2 Kings 16 Commentary

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Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission
1 Kings Chart from Charles Swindoll

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL

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Ryrie Study Bible - Borrow
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(NOTE: Many consider Amaziah and Hezekiah as "good" kings)

SEE ALSO:
ESV chart - kings of Israel - more information
ESV chart - kings of Judah - more information
Another Chart with Variable Dates for Reigns of King

2 Kings 16:1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. 

• seventeenth: 2Ki 15:27-30,32,33 
• Ahaz: 2Ki 15:38 2Ch 28:1-4 Isa 1:1 7:1 Ho 1:1 Mic 1:1 

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

2 Kings 16:2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done.

• did not: 2Ki 14:3 15:3,34 18:3 22:2 1Ki 3:14 9:4 11:4-8 15:3 2Ch 17:3 2Ch 29:2 34:2,3 

Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done.

2 Kings 16:3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel.

• he walked: 2Ki 8:18 1Ki 12:28-30 16:31-33 21:25,26 22:52,53 2Ch 22:3 28:2-4 
• made his son: 2Ki 17:17 23:10 Lev 18:21 20:2 De 12:31 18:10 2Ch 33:6 Ps 106:37 Ps 106:38 Jer 32:35 Eze 16:21 20:26,31 
• according: 2Ki 21:2,11 De 12:31 1Ki 14:24 2Ch 33:2 Ps 106:35 Eze 16:47 

But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel.

Henry Morris -  Among all "the abominations of the heathen," the worst was probably child sacrifice, and it might seem incredible that even the chosen people of God, led by a Davidic king, could descend into such depths of pagan pantheism. Yet, all these practices: the high places, the tree worship, even child sacrifice, are reportedly being practiced again in certain New Age cults.

BSB Ahaz did evil in the sight of the Lord. He made images of Baal, fell into many heathen abominations, and even made his son pass through the fire in sacrifice (cf. 2 Chr. 28:3). This worship of Molech, an Ammonite deity to whom parents sacrificed their children, was a practice strictly forbidden in the Mosaic Law (Lev. 20:2ff.).

 

2 Kings 16:4 He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.  

• on the hills: De 12:2 1Ki 14:23 Isa 57:5-7 65:4 66:17 Jer 17:2 Eze 20:28,29 

He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree

2 Kings 16:5 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war; and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.

• Rezin: 2Ki 15:37 2Ch 28:5-15 Isa 7:1,2-9 
• but could not: 1Ki 11:36 15:4 Isa 7:4-6,14 8:6,9,10 9:6,7 

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

BSB - Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria entered into an alliance. This alliance had a threefold purpose: (1) to force Judah to support a revolt against the rising power of Assyria; (2) to drive the house of David from the throne with a division of territory between Israel and Syria; and (3) to serve as punishment from Yahweh upon Judah for her sins (2 Chr. 28:5).
 

2 Kings 16:6 At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, and cleared the Judeans out of Elath entirely; and the Arameans came to Elath and have lived there to this day.

• recovered: 2Ki 14:22 De 2:8 
• Elath: Heb. Eloth, 1Ki 9:26 2Ch 26:2 

At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, and cleared the Judeans out of Elath entirely; and the Arameans came to Elath and have lived there to this day.

2 Kings 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.”

• Tiglathpileser: Heb. Tilgath-pileser, 2Ki 15:29 1Ch 5:26 2Ch 28:20, Tilgath-pilneser
• I am thy servant: 1Ki 20:4,32,33 
• and save: Ps 146:3-5 Jer 17:5 La 4:17 Ho 14:3 

So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me

2 Kings 16:8 Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria.

• the silver: 2Ki 16:17,18 12:17,18 18:15,16 2Ch 16:2 28:20,21 
• to the king: Ps 7:15,16 Isa 7:17 8:7,8 

Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria

Tiglath-Pileser III, whose own security was menaced by the Israel-Syria coalition, accepted the treasures from the temple and royal palace that Ahaz had sent by way of tribute.

2 Kings 16:9 So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death.

• went up: 2Ch 28:5, Foretold, Am 1:3-5 
• Damascus: Heb. Dammesek
• Kir: Josephus informs us that this place was in Upper Media; and it is clear that it must be understood of some city or country in the dominions of the king of Assyria.  It is highly probable that it was the country on the banks of the river [Kuros,] Cyrus, or Kyrus, now called Kur, or Kura; and we find cities called Cyropolis, Cyrena, and Carine, mentioned by writers as lying in these parts, and a part of Media, called Syromedia, as it is thought, from the Syrians who were carried captive thither. Isa 22:6 Am 9:7 
• slew Rezin: Isa 7:16 9:11 

So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death.

