1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.

2 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father.

3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.

4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.

6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.

7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.

8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.

9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.

11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.

12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.

13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.

14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the Lord, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the altar.

15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.

16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.

17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon the pavement of stones.

18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria.

19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

Commentary

Verse 1

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz, king of Judah, His wicked reign.
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.
McArther Bible Commentary
At this point, the narrative turns to the defeat and exile of Israel by Assyria. In 2Ki 17:7-23, the prophetic writer states the reasons why Israel was punished by the Lord. A major reason was the sinful religion established by Jeroboam I (2Ki 17:21-23), which was followed by every king in Israel. Ominously, the section begins with the narrative concerning Ahaz of Judah who "walked in the way of the kings of Israel" (2Ki 16:3). The kind of punishment that came upon Israel would come later upon Judah for the same reason (2Ki 17:19-20).
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 15:38 2 Chronicles 28:1 Isaiah 1:1 Isaiah 7:1 Hosea 1:1 Micah 1:1

Verse 2

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz, king of Judah, His wicked reign.
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.
McArther Bible Commentary
sixteen years. -715 B.C. The principle of "dual dating" was followed here. See 1 Kings Introduction: Interpretive Challenges for an explanation of this principle. In 2Ki 16:1 and 2Ki 17:1, Ahaz was recognized as king in the year he came to the throne as a co-regent, but the year of his official accession was determined as the year when he began to reign alone. Ahaz shared royal power with Azariah (to 739 B.C.) and Jotham from 744 to 735 B.C. (see note on 2Ki 17:1); he exercised total authority as co-regent with Jotham from 735-731 B.C. (see note on 2Ki 16:1); he was sole king from 731 to 729 B.C. and was co-regent with his son Hezekiah from 729 to 715 B.C. (see note on 2Ki 18:1).
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 18:1 2 Chronicles 28:1

Verse 3

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz, king of Judah, His wicked reign.
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.
John Wesley's Bible Commentary
Pass - By way of oblation, so as to be consumed for a burnt - offering, which was the practice of Heathens, and of some Israelites, in imitation of them.
McArther Bible Commentary
walked in the way of the kings of Israel. This does not necessarily mean that Ahaz participated in the calf worship introduced by Jeroboam I at Bethel and Dan, but that he increasingly brought pagan, idolatrous practices into the worship of the Lord in Jerusalem. These are specified in verses 2Ki 16:10-16 and parallel those of Jeroboam I in the Northern Kingdom. This included idols to Baal (2Ch 28:2). made his son pass through the fire. As a part of the ritual worship of Molech, the god of the Moabites, children were sacrificed by fire (cf. 2Ki 3:27). This horrific practice was continually condemned in the OT (Lev 18:21; Lev 20:2-5; Deu 18:10; Jer 7:31; Jer 19:5; Jer 32:35). the abominations of the nations. Cf. 2Ki 21:2. See note on Deu 18:9-12.
Bible Cross References
Leviticus 18:21 Deuteronomy 12:31 2 Kings 17:8 2 Kings 17:17 2 Kings 17:19 2 Kings 21:2 2 Kings 21:6 2 Kings 21:11 Psalm 106:37 Micah 6:7

Verse 4

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz, king of Judah, His wicked reign.
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.
McArther Bible Commentary
the high places. Ahaz was the first king in the line of David since Solomon who was said to have personally worshiped at the high places. While all the other kings of Judah had tolerated the high places, Ahaz actively participated in the immoral Canaanite practices that were performed at the high places on hilltops under large trees (cf. Hos 4:13).
Bible Cross References
Deuteronomy 12:2 2 Kings 14:4 Psalm 78:58 Isaiah 57:5 Ezekiel 6:13

Verse 5

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz, king of Judah, His wicked reign.
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.
John Wesley's Bible Commentary
Could not overcome - Because God of his own mere grace, undertook his protection, and disappointed the hopes of his enemies.
McArther Bible Commentary
Rezin … Pekah. The kings of Syria and Israel wanted to overthrow Ahaz in order to force Judah into their anti-Assyrian coalition. The two kings with their armies besieged Jerusalem, seeking to replace Ahaz with their own king (cf. Isa 7:1-6). The Lord delivered Judah and Ahaz from this threat because of His promise to David (cf. Isa 7:7-16).
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 15:37 2 Chronicles 28:5 2 Chronicles 28:6 Isaiah 7:1 Ezekiel 16:57

