1Ahaz reigneth very wickedly. 5Rezin and Pekah make war against him. 7He hireth Tiglath-pileser against them, who taketh Damascus, and slayeth Rezin. 10Ahaz causeth a new altar to be made for burnt offerings after a pattern sent by him from Damascus, and setteth aside the brasen altar for his private use. 17He spoileth the temple of its ornaments for a present to the king of Assyria. 19He dieth: Hezekiah succeedeth him.
1IN1 the seventeentha year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
1 Hebr. in the year of the seventeenth year. See Gen. 5:5, and the annotation thereon.
a 2 Chron. 28:1.
2Twenty 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.
3But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea,b and made his son to pass 2through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
b Lev. 18:21; 20:2, 3; 2 Kings 17:31.
2 What this is, see Lev. 18 on verse 21, and compare 2 Chron. 28:3, and see the annotation there.
4And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the 3high places, and on the 4hills, and under every green tree.
3 See Lev. 26 on verse 30.
4 See of this idolatrous custom, Deut. 12 on verse 2, and compare 2 Kings 17:10; 2 Chron. 28:4; Jer. 2:20; Hosea 4:13.
5¶Thenc Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, 5but could not overcome him.
c Isa. 7:1.
5 They were hindered by God, Who not only long ago had promised to protect Jerusalem, 1 Kings 11:36; 2 Chron. 7:16, but also at this present time, Isa. 7:4, etc.
6At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered 6Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from 7Elath: and the 8Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
6 Azariah, the grandfather of Ahaz, had previously taken this city, and brought it under the subjection of the kingdom of Judah, 2 Kings 14:22. See of this city 1 Kings 9 on verse 26.
7 That is, out of the entire jurisdiction of Elath.
8 Other, Edomites.
7So Ahaz sent messengers to 9Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, 10I 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.
9 See 2 Kings 15 on verse 29.
10 Other, Let me be thy servant and son, that is, let me be your vassal that I may trust under your protection; on which condition I promise to you, fear, as a servant, and obedience, as a son.
8And Ahazd 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.
d 2 Chron. 28:21.
9And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of 11it captive to 12Kir, and slew Rezin.
11 Namely, Damascus; that is, the inhabitants of the city of Damascus he carried, etc.
12 Understand here a region in Media, whither these Syrians were carried captive, as Amos had foretold, Amos 1:5, and distinguish this Kir from another, called Kir of Moab, Isa. 15:1.
10¶And king Ahaz went to Damascus 13to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw 14an 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.
13 Namely, to give him thanks for the aid he had afforded him, to congratulate him for the victory he had obtained, and to crave his good will and affection toward him for the future, and namely his assistance against the Philistines, to recover again what they had taken away from him, see 2 Chron. 28:18.
14 On which the Syrians offered sacrifices to their idols in Damascus.
11And 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.
12And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and 15offered thereon.
15 He is not content with his royal majesty, but likewise entrenches upon the priestly office, not fearing the punishment which his grandfather Uzziah experienced for doing so, 2 Chron. 26:19.
13And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of 16his peace offerings, upon 17the altar.
16 Hebr. that were his, or, which he had.
17 Which he had caused to be made according to the fashion of the Syrian altar, verse 10.
14And he brought also the 18brasen altar, which was 19before the LORD, 20from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the 21north side of the altar.
18 Understand the altar of burnt offering, which Solomon had caused to be made, 2 Chron. 4:1.
19 See Lev. 1 on verse 3.
20 That is, from the place of the court, that was before the temple; where this altar was to stand, according to the law of the Lord.
21 That is, at the right side, as they came into the temple; he removed the altar of the Lord to that position, as being unworthy to keep its former place, in order that his, which was made according to the Syrian fashion, might stand next to the temple.
15And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the 22great 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 23to enquire by.
22 Understand the new altar, made after the Syrian pattern, which he calls great, because the form thereof was bigger and larger than the form of the brasen altar, or, because in his opinion it was of more value and worth than that.
23 The words may likewise be thus translated: as for the brasen altar, it shall be, or, stand by me, to visit the same, that is, I will use it at my pleasure, to offer upon it; or, I will enquire, or, consider thereon at my pleasure.
16Thus 24did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
24 As a wicked and idolatrous hypocrite.
17¶And king Ahaz cut off thee25borders of the 26bases, and removed the 27laver from off them; and took down the 28sea from off the 29brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.
e 1 Kings 7:23, etc.
25 Hebr. shuttings in, or, shuttings about. Understand the circumferences of the bases, in which the vessels, that stood upon them, were fitted in and shut in. See of these 1 Kings 7:28.
26 What these bases were, see 1 Kings 7 on verse 27.
27 See of this 1 Kings 7 on verse 38.
28 See of this 1 Kings 7 on verse 23.
29 See 1 Kings 7:25.
18And the 30covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry 31without, 32turned he from the house of the LORD 33for the king of Assyria.
30 This seems to have been a hut or lodge, in which the priests, when they had finished their weekly course, in taking heed to the worship of God, did keep on the Sabbath, until they returned home. Others hold this covert for the Sabbath to have been a retiring place for the guard or watchmen, who on the Sabbath and the whole week long, were to keep the watch for the temple. Now to remove this, was as much as to shut up the temple; which Ahaz did, 2 Chron. 28:24. Some understand this of a covert, wherewith the peoples’ court was covered against rain and wind. There are also those who perceive that it was a place where the king sat on the high days, and did his alms.
31 Through which the king went from the strong hold of Zion to the temple. See 1 Kings 10:5 and the annotation; likewise the annotation on verse 12.
32 Hebr. turned away.
33 That is, partly to please the king of Assyria, showing thus, that he left his own religion, and embraced heathenism; partly for fear, that the king of Assyria might at any time, by means of this entry, take the strong hold of Zion, and the king’s house.
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?
20And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the 34city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
34 But not in the sepulchers of the kings. See 2 Chron. 28:27, and compare 2 Chron. 24:25.