In Jerusalem he made engines, invented by skilful men: The initial prepositional phrase In Jerusalem may be shifted to a different position in the sentence if it is more natural to do so. In fact, in Hebrew the verb for made comes first. The rendering of Revised Standard Version makes it sound as if Uzziah did the actual work of building the war equipment in view here after the inventors provided the plans. But this was almost certainly not the case. The inventors of this equipment were also the ones who built it. Engines invented by skilful men is literally “thought/invention of inventing by an inventor.” The Hebrew may be understood as referring to war equipment made by a single individual or by several individuals. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation refer to several inventors. Other versions mention only one inventor; for example, Bible en français courant says “the engines invented by an engineer” (similarly Moffatt), and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente has “machines … invented by an expert.”
To be on the towers and the corners: The war equipment was placed in the towers and on the corners of Jerusalem’s walls (see verse 9). Good News Translation add the words “of the city wall” (similarly Bible en français courant).
To shoot arrows and great stones: This clause describes how the war equipment worked. According to Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, it refers to catapults, which were offensive weapons used to hurl arrows and stones. However, catapults were probably not invented until several centuries later. The detailed palace reliefs that depict Assyrian conquests of various cities of Judah in this period do not show catapults. So this war equipment was probably defensive structures built on the city walls to shield the defenders on the walls as they shot arrows and threw down large stones on the attackers below. New Living Translation expresses this sense well by rendering the first sentence of the verse as “And he built structures on the walls of Jerusalem, designed by experts to protect those who shot arrows and hurled large stones from the towers and corners of the wall.”
And his fame spread far is literally “And his name went out far.” The Hebrew word for “name” has the sense of reputation in this context. New Century Version says “So Uzziah became famous in faraway places.”
For he was marvelously helped is literally “for he was marvelously to be helped.” The Hebrew verb rendered was marvelously is sometimes used in reference to doing miraculous acts. New Jerusalem Bible renders this clause as “for he was miraculously helped.” The implied agent of the passive verb was … helped is most likely God as some modern versions make explicit (so Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Bible en français courant). But is it also possible to understand the implied agent to be other human beings (so the alternative translation in Bible en français courant).
Till he was strong hints at the fact that Uzziah was no longer helped by God after he became powerful, and the following section makes this abundantly clear. Ironically, as noted in the comments on 2Chr 26.1, his name means “Yahweh is my strength.” For the idea of strong here, see the comments on 2Chr 26.8.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .