2 Kings 16:4

4 He also sacrificed and burned incense at the shrines on every hill and beneath every shady tree.

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 20 years old when he became king, and he ruled for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He didn't do what was right in the LORD's eyes, unlike his ancestor David.

3 Instead, he walked in the ways of Israel's kings. He even burned his own son alive, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

4 He also sacrificed and burned incense at the shrines on every hill and beneath every shady tree.

5 Then Aram's King Rezin and Israel's King Pekah, Remaliah's son, came up to Jerusalem to fight. They surrounded Ahaz, but they weren't able to defeat him.

6 At that time Aram's King Rezin recovered Elath for the Arameans, driving the Judeans out of Elath. The Edomites came to Elath and settled there, and that's still the case now.