Verse 6

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz, king of Judah, His wicked reign.
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.
McArther Bible Commentary
Elath. The Syrians did displace Judah from Elath (see note on 2Ki 14:22). Later this important port town on the Gulf of Aqabah was captured by the Edomites.
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 14:22 2 Chronicles 26:2

Verse 7

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz, king of Judah, His wicked reign.
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.
John Wesley's Bible Commentary
Sent messengers, &c. - But was it because there was no God in Israel, that he sent to the Assyrian for help? The sin itself was its own punishment; for tho' it served his present turn, yet he made but an ill bargain, seeing he not only impoverished himself, but enslaved both himself and his people.
McArther Bible Commentary
Tiglath-Pileser. See notes on 2Ki 15:19, 2Ki 16:29. your servant and your son. Ahaz willingly became a vassal of the Assyrian king in exchange for his military intervention. This was a pledge that Judah would serve Assyria from this point on. In support of his pledge, Ahaz sent Tiglath-Pileser III silver and gold from the temple and from the palace treasuries (2Ki 16:8). Evidently, the prosperous reigns of Azariah and Jotham had replenished the treasures plundered by Jehoash of Israel fifty years earlier during Amaziah's reign (2Ki 14:14).
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 15:29 2 Kings 18:7 2 Chronicles 28:16 Isaiah 2:6 Ezekiel 16:28 Ezekiel 23:5 Ezekiel 23:12

Verse 8

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz, king of Judah, His wicked reign.
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.
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 12:17 2 Kings 12:18 2 Kings 18:15 2 Chronicles 28:21 Isaiah 2:6 Micah 1:14

Verse 9

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz, king of Judah, His wicked reign.
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.
McArther Bible Commentary
the king of Assyria heeded him. According to Assyrian records, in 733 B.C. Tiglath-Pileser III's army marched against Damascus, the Syrian capital, laid siege for two years, and captured it. The victorious Assyrian king executed Rezin and deported his subjects to Kir, whose location is unknown.
Bible Cross References
2 Chronicles 28:21 Isaiah 10:9 Isaiah 17:1 Isaiah 22:6 Isaiah 37:18 Amos 1:3 Amos 1:5 Amos 9:7

Verse 10

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz takes a pattern from an idol's altar.
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.
McArther Bible Commentary
the altar. When Ahaz traveled to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser III, he saw a large altar (2Ki 16:15) which was most likely Assyrian. Ahaz sent a sketch of this altar to Urijah the high priest in Jerusalem and Urijah built an altar just like it. The serious iniquity in this was meddling with and changing, according to personal taste, the furnishings of the temple, the design for which had been given by God (Exo 25:40; Exo 26:30; Exo 27:1-8; 1Ch 28:19). This was like building an idol in the temple, done to please the pagan Assyrian king, whom Ahaz served instead of God.
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 15:29 2 Kings 16:11 2 Kings 21:4 Isaiah 8:2 Ezekiel 16:28 Ezekiel 44:12

Verse 11

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz takes a pattern from an idol's altar.
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.
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 16:10 2 Kings 16:12 2 Kings 16:14 Isaiah 8:2

Verse 12

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz takes a pattern from an idol's altar.
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.
John Wesley's Bible Commentary
Offered - A sacrifice, and that not to God, but to the Syrian idols, to whom that altar was appropriated.
McArther Bible Commentary
offerings. As did Solomon and Jeroboam before him (1Ki 8:63; 1Ki 12:32), Ahaz dedicated the new altar by offering sacrifices.
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 16:11 2 Kings 16:13 2 Chronicles 26:16 2 Chronicles 26:19

Verse 13

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz takes a pattern from an idol's altar.
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.
John Wesley's Bible Commentary
Peace - offerings - For the Heathens; and Ahaz, in imitation of them, offered the same sorts of offerings to their false gods, which the Israelites did to the true.
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 16:12 2 Kings 16:14

