2 Chronicles 26:15

“And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers, and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal, etc.] Such as with the Romans were called “catapultae”, “ballistae” f106 , “scorpiones” f107, etc. and by this it appears that these were not first invented in Greece and Rome, but in Judea. It is said f108, that the Romans received the machine to batter cities from the Greeks, and that the Trojan horse was no other than a battering ram; but if they did, the invention of them must be ascribed, not to them, but rather to the Syrians and Phoenicians, according to Pliny f109; though others f110 suppose the Carthaginians, who were a colony of theirs, to…”

“he made . . . engines, invented by cunning men . . . to shoot arrows and great stones--This is the first notice that occurs in history of the use of machines for throwing projectiles. The invention is apparently ascribed to the reign of Uzziah, and PLINY expressly says they originated in Syria. he was marvellously helped till he was strong--He conducted himself as became the viceroy of the Divine King, and prospered.”

“Uzziah’s engines seem to have corresponded respectively to the Roman balista and catapulta. The balista, which threw stones, was known to the Assyrians as early as the time of Sardanapalus I, the contemporary of Jehoshaphat. The catapult is not represented either on the Assyrian or the Egyptian sculptures. It would seem on the whole most probable that both kinds of engines were invented in Assyria and introduced from thence into Palestine. return to 'Top of Page'”

“cunning men: Ch2 2:7, Ch2 2:14; Exo 31:4 to shoot arrows: These engines, it is probable, bore some resemblance to the baliste and catapulte of the Romans, which were employed for throwing stones and arrows, and were in reality the mortars and carcasses of antiquity. With respect to the towers which Uzziah built in the wilderness ( Ch2 26:10), Mr. Harmer appears to have given a truer view of the subject than commentators in general have done, who suppose that they were conveniences made only for sheltering the shepherds from bad weather, or to defend them from incursions of enemies; for they might rather be designed to keep the nations that pastured there in awe, and also to induce them…”

“Besides this, he provided Jerusalem with machines for defence on the towers and battlements. חשּׁבנות from השּׁבון, literally excogitata, i.e., machinae, with the addition "invention of the artificers," are ingenious machines, and as we learn from the following וגו לירוא, slinging machines, similar or corresponding to the catapultae and ballistae of the Romans, by which arrows were shot and great stones propelled. Thus his name spread far abroad (cf. Ch2 26:8), for he was marvellously helped till he was strong. 2 Chronicles 26:16”