| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
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)