2 Kings 16:4

4 He also participated in the activities of the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines that flourished all over the place.

2 Kings 16:4 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 16:4

And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on
the hills
Which none of the kings of Judah before him ever did; for though they connived at this practice in the people, they never encouraged it by their own example; and very probably he offered sacrifices there to idols, see ( 2 Chronicles 28:25 ) whereas the people sacrificed to the true God, though at a wrong place:

and under every green tree;
and which is never said of the people, and seems to confirm it, that Ahaz sacrificed to other gods, since the Heathens used to place idols under green trees, and worship them, whom the Jews imitated, ( Jeremiah 2:2 ) ( 3:6 ) .

2 Kings 16:4 In-Context

2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king and he ruled for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He didn't behave in the eyes of his God; he wasn't at all like his ancestor David.

3 Instead he followed in the track of the kings of Israel. He even indulged in the outrageous practice of "passing his son through the fire" - a truly abominable act he picked up from the pagans God had earlier thrown out of the country.

4 He also participated in the activities of the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines that flourished all over the place.

5 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel ganged up against Jerusalem, throwing a siege around the city, but they couldn't make further headway against Ahaz.

6 At about this same time and on another front, the king of Edom recovered the port of Elath and expelled the men of Judah. The Edomites occupied Elath and have been there ever since.