2 Kings 16:17

17 King Ahaz cut off the side panels from the stands and removed the basins from them. He took the Sea down from the bronze bulls that were under it and put it on a stone pavement.

2 Kings 16:17 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 16:17

And King Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed
the laver from off them
In the temple there were ten lavers for the priests to wash in, which are here meant, the singular being put for the plural; and these had bases of brass, on which they were set; and about these bases were borders, which had on them figures of various creatures, lions, oxen, and cherubim; and these Ahaz cut off, either to deface them, in contempt of them, or to convert the brass to other uses, as he might also the bases themselves, since he removed the lavers from off of them, see ( 1 Kings 7:27-30 )

and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen [that were] under it;
the molten sea Solomon made, which he set upon twelve oxen made of brass; this Ahaz took down from thence, either to abate its magnificence, and render it despicable, or for the sake of the brass, of which the oxen were made, see ( 1 Kings 7:23-26 )

and put it upon a pavement of stones;
not upon the floor of the temple, for that was of wood, fir, or cedar, but on rows of stones, placed instead of bases for it to stand upon.

2 Kings 16:17 In-Context

15 Then King Ahaz ordered the priest Uriah, saying, “Burn the following sacrifices on the main altar: in the morning, the entirely burned offering; in the evening, the grain offering; the king's entirely burned offering and his grain offering; the entirely burned offering for all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings. "Sprinkle all the blood of the entirely burned offerings and all the blood of the sacrifices on it. I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance."

16 Uriah the priest did everything that King Ahaz commanded.

17 King Ahaz cut off the side panels from the stands and removed the basins from them. He took the Sea down from the bronze bulls that were under it and put it on a stone pavement.

18 He also took away the sabbath canopy that had been built in the temple. He removed the royal entrance outside the LORD's temple. This was done because of the Assyrian king.

19 The rest of Ahaz's deeds, aren't they written in the official records of Judah's kings?