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2 Kings Chapter
Sixteen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 16
This
chapter contains the reign of Ahaz only
relates his idolatry
2 Kings 16:1 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
2 Kings 16:5
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
2 Kings 16:10
his
defacing and removing some things in the temple
2 Kings 16:17
and
the chapter is concluded with his death and burial
2 Kings 16:19.
2 Kings 16:1 In
the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah
Ahaz the son of Jotham
king
of Judah
began to reign.
YLT
1In the seventeenth year of
Pekah son of Remaliah reigned hath Ahaz son of Jotham king of Judah.
In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son
of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. Jotham began to reign in
the second of Pekah
and he reigned sixteen years
and therefore his last year
would fall in the eighteenth of Pekah; but as his first year might be at the
beginning of the second of Pekah
his last was towards the end of the
seventeenth of Pekah's
as here; see 2 Kings 15:32.
2 Kings 16:2 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.
YLT
2A son of twenty years [is]
Ahaz in his reigning
and sixteen years he hath reigned in Jerusalem
and he
hath not done that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah his God
like David
his father
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 16:3 3 But he walked in the way
of the kings of Israel; indeed he made his son pass through the fire
according
to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out
from before the children of Israel.
YLT
3and he walketh in the way
of the kings of Israel
and also his son he hath caused to pass over into fire
according to the abominations of the nations that Jehovah dispossessed from the
presence of the sons of Israel
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel.....
Worshipping the calves as they did; which
as it was contrary to the religious
sentiments in which he was educated
so against his political interest
which
was the only
or at least the principal thing
which swayed with the kings of
Israel to continue that idolatry:
yea
and made his son to pass through the fire; between two
fires to Molech
by way of lustration; which might be true of Hezekiah his son
and others of his sons
for he had more he burnt with fire
as appears from 2 Chronicles 28:3
both ways were used in that sort of idolatry; see Gill on Leviticus 18:21
according to the abominations of the heathen
whom the Lord cast
out from before the children of Israel; the old Canaanites; so
the Carthaginians
a colony of the Phoenicians
used in time of calamity to
offer human sacrifices
and even their children
to appease their deitiesF12Justin.
e Trogo
Hist. l. 18. c. 6. Curt. Hist. l. 4. c. 3. Pescennius Festus apud
Lactant. de fals. Relig. l. 1. c. 21. . Theodoret says
he had seen in some
cities
in his time
piles kindled once a year
over which not only boys
but
men
would leap
and infants were carried by their mothers through the flames;
which seemed to be an expiation or purgation
and which he takes to be the same
with the sin of Ahaz.
2 Kings 16:4 4 And he sacrificed and
burned incense on the high places
on the hills
and under every green tree.
YLT
4and he sacrificeth and
maketh perfume in high places
and on the heights
and under every green tree.
And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places
and on the
hills
.... Which none of the kings of Judah before him ever did; for
though they connived at this practice in the people
they never encouraged it
by their own example; and very probably he offered sacrifices there to idols
see 2 Chronicles 28:25
whereas the people sacrificed to the true God
though at a wrong place:
and under every green tree; and which is never said
of the people
and seems to confirm it
that Ahaz sacrificed to other gods
since the Heathens used to place idols under green trees
and worship them
whom the Jews imitated
Jeremiah 2:2.
2 Kings 16:5 5 Then Rezin king of Syria
and Pekah the son of Remaliah
king of Israel
came up to Jerusalem to make
war; and they besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.
YLT
5Then doth Rezin king of
Aram go up
and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel
to Jerusalem
to battle
and they lay siege to Ahaz
and they have not been able to fight.
Then Rezin king of Syria
and Pekah son of Remaliah king of
Israel
came up to Jerusalem to war
.... To fight with Ahaz
moved to it by the Lord
to chastise Ahaz for his idolatry
2 Kings 15:37.
but could not overcome him; so as to take Jerusalem
and set up another king there
as their scheme was
Isaiah 7:5 though
they had both at other times got great advantages over him
and slew many of
his people
and carried them captive
see 2 Chronicles 28:5.
2 Kings 16:6 6 At that time Rezin king of
Syria captured Elath for Syria
and drove the men of Judah from Elath. Then the
Edomites[a] went to
Elath
and dwell there to this day.
YLT
6At that time hath Rezin
king of Aram brought back Elath to Aram
and casteth out the Jews from Elath
and the Aramaeans have come in to Elath
and dwell there unto this day.