The king of Assyria marched against Israel and Syria. After a protracted siege of Damascus, he killed Rezin, the king of Syria, and accomplished the destruction predicted by the prophets (Isa. 8:4; 17:1; Amos 1:4). Tiglath-Pileser III then turned against Israel and took captive most of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, transporting them to Mesopotamia in the first captivity of Israel (15:29). With the death of Rezin, the Syrian dynasty of Damascus terminated, leaving Assyria as the only dominant power in the Near East.
 

2 Kings 16:10 Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship.

• saw an altar: De 12:30 2Ch 28:23-25 Jer 10:2 Eze 23:16,17 Ro 12:2 1Pe 1:18 
• the pattern: Ex 24:4 39:43 1Ch 28:11,12,19 Ps 106:39 Eze 43:8,11 Mt 15:6,9 

Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship

vv. 10-15) This pagan altar was built according to the pattern and specifications of the one in Damascus and was established as the official place of sacrifice in the temple, in place of the bronze altar prescribed in the Mosaic Law.
 

2 Kings 16:11 So Urijah the priest built an altar; according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, thus Urijah the priest made it, before the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus.

• built an altar: 1Ki 21:11-13 2Ch 26:17,18 Jer 23:11 Eze 22:26 Da 3:7 Ho 4:6 Ho 5:11 Mal 2:7-9 Ga 1:10 
• Urijah: Isa 8:2 

So Urijah the priest built an altar; according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, thus Urijah the priest made it, before the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus.

2 Kings 16:12 When the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; then the king approached the altar and went up to it,

• approached: 1Ki 13:1 2Ch 26:16-19 28:23,25 
• offered thereon: Nu 18:4-7 

When the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; then the king approached the altar and went up to it

2 Kings 16:13 and burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, and poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.

• he burnt: Lev 1:1-3:16 

and burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, and poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar

2 Kings 16:14 The bronze altar, which was before the LORD, he brought from the front of the house, from between his altar and the house of the LORD, and he put it on the north side of his altar.

• the brazen: Ex 40:6,29 2Ch 1:5 4:1 Mt 23:35 
• the altar: 2Ki 16:10-12 

The bronze altar, which was before the LORD, he brought from the front of the house, from between his altar and the house of the LORD, and he put it on the north side of his altar

Ryrie - 16:14  Ahaz moved the bronze altar of burnt offering to give its place to the new heathen altar. 

2 Kings 16:15 Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening meal offering and the king’s burnt offering and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land and their meal offering and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.”

• the morning: 2Ki 3:20 Ex 29:39-41 Nu 28:2-10 Da 9:21,27 11:31 12:11 
• the king's burnt: Lev 4:13-26 2Sa 6:17,18 1Ki 3:4 8:64 2Ch 7:4,5 29:21-24,32,35 Eze 46:4-7,12-14 
• for me to inquire by: 2Ki 18:4 Ge 44:5 2Ch 33:6 Isa 2:6 Ho 4:12 

Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening meal offering and the king’s burnt offering and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land and their meal offering and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by

2 Kings 16:16 So Urijah the priest did according to all that King Ahaz commanded.  

• 2Ki 16:11 Ac 4:19 5:29 1Th 2:4 Jude 1:11 

So Urijah the priest did according to all that King Ahaz commanded.  

2 Kings 16:17 Then King Ahaz cut off the borders of the stands, and removed the laver from them; he also took down the sea from the bronze oxen which were under it and put it on a pavement of stone.

• cut off: 2Ch 28:24 29:19 
• borders: 1Ki 7:23,27-39 2Ch 4:14 
• sea: 2Ki 25:13-16 1Ki 7:23-26 2Ch 4:15 Jer 52:20 

Then King Ahaz cut off the borders of the stands, and removed the laver from them; he also took down the sea from the bronze oxen which were under it and put it on a pavement of stone

2 Kings 16:18 The covered way for the sabbath which they had built in the house, and the outer entry of the king, he removed from the house of the LORD because of the king of Assyria.

• the covert: There are a great number of conjectures concerning this covert; but it is probable that it was either, as Locke supposes, a sort of shelter or canopy erected for the people on the sabbath when the crowd was too great for the porch to contain them; or, as Dr. Geddes supposes, a seat, covered with a canopy, placed on an elevation, for the king and his court, when they attended public worship. 2Ki 11:5 1Ki 10:5 Eze 46:2 

The covered way for the sabbath which they had built in the house, and the outer entry of the king, he removed from the house of the LORD because of the king of Assyria Ahaz closed the doors of the temple, thus forcing the people to worship at pagan shrines.

2 Kings 16:19 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?

• 2Ki 15:6,7,36,38 20:20,21 1Ki 14:29 

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

2 Kings 16:20 So Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

• buried: 2Ki 21:18,26 2Ch 28:27 
• Hezekiah: 2Ki 18:1 1Ch 3:13 2Ch 29:1 Isa 1:1 Ho 1:1 Mic 1:1 Mt 1:9, Ezekias

So Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.