2 Kings 16:10-20

10 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Emperor Tiglath Pileser, he saw the altar there and sent back to Uriah the priest an exact model of it, down to the smallest details.
11 So Uriah built an altar just like it and finished it before Ahaz returned.
12 On his return from Damascus, Ahaz saw that the altar was finished,
13 so he burned animal sacrifices and grain offerings on it and poured a wine offering and the blood of a fellowship offering on it.
14 The bronze altar dedicated to the Lord was between the new altar and the Temple, so Ahaz moved it to the north side of his new altar. 1
15 Then he ordered Uriah: "Use this large altar of mine for the morning burnt offerings and the evening grain offerings, for the burnt offerings and grain offerings of the king and the people, and for the people's wine offerings. Pour on it the blood of all the animals that are sacrificed. But keep the bronze altar for me to use for divination."
16 Uriah did as the king commanded.
17 King Ahaz took apart the bronze carts used in the Temple and removed the basins that were on them. He also took the bronze tank from the backs of the twelve bronze bulls and placed it on a stone foundation. 2
18 And in order to please the Assyrian emperor, Ahaz also removed from the Temple the platform for the royal throne and closed up the king's private entrance to the Temple.
19 Everything else that King Ahaz did is recorded in [The History of the Kings of Judah.]
20 Ahaz died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Hezekiah succeeded him as king. 3

2 Kings 16:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References 3

  • 1. 16.14Exodus 27.1, 2;2 Chronicles 4.1.
  • 2. 16.17 1 K 7.23-39;2 Chronicles 4.2-6.
  • 3. 16.20Isaiah 14.28.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. [Verse 18 in Hebrew is unclear.]
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.