2 Kings 16:2

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.

2 Kings 16:2 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 16:2

Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned
sixteen years in Jerusalem
The same number of years his father did:

and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord God, like
David his father;
his more remote progenitor, nor even like his more immediate father, from whom he received such good instructions, and of whom he had so good an example; but grace is neither propagated by blood, nor obtained through the force of education.

2 Kings 16:2 In-Context

1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah.
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.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.