mile, or 450 yards. All these engines were constructed upon the principle of the sling, the bow, or the spring, the last being an elastic bar, bent back by a screw, or a cable of sinews, with a trigger to set it free, and contrived either to impel darts by its stroke, or to cast stones from a kind of spoon formed towards the summit of its spring.

Josephus records, that engines of this sort were employed with tremendous effect in the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. The defenders of the city had three hundred engines for projecting darts, and forty for casting stones, which they had taken from the Romans, and which practice taught them how to use. Among the engines employed by the Romans against the city, however, were some exceeding in power any they possessed. Some of them discharged a stone weighing a talent to the distance of two furlongs, and with such terrible force, that not only did it destroy the foremost men, but with unspent power rushed through their masses, sweeping away whole files of them in its course. The same historian, in describing the siege of Jotapata, where he commanded the defence, says, that the darts and stones were thrown from the engines with such power, that numbers of people were destroyed at once by them. The force of the stones, in particular, were such, that they broke down the battlements, and carried away the angles of the towers. He adds, that a man standing near him had his head knocked off by a stone cast from a machine nearly three furlongs distant.

This king Uzziah, wisely considering public security as the best foundation of public prosperity, put the country in a state of vigorous defence; and was enabled to hold a strong hand over the nations which had been the troublers of Judah. He repelled the Philistines and Arabians; he established his power over Edom, and fortified Elath, the port on the Red Sea; and, awed by his power, the Ammonites submitted to him. He organized his military force; and, as men had been more at command than efficient weapons, he laid up abundant stores of good weapons and shields in his arsenals. He also built strong castles on the frontier, as well as towers through the open country towards the desert, for the protection and refuge of those who were out with their flocks in distant pastures. “He loved husbandry;” and, both by his example and encouragement, he promoted agriculture, planting, and the breeding of cattle.

These wise measures produced, under the Lord’s blessing, a rapid return of prosperity to the country, which does not seem to have been materially injured by the great earthquake which happened in this reign, Note: Amo_1:1; Zec_14:5. and by which several cities in Israel also were swallowed up—indeed, the northern portion of Palestine, in the parallel of the Lake of Tiberias, usually suffers more than the south from such visitations.

Thus Uzziah became great, not by his own wisdom, but because he was a righteous man, and was therefore “marvellously helped till he was strong.” But, alas! “when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction.” He could not see why, to all his honors, that of exercising priestly functions should not be added, seeing how closely the regal and sacerdotal functions were connected in other nations. Accordingly, one day he went into the temple itself, which he could not lawfully enter, and attempted to offer the incense upon the golden altar. But he was followed by the high-priest, and by eighty other priests, who resisted the sacrilege, who remonstrated with him, and warned him of the danger he incurred by this trespass. But the king was angry; and while he stood thus wrathful, with the censer in his hand, the priests perceived the undoubted signs of leprosy upon his person, and hastened to thrust him out as unclean, from that holy place. Yea, in his horror, shame, and confusion, he himself “hastened to go out.” He was never again seen in public. He lived in seclusion as a leper, while his son Jotham administered the public affairs of the kingdom.

Josephus says, that the earthquake which is noticed as having taken place in this reign, occurred at the moment of the king’s trespass. He adds, that a rent was made in the temple, through which the sun shone upon Uzziah’s face, and he was immediately struck with the leprosy. He also states, that outside the city, at the place called Eroge, half the mountain broke off from the west side, and rolled down four furlongs, and remained at the base of the cliffs on the eastern side of the ravine, so that the roads, as well as the king’s gardens, were spoiled by this obstruction.

It is observable, that as a leper, Uzziah was not allowed, after death, a place in the sepulchre of the kings; but he was interred in the field which contained that sepulchre.

Autor: JOHN KITTO