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2 Kings 16

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Reign and Wickedness of Ahaz 1–4

1
In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2
Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. ​
3
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel. ​
4
And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

Ahaz Appeals to Assyria for Help 5–9

5
Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. ​
6
At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day. ​
7
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. ​
8
And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
9
And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin. ​

Ahaz Adopts a Foreign Altar 10–16

10
And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. ​
11
And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus. ​
12
And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
13
And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
14
And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar. ​
15
And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by. ​
16
Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.

Temple Defilement and Death of Ahaz 17–20

17
And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones. ​
18
And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria. ​
19
Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
20
And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Kings 16

Verse 2

did not that which was right — Ahaz was twenty when he began and reigned sixteen years. The standard is the one by which Hezekiah, his son, is measured: 'he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did' (2 Kings 18:3). Ahaz is measured against David, and verse 3 sets him beside the kings of Israel.

Verse 3

pass through the fire — The act forbidden in Lev 18:21, 'let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech'. The Chronicles account says Ahaz 'burnt his children in the fire' in the valley of the son of Hinnom (2 Chr 28:3). The verse ties it to 'the abominations of the heathen', the nations the LORD had cast out.

Verse 5

besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him — The same attack opens Isaiah 7:1, where the LORD sends word to Ahaz through the prophet: 'Take heed, and be quiet; fear not' (Isa 7:4). Of the plan of Syria and Ephraim he says, 'It shall not stand' (Isa 7:7). The Immanuel sign was given to Ahaz in this setting (Isa 7:14).

Verse 6

drave the Jews from Elath — Elath, on the shore of the Red Sea, was the port beside Eziongeber (1 Kings 9:26) and was restored to Judah under Azariah (2 Kings 14:22). 'Jews' (Yehudi) occurs here for the first time in the KJV. The writer adds that the Syrians were still dwelling there 'unto this day'.

Verse 7

I am thy servant and thy son — Ahaz places himself under the king of Assyria in the words 'servant' and 'son', and asks him to 'save' (yasha) him, the verb of rescue. Chronicles records the result: the king of Assyria 'distressed him, but strengthened him not' (2 Chr 28:20).

Verse 9

carried the people of it captive to Kir — Kir is where the LORD had said Syria's people would go: 'the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD' (Amos 1:5). Isaiah had also said that 'the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria' (Isa 8:4).

Verse 10

the pattern of it — The Hebrew tabnith is the word for the heavenly pattern shown to Moses: 'after the pattern of the tabernacle' (Ex 25:9; 25:40). Here the pattern is of an altar seen in Damascus, and Ahaz sends it to Urijah the priest. Chronicles says he sacrificed 'unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him' (2 Chr 28:23).

Verse 11

Urijah the priest built an altar — The priest builds exactly 'according to all that king Ahaz had sent' and finishes before the king returns. An earlier king who sought to burn incense was withstood by Azariah the priest with 'fourscore priests of the LORD' (2 Chr 26:17); no such resistance is recorded here.

Verse 14

the brasen altar, which was before the LORD — The bronze altar of burnt offering stood before the house, as the one at the tabernacle's door had (Ex 40:6); Solomon's was of brass, twenty cubits square (2 Chr 4:1). Ahaz moved it from its place before the LORD's house and set it on the north side of his own altar.

Verse 15

the great altar — Ahaz orders the daily offerings, the morning burnt offering and the evening meat offering (cf. Ex 29:39), to be burnt on the new altar. The bronze altar is left 'for me to enquire by', using baqar, the verb of David's wish 'to enquire in his temple' (Ps 27:4). The verse does not say what he meant by it.

Verse 17

cut off the borders of the bases — The ten bronze bases carried panels ('borders') with lions, oxen and cherubim, and a laver stood on each (1 Kings 7:27–38). The sea stood on twelve oxen (1 Kings 7:25). Ahaz cut off the panels, removed the laver and set the sea on stones; the Chaldees later broke in pieces the bases and the sea (2 Kings 25:13).

Verse 18

the covert for the sabbath — Musak occurs only here. It names a covered structure built in the house for the sabbath, and Ahaz turned it and the king's outer entry away 'from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria'. Chronicles adds that he 'shut up the doors of the house of the LORD' (2 Chr 28:24).

Verse 20

slept with his fathers — Ahaz was buried in the city of David, but Chronicles says they 'brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel' (2 Chr 28:27). Hezekiah, his son, is listed in Matthew's genealogy: 'Achaz begat Ezekias' (Matt 1:9). Isaiah and Micah both prophesied in the days of Ahaz (Isa 1:1; Mic 1:1).