2 Chronicles 28:23

23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.

2 Chronicles 28:23 in Other Translations

23 For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

23 For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, "Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me." But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.

23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus who had defeated him, for he said, “Since these gods helped the kings of Aram, they will help me, too, if I sacrifice to them.” But instead, they led to his ruin and the ruin of all Judah.

23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus. He had just been defeated by Damascus; he thought, "If I worship the gods who helped Damascus, those gods just might help me too." But things only went from bad to worse: first Ahaz in ruins and then the country.

23 He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him; he said, "Since the gods of the kings of Aram are helping them, I will sacrifice to them so that they will help me." But they were the downfall of him and of all Israel.

2 Chronicles 28:23 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 28:23

For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him,
&c.] As he foolishly imagined, that they might do him no more hurt; as it is said of the Indians, that they worship the devil, that he may not hurt them; but that a king of Judah should do this is monstrous stupidity; rather therefore the meaning may be, that he worshipped the gods of those that smote him, those of the men or soldiers of Damascus

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 see ( 2 Chronicles 28:5 ) for the Spirit of God would never ascribe the smiting of him to idols, though he himself might;

and he said, because the gods of the kings of Syria help them;
which looks as if this was before Damascus was taken by the king of Assyria, and when Rezin king of Syria prevailed over Ahaz:

therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me;
against the Edomites and Philistines; wherefore rather to this, his idolatry, respect is had in ( 2 Chronicles 28:22 ) ,

but they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel;
the worship of them was the cause of all the calamities that came upon that part of Israel of which he was king.

F13 So Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

2 Chronicles 28:23 In-Context

21 Ahaz took some of the things from the temple of the LORD and from the royal palace and from the officials and presented them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help him.

22 In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.

23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.

24 Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them in pieces. He shut the doors of the LORD’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem.

25 In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of his ancestors.

Cross References

• 1. S 2 Chronicles 25:14
• 2. Isaiah 10:20; Jeremiah 44:17-18
• 3. 1 Chronicles 11:1; Jeremiah 18:15