2 Kings 16:18

18 Finally, he removed any distinctive features from within The Temple that were offensive to the king of Assyria.

2 Kings 16:18 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 16:18

And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the
house
Used on the sabbath day, either for the people to sit under to hear the law explained by the priests; or for the course of the priests to be in, that went out that day, to give way to the course that entered, which yet did not depart from the temple till evening; or rather for the king himself to sit under, while attending the temple service of that day, and might be the cover of the scaffold, ( 2 Chronicles 6:13 ) and be very rich cloth of gold; and therefore he took it away for the king of Assyria, or to signify that he should not frequent the place any more: and hence it follows,

and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord;
the way which led from the king's palace to it, he turned it a round about way, that it might not be discerned there was a way from the one to the other: and this he did

for the king of Assyria;
to gratify him, that he might from hence conclude that he had wholly relinquished the worship of God in the temple, and should cleave to the gods of Damascus and Syria; or for fear of him, that he might not see the way into the temple, and take away the vessels; or find him, should he be obliged to hide himself there, when in danger by him.

2 Kings 16:18 In-Context

16 The priest Uriah followed King Ahaz's orders to the letter.

17 Then King Ahaz proceeded to plunder The Temple furniture of all its bronze. He stripped the bronze from The Temple furnishings, even salvaged the four bronze oxen that supported the huge basin, The Sea, and set The Sea unceremoniously on the stone pavement.

18 Finally, he removed any distinctive features from within The Temple that were offensive to the king of Assyria.

19 The rest of the life and times of Ahaz is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

20 Ahaz died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Hezekiah became the next king.