2 Kings 16

Judah's King Ahaz

1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah.

2 Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king; he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God like his ancestor David

3 but walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even made his son pass through the fire,^[a] imitating the abominations of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.^[b]

4 He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.^[c]

5 Then Aram's King Rezin and Israel's King Pekah son of Remaliah came to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but were not able to conquer him.

6 At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram and expelled the Judahites from Elath. Then the Arameans came to Elath, and they live there until today.^[d]

7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your son. March up and save me from the power of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me."

8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the Lord's temple and in the treasuries of the king's palace and sent [them] to the king of Assyria as a gift.^[e]

9 So the king of Assyria listened to him and marched up to Damascus and captured it. He deported its people to Kir but put Rezin to death.^[f]

Ahaz's Idolatry

10 King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. When he saw the altar that was in Damascus, King Ahaz sent a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction to Uriah the priest.^[g]

11 Uriah built the altar according to all [the instructions] King Ahaz sent from Damascus. Therefore, by the time King Ahaz came back from Damascus, Uriah the priest had made it.

12 When the king came back from Damascus, he saw the altar. Then he approached the altar and ascended it.

13 He offered his burnt offering and his grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his fellowship offerings on the altar.

14 He took the bronze altar that was before the Lord in front of the temple between [his] altar and the Lord's temple, and put it on the north side of [his] altar.

15 Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, "Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering. [Also offer] the burnt offering of all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings. Sprinkle on the altar all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of sacrifice. The bronze altar will be for me to seek guidance."^[h]

16 Uriah the priest did everything King Ahaz commanded.

17 Then King Ahaz cut off the frames of the water carts^[i] and removed the bronze basin from [each of] them. He took the reservoir^[j][k]from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pavement.

18 To satisfy the king of Assyria, he removed from the Lord's temple the Sabbath canopy they had built in the palace, and [he closed] the outer entrance for the king.

Ahaz's Death

19 The rest of the events of Ahaz's [reign], along with his accomplishments, are written about in the Historical Record of Judah's Kings.

20 Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Hezekiah became king in his place.^[l]

2 Kings 16 Commentary

Chapter 16

Ahaz, king of Judah, His wicked reign. (1-9) Ahaz takes a pattern from an idol's altar. (10-16) Ahaz spoils the temple. (17-20)

Verses 1-9 Few and evil were the days of Ahaz. Those whose hearts condemn them, will go any where in a day of distress, rather than to God. The sin was its own punishment. It is common for those who bring themselves into straits by one sin, to try to help themselves out by another.

Verses 10-16 God's altar had hitherto been kept in its place, and in use; but Ahaz put another in the room of it. The natural regard of the mind of man to some sort of religion, is not easily extinguished; but except it be regulated by the word, and by the Spirit of God, it produces absurd superstitions, or detestable idolatries. Or, at best, it quiets the sinner's conscience with unmeaning ceremonies. Infidels have often been remarkable for believing ridiculous falsehoods.

Verses 17-20 Ahaz put contempt upon the sabbath, and thus opened a wide inlet to all manner of sin. This he did for the king of Assyria. When those who have had a ready passage to the house of the Lord, turn it another way to please their neighbours, they are going down-hill apace to ruin.

Footnotes

• [a]. Either a Canaanite cult practice or child sacrifice
• [b]. 2 Kg 21:6; Dt 18:10; 2 Ch 33:6
• [c]. 2 Ch 28:1-4
• [d]. 2 Ch 28:5-6; Isa 7:1-9
• [e]. 2 Kg 12:17-18; 18:15; 1 Kg 15:19
• [f]. 2 Ch 28:16-19
• [g]. Isa 8:2
• [h]. Hb obscure
• [i]. Lit the stands
• [j]. Lit sea
• [k]. 1Kg 7:23-25,38-39; 2 Ch 28:24
• [l]. 2 Ch 28:26-27

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 16

This chapter contains the reign of Ahaz only, relates his idolatry, 2Ki 16:1-4 his hiring the king of Assyria with the treasure of the temple, and his own, to assist him against the kings of Israel and Syria, who besieged him, 2Ki 16:5-9, his seeing the altar of an idol at Damascus, the fashion of which he took, and ordered one like it to be built at Jerusalem, 2Ki 16:10-16, his defacing and removing some things in the temple, 2Ki 16:17,18, and the chapter is concluded with his death and burial, 2Ki 16:19,20.