At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria
.... A port on
the Red sea
that formerly belonged to Edom
taken from them by David
retaken
by them when they revolted in Joram's time
and perhaps taken by Amaziah again
since his son Azariah rebuilt it
and restored it to Judah
2 Kings 14:22 and
it seems by this that it had been in the hands of the Syrians
who now
recovered it; unless instead of Aram
rendered Syrians
we could substitute
Edom
which Le Clerc has ventured to do without any authority:
and drave the Jews from Elath; who were in possession
of it. This is the first time that the inhabitants of the kingdom of Judah are
called Jews
from the name of their original patriarch
and principal tribe;
though some thinkF13Polydor. Virgil. de Invent. l. 4. c. 1. they had
this name from the time this tribe went up first against the Canaanites
Judges 1:1
however
it is a mistake of R. Elias LevitaF14Tishbi
p. 143. So
David de Pomis Lexic. fol. 83. 4.
that it is never found in the Bible they
were called Jews
but from the time the ten tribes were carried captive
and
not before; and a greater mistake still it is of TacitusF15Hist. l.
5. sect. 2.
that they were called Jews or Judaeans
as if they were Idaeans
from Mount Ida in Crete
from whence he supposes they came:
and the Syrians came to Elath
and dwelt there unto this day; the marginal
reading is Edomites; and so read the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions; and
Kimchi observes that it is written "Aramim"
Syrians
because the king
of Syria took it
and by his means the Edomites returned to it
but is read
"Edomim"
Edomites
because it belonged to the children of Edom; and
it is certain the Edomites had come and smitten Judah
2 Chronicles 28:17.
2 Kings 16:7 7 So Ahaz sent messengers to
Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria
saying
“I am your servant and your
son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand
of the king of Israel
who rise up against me.”
YLT
7And Ahaz sendeth messengers
unto Tiglath-Pileser king of Asshur
saying
`Thy servant and thy son [am] I;
come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram
and out of the hand of
the king of Israel
who are rising up against me.'
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria
.... Of whom
see 2 Kings 15:29.
saying
I am thy servant
and thy son; signifying
that he would be his vassal
and become tributary to him
and serve him as a
servant to his master
or a son his father
on condition he would come to his
assistance
and so he became his servant; hence his son Hezekiah is said to
rebel against the king of Assyria
2 Kings 18:1.
come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria
and out
of the hand of the king off Israel
which rise up against me; which
assistance he had no reason to call in
since the Lord had promised him
deliverance from both those kings
and gave him a sign of it
Isaiah 7:4.
2 Kings 16:8 8 And 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 it as a present to the king of
Assyria.
YLT
8And Ahaz taketh the silver
and the gold that is found in the house of Jehovah
and in the treasures of the
house of the king
and sendeth to the king of Asshur -- a bribe.
And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of
the Lord
.... Which Uzziah and Jotham had put there; for all that was found
there in the times of Amaziah was taken away by Jehoash king of Israel
2 Kings 14:14.
and in the treasures of the king's house; whatever gold
and silver he had of his own:
and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria; to obtain his
help and assistance.
2 Kings 16:9 9 So the king of Assyria
heeded him; for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it
carried its people captive to Kir
and killed Rezin.
YLT
9And hearken unto him doth
the king of Asshur
and the king of Asshur goeth up unto Damascus
and seizeth
it
and removeth [the people of] it to Kir
and Rezin he hath put to death.
And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him
.... Complied
with his request:
for the king of Syria went up against Damascus
and took it; the
metropolis of the kingdom of Syria
and so made a powerful diversion in favour
of the king of Judah:
and carried the people of it captive to Kir; not Cyrene
as the Vulgate Latin version
a country belonging to Egypt
which the king of
Assyria had no power over; but a place in upper Media
as JosephusF16Antiqu.
l. 9. c. 12. sect. 3. relates
which belonged to the Assyrian king; see Isaiah 22:6
compared with 2 Kings 21:2
of
this captivity Amos had prophesied some time before
Amos 1:5.
and slew Rezin; the king of Syria
which also was foretold
in the same prophecy.
2 Kings 16:10 10 Now King Ahaz went to
Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria
and saw an altar that was
at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the design of the altar
and its pattern
according to all its workmanship.