Verse 14

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz takes a pattern from an idol's altar.
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.
John Wesley's Bible Commentary
Brazen attar - Of burnt - offerings, made by Solomon, and placed there by God's appointment. From between, &c. - His new altar was at first set below the brazen altar, and at a farther distance from the temple. This he took for a disparagement to his altar; and therefore impiously takes that away, and puts his in its place. And put, &c. - So he put God's altar out of its place and use! A bolder stroke than the very worst of kings had hitherto given to religion.
McArther Bible Commentary
bronze altar. Feeling confident about his alterations in the temple, Ahaz moved the old bronze altar dedicated by Solomon (1Ki 8:22, 2Ki 16:54, 2Ki 16:64), which stood in front of the temple between the new altar and the temple itself (2Ki 16:14). Ahaz had the bronze altar moved to a spot north of the new altar, thereby relegating it to a place of secondary importance. All offerings from then on were to be given on the altar dedicated by Ahaz, while Ahaz reserved the bronze altar for his personal use in seeking guidance (2Ki 16:15). The term inquire probably referred here to pagan divination through religious rituals. Deu 18:9-14 expressly forbade such divination in Israel.
Bible Cross References
Exodus 27:1 Exodus 27:2 Exodus 40:6 Exodus 40:29 2 Kings 16:11 2 Kings 16:13 2 Kings 16:15 2 Chronicles 4:1

Verse 15

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz takes a pattern from an idol's altar.
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.
John Wesley's Bible Commentary
Great altar - This new altar; which was greater than Solomon's. Sacrifice - Whatsoever is offered to the true God, either in my name (for possibly he did not yet utterly forsake God, but worshipped idols with him) or on the behalf of the people, shall be offered on this new altar. Enquire by - That shall be reserved for my proper use, to enquire by; at which I may seek God, or enquire of his will, by sacrifices joined with prayer, when I shall see fit. Having thrust it out from the use for which it was instituted, which was to sanctify the gifts offered upon it, he pretends to advance it above its institution, which it is common for superstitious people to do. But to overdo is to underdo. Our wisdom is, to do just what God has commanded.
Bible Cross References
Exodus 29:39 2 Kings 16:14 2 Kings 16:16

Verse 16

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz takes a pattern from an idol's altar.
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.
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 16:15 2 Kings 16:17

Verse 17

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz spoils the temple.
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.
McArther Bible Commentary
Ahaz made further changes in the temple at Jerusalem. First, he removed the side panels and basins from the portable stands (cf. 1Ki 7:27-29, 1Ki 7:38-39). Second, he removed the large ornate reservoir called "the Sea" from atop the twelve bronze bulls to a new stone base (cf. 1Ki 7:23-26). Third, he removed the "Sabbath pavilion," probably some sort of canopy used by the king on the Sabbath. Fourth, he removed "the king's outer entrance," probably a special entrance to the temple used by the king on Sabbaths and feast days (cf. 1Ki 10:5).
Bible Cross References
1 Kings 7:23 1 Kings 7:25 1 Kings 7:27 1 Kings 7:28 2 Kings 16:16 2 Kings 16:18 2 Chronicles 28:24

Verse 18

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz spoils the temple.
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.
John Wesley's Bible Commentary
The covert - The form and use whereof is now unknown. It is generally understood of some building, either that where the priests after their weekly course was ended, abode until the next course came; which was done upon the sabbath - day: or that in which the guard of the temple kept their station; or that under which the king used to sit to hear God's word, and see the sacrifices; which is called, the covert of the sabbath, because the chief times in which the king used it for those ends, was the weekly sabbath, and other solemn days of feasting, or fasting (which all come under the name of sabbaths in the Old Testament) upon which the king used more solemnly, to present himself before the Lord, than at other times. The entry - By which the king used to go from his palace to the temple.
McArther Bible Commentary
on account of the king of Assyria. Both items mentioned here were moved into the temple in the hope that if the king of Assyria laid siege to Jerusalem, Ahaz could secure the entrance of the temple from him.
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 16:17 2 Kings 16:19

Verse 19

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz spoils the temple.
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.
Bible Cross References
2 Kings 16:18 2 Chronicles 28:26

Verse 20

Matthew Henry's Concise Bible Commentary
Ahaz spoils the temple.
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.
McArther Bible Commentary
Hezekiah. For his reign, see 2Ki. 18:1-20:21.
Bible Cross References
2 Chronicles 28:26 2 Chronicles 28:27 Isaiah 14:28