the turning of the wall] Mentioned Nehemiah iii. 19, 24. See G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, II. 120.
¹⁰And he built towers in the wilderness, and hewed out many cisterns, for he had much cattle; in the lowland also, and in the plain[¹]: and he had husbandmen and vinedressers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields[²]; for he loved husbandry.
[¹] Or, table land.
[²] Or, Carmel See 1 Samuel xxv. 2.
10. the wilderness] i.e. the southern pasture land of Judah. Compare Psalms lxv. 12. Fortified towers have always proved effective for controlling the Bedouin and keeping the desert roads open.
in the lowland also, and in the plain] For the “lowland” (Hebrew Shephēlah) see i. 15 (note). The “plain” (margin table land; Hebrew Mishōr) is the name of the high pasture lands east of Jordan; apparently the part occupied by the Ammonites whom Uzziah had subdued is meant here. (For a different view see Smith, Jerusalem, II. 119, note.)
11–15 (no parallel in Kings).
Uzziah’s Army.
¹¹Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their reckoning made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king’s captains. ¹²The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses, even the mighty men of valour, was two thousand and six hundred. ¹³And under their hand was a trained army[¹], three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
[¹] Or, the power of an army.
13. three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred] Compare xxv. 5 (Amaziah’s army), and the notes on xiv. 8 and xvii. 14 (the forces of Asa and of Jehoshaphat).