YLT
10And king Ahaz goeth to meet
Tiglath-Pileser king of Asshur [at] Damascus
and seeth the altar that [is] in
Damascus
and king Ahaz sendeth unto Urijah the priest the likeness of the
altar
and its pattern
according to all its work
And King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of
Assyria
.... When he heard he was come thither
and had taken it
to
congratulate him on the victory
and to give him thanks for his assistance;
which place from Jerusalem was one hundred and sixty miles
according to
BuntingF17Travels
&c. p. 185. .
and saw an altar that was at Damascus; where
in all
probability
he attended at the sacrifice on it along with the king of Assyria:
and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar
and the pattern of it
according to all the workmanship thereof; not only the
size and form of it
but all the decorations and figures on it
with which it
was wrought. This Urijah was very probably the high priest
for it can scarcely
be thought that Ahaz would write to any other
or that any other priest would
or could have complied with his request; and he seems to be the same Isaiah
took to be a witness in a certain affair
though he now degenerated from the
character he gives of him
Isaiah 8:2.
2 Kings 16:11 11 Then Urijah the priest
built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. So
Urijah the priest made it before King Ahaz came back from Damascus.
YLT
11and Urijah the priest
buildeth the altar according to all that king Ahaz hath sent from Damascus; so
did Urijah the priest till the coming in of king Ahaz from Damascus.
And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that King
Ahaz had sent from Damascus
.... Exactly according to the size
form
figure
and carved work of it
though expressly contrary to the command of God;
which fixed both the form and matter of the altar of God
with everything
appertaining to it
which he
being high priest
could not be ignorant of
Exodus 27:1
&c. but he was a timeserver
and sought to curry favour with his prince:
so Urijah the priest made it against King Ahaz came from Damascus; both king and
priest were in haste to have this altar made. Ahaz could not stay till he came
home
but sent directions about it from Damascus
and the priest was so
expeditious in observing his commands
that he got it done before he came
thence to Jerusalem.
2 Kings 16:12 12 And when the king came
back from Damascus
the king saw the altar; and the king approached the altar
and made offerings on it.
YLT
12And the king cometh in from
Damascus
and the king seeth the altar
and the king draweth near on the altar
and offereth on it
And when the king was come from Damascus
the king saw the altar
.... Looked at
it
and liked it
being exactly according to the pattern he had sent:
and the king approached the altar
and offered thereon; either by a
priest
or it may be in his own person
having no regard to the laws and
appointments of God
and especially as his sacrifices were not offered to him
but to the gods of Damascus and Syria
2 Chronicles 28:23.
2 Kings 16:13 13 So he burned his burnt
offering and his grain offering; and he poured his drink offering and sprinkled
the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.
YLT
13and perfumeth his
burnt-offering
and his present
and poureth out his libation
and sprinkleth
the blood of the peace-offerings that he hath
on the altar.
And he burnt his burnt offering
and his meat offering
.... Which
went together according to the law of God
and was imitated by the Heathens:
and poured his drink offering; a libation of wine
as
probably it was
like what they used according to the Levitical law:
and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings upon the altar; as used
according to the same law; for all sorts of sacrifices were offered by
idolaters
as by the people of God
in imitation of them.
2 Kings 16:14 14 He also brought the bronze
altar which was before the Lord
from the front of the
temple—from between the new altar and the house of the Lord—and put it on
the north side of the new altar.
YLT
14As to the altar of brass
that [is] before Jehovah -- he bringeth [it] near from the front of the house
from between the altar and the house of Jehovah
and putteth it on the side of
the altar
northward.
And he brought also the brasen altar which was before the Lord
.... That
which Solomon made
2 Chronicles 4:1
which stood in the court by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
before the Lord
Leviticus 1:5 from
the forefront of the house; the frontispiece of the temple
which was at the
eastern gate of it:
from between the altar and the house of the Lord for it seems
Urijah had placed the new altar behind the old one
more out of sight; the
brasen altar standing between that and the eastern gate
or entrance into the
temple; wherefore he removed the brasen altar
and put his new one in the room
of it:
and put it; that is
the brasen altar of Solomon:
on the north side of the altar; of the new altar
at the
right hand as they went into the temple; where it was as in a corner
in
greater obscurity
and the new altar more in view as they came into the temple.
2 Kings 16:15 15 Then King Ahaz commanded
Urijah the priest
saying
“On the great new altar burn the morning
burnt offering
the evening grain offering
the king’s burnt sacrifice
and his
grain offering
with the burnt offering of all the people of the land
their
grain offering
and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of
the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. And the bronze altar
shall be for me to inquire by.”
YLT
15And king Ahaz commandeth
him -- Urijah the priest -- saying
`On the great altar perfume the
burnt-offering of the morning
and the present of the evening
and the
burnt-offering of the king
and his present
and the burnt-offering of all the
people of the land
and their present
and their libations; and all the blood
of the burnt-offering
and all the blood of the sacrifice
on it thou dost
sprinkle
and the altar of brass is to me to inquire [by].'
