Urijah (Priest)

Biblical Record

The New Altar in 2 Kings 16

Urijah appears in 2 Kings 16 as "Urijah the priest." King Ahaz of Judah went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, and saw the altar there. He sent Urijah a drawing of its fashion and pattern, and Urijah built an altar according to that design before the king returned (2 Kings 16:10-11). On his return, Ahaz offered sacrifices on the new altar himself. He then moved the brasen altar, that is, the altar of burnt offering, which had stood before the temple, to the north side of the new altar (2 Kings 16:12-14).

Ahaz then ordered that the morning burnt offering, the evening meat offering, and the offerings of the king and the people all be made on the new "great altar," while the brasen altar was to be used only for the king to enquire by. The text records, "Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded" (2 Kings 16:15-16). 2 Chronicles 28 also covers the reign of Ahaz, but it does not mention Urijah.

The Witness in Isaiah 8

In Isaiah 8, God directs Isaiah to write the name "Maher-shalal-hash-baz" on a great roll. On this occasion "faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah" are called to attest it (Isaiah 8:1-2). Because both accounts belong to the time of Ahaz, scholars generally regard the two as the same person, although the text does not state this directly.

Significance Within Scripture

2 Kings 16 records Urijah's actions without passing judgment on them. The same chapter, however, also describes how Ahaz altered the temple furnishings "for the king of Assyria" (2 Kings 16:18). Urijah's compliance is therefore read as an instance of a temple priest taking part in the king's introduction of foreign forms of worship. The New Testament does not mention this Urijah.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• The meaning of "faithful witness": A frequently discussed question is how a man who simply carried out the king's orders could be called a "faithful witness." Many commentators take the phrase not as praise of his piety but as a designation of a legally reliable witness of public standing. On this reading, the record of the prophecy gained public credibility because a senior priest close to the king served as a witness.
• A contrasting priest: Sermons and commentaries often contrast Urijah with Azariah the priest, who withstood King Uzziah when he attempted to burn incense (2 Chronicles 26:17-20).
• Whether he was high priest: The text calls him only "the priest." The description of him as high priest rests on interpretation.
• Others of the same name: Urijah the prophet in Jeremiah 26, the father of Meremoth in Nehemiah 3 and Ezra 8:33, and the man who stood beside Ezra in Nehemiah 8:4 are all different individuals. The Uriah of Matthew 1:6 ("Urias" in the KJV) is the Hittite of David's time.
• Jewish tradition: The Talmud preserves an interpretation that links Uriah and Zechariah of Isaiah 8:2 to prophecies from two different eras and reads them as speaking of the restoration of Zion. This is later rabbinic tradition, not the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or Sunday school lessons devoted specifically to Urijah are rare. He is typically mentioned only briefly in sermons on the era of Ahaz, as an example of a religious leader who yielded to political power.