Person Old Testament
Uriah
Also known as Uriah =ESV, NIV, KJV; Urijah =KJV
Uriah was a priest during the reign of King Ahaz who followed the king's instructions in building a new altar based on a pagan model from Damascus. Mentioned in 5 verses across 2 books, first at 2 Kings 16:10.
Why it matters. Priest during the reign of King Ahaz
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Uriah
Uriah was a priest who served during the reign of King Ahaz of Judah (2Ki.16.10-16; Isa.8.2). When Ahaz visited Damascus to meet with the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser, he saw a pagan altar that impressed him. Ahaz sent a model of the altar to Uriah, instructing him to build a replica in Jerusalem. Uriah faithfully followed the king's instructions and built the altar. Upon Ahaz's return, the king made offerings on the new altar and modified the temple's ritual to accommodate it, displacing the bronze altar prescribed by God. Uriah's compliance with the king's orders, despite their departure from proper worship, reflects the religious compromise and syncretism that characterized Ahaz's reign. The prophet Isaiah mentions Uriah as a witness to his prophecy about the coming Immanuel (Isa.8.2), suggesting that Uriah was a recognized figure in Jerusalem's priestly community.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
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Appears in Scripture
Named in 5 verses across 2 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.