And King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest
saying
.... Who was
not to be commanded by the king in matters of worship
but to attend to the
laws and institutions of God:
saying
upon the great altar; meaning the new one
which either was of a larger size than the altar of God
or was greater in the
esteem of Ahaz:
burn the morning burnt offering
and the evening meat offering; the daily
sacrifice
morning and evening:
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; such as were offered up at any time on the account of the rulers
of the land in particular
or of the whole congregation of Israel
see Leviticus 4:1
and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering
and all
the blood of the sacrifice; as it used to be sprinkled upon the altar
of the Lord:
and the brasen altar shall be for me to inquire by; to search
inquire
and consider what was to be done with it; for altars were never
inquired by as oracles; the meaning is
that it was never to be made use of but
by him
and when he pleased.
2 Kings 16:16 16 Thus did Urijah the
priest
according to all that King Ahaz commanded.
YLT
16And Urijah the priest doth
according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
Thus did Urijah the priest
according to all that King Ahaz
commanded. Not only concerning the structure of the altar
but the
sacrifices to be offered on it; like king like priest
both apostates and
idolaters.
2 Kings 16:17 17 And King Ahaz cut off the
panels of the carts
and removed the lavers from them; and he took down the Sea
from the bronze oxen that were under it
and put it on a pavement of
stones.
YLT
17And king Ahaz cutteth off
the borders of the bases
and turneth aside from off them the laver
and the
sea he hath taken down from off the brazen oxen that [are] under it
and
putteth it on a pavement of stones.
And King Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases
and removed the
laver from off them
.... In the temple there were ten lavers for the priests to wash
in
which are here meant
the singular being put for the plural; and these had
bases of brass
on which they were set; and about these bases were borders
which had on them figures of various creatures
lions
oxen
and cherubim; and
these Ahaz cut off
either to deface them
in contempt of them
or to convert
the brass to other uses
as he might also the bases themselves
since he
removed the lavers from off of them
see 1 Kings 7:27.
and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were
under it; the molten sea Solomon made
which he set upon twelve oxen made
of brass; this Ahaz took down from thence
either to abate its magnificence
and render it despicable
or for the sake of the brass
of which the oxen were
made
see 1 Kings 7:23.
and put it upon a pavement of stones; not upon the
floor of the temple
for that was of wood
fir
or cedar
but on rows of
stones
placed instead of bases for it to stand upon.
2 Kings 16:18 18 Also he removed the
Sabbath pavilion which they had built in the temple
and he removed the king’s
outer entrance from the house of the Lord
on account of the king
of Assyria.
YLT
18And the covered place for
the sabbath that they built in the house
and the entrance of the king without
he turned [from] the house of Jehovah
because of the king of Asshur.
And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house
.... Used on
the sabbath day
either for the people to sit under to hear the law explained
by the priests; or for the course of the priests to be in
that went out that
day
to give way to the course that entered
which yet did not depart from the
temple till evening; or rather for the king himself to sit under
while
attending the temple service of that day
and might be the cover of the
scaffold
2 Chronicles 6:13
and be very rich cloth of gold; and therefore he took it away for the king of
Assyria
or to signify that he should not frequent the place any more: and
hence it follows:
and the king's entry without
turned he from the house of the Lord; the way which
led from the king's palace to it
he turned it a round about way
that it might
not be discerned there was a way from the one to the other: and this he did
for the king of Assyria; to gratify him
that he
might from hence conclude that he had wholly relinquished the worship of God in
the temple
and should cleave to the gods of Damascus and Syria; or for fear of
him
that he might not see the way into the temple
and take away the vessels;
or find him
should he be obliged to hide himself there
when in danger by him.
2 Kings 16:19 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?
YLT
19And the rest of the matters
of Ahaz that he did
are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the
kings of Judah?
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? Some others
are written in the canonical book of Chronicles
2 Chronicles 28:1
and were
it is highly probable
in the annals of the kings of Judah
now lost.
2 Kings 16:20 20 So Ahaz rested with his
fathers
and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Hezekiah
his son reigned in his place.
YLT
20And Ahaz lieth with his
fathers
and is buried with his fathers
in the city of David
and reign doth
Hezekiah his son in his stead.
And Ahaz slept with his fathers
and was buried with his fathers
in the city of David
.... But not in the sepulchres of the kings of Israel
as David
and Solomon
he being such a wicked prince
2 Chronicles 28:27.
and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead; of whom much
is said in the following part of this history.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)