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2 KINGS 16

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:1-6
  ¹In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. ²Ahaz 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. ³But 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. ⁴He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. ⁵Then 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. ⁶At 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.

16:1 "Ahaz" This Judean king (full name Jehoahaz; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 366-368) is discussed in 2 Chronicles 28 and Isaiah 7-12. See Introduction to Isaiah online for the historical, religious, and social setting of this period. (www.freebiblecommentary.org)

16:2 The dates do not fit well with 2 Chr. 29:1. There are some LXX and Syrian MSS that have "25 years at his accession" not "20 years old." this discrepancy can be explained as a co-reign with his father, Jotham; see Hard Sayings of the Bible, p. 59.

▣ "as his father David" Notice Jotham is not mentioned. The purpose of this phrase is to reenforce Ahaz's Davidic origin. Ahaz was one of the most wicked kings of Judah (Manasseh being the worst). However, he was still part of YHWHistic promise to David in 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17.

YHWH had a purpose for Judah!

SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN

16:2-4 "he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord" Four items are listed of his evil.

1. He did not follow in the footsteps of his father, David.
2. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel.
3. He made his sons pass through the fire.
4. He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

16:3 "walked in the way of" The Mosaic life of faith is described as a well worn, straight, smooth, clear path or road (Ps. 1:1; 139:24).

The path of Ba'al worship was unintentionally encouraged by Jeroboam I's building of two rival worship sites (i.e., Dan and Bethel). These turned into fertility worship sites, especially during Ahab and Jezebel's reign.

SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANE

▣ "made his sons pass through the fire" This refers to the worship of the Phoenician and later Canaanite fire god, Molech. This deity is highly condemned in the OT (cf. Lev. 18:21; Deut. 12:31; 18:9-10). It seems that children were sacrificed alive to this fire god (cf. 2 Chr. 28:3). Not even Assyria practiced child sacrifices!

Modern sdcholarship thinks molech is a type of sacrifice and not the name of a deity.

SPECIAL TOPIC: MOLECH

▣ "abomination" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ABOMINATION (OT).

▣ "the nations whom the Lord had driven out" This is "holy war" vocabulary. It was part of YHWH's promise to Abraham about a homeland in Canaan (cf. Gen. 12:1-3; 15:12-21). The exodus under Moses and the conquest under Joshua fulfilled this promise. Israel was to destroy the Canaanites lest they corrupt their covenant relationship with Abraham's seed (i.e., Deut. 20:17-18).

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT PROMISES TO THE PATRIARCHS

SPECIAL TOPIC: ISRAEL'S MANDATED RESPONSE TO CANAANITE FERTILITY WORSHIP

16:4 "on the high places and on the hills under every green tree" This reflects outlawed Canaanite fertility worship (cf. Deut. 12:2; 1 Kgs. 14:23,24; Jer. 2:20; 3:2,6; 17:2; Isa. 57:5,7; Ezek. 6:13; 20:28; Hosea 4:13).

The fertility gods were worshiped in many localities (i.e., natural hills or man made platforms). Trees were often viewed as sacred (esp. in arid places) because they showed underground water was present.

SPECIAL TOPIC: TREES

16:5 Syria and Israel tried to force Judah to join their rebellion against Assyria (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 1244-1245) but their siege could not cause Jerusalem to surrender (735 B.C.).

It is possible that this co-alliance also included

1. Tyre
2. Philistia

It may have occurred at the instigation of Neo-Babylonian nationalism which aggressively encouraged revolt against Assyria.

16:6 There is some confusion in the ancient versions about this verse.

1. Rezin, king of Syria/Aram (MT); UBS Text Project gives this an "A" rating for both uses of "Syria/Aram."
2. King of Edom. . .to Edom came Elath; the second use of Edom is supported by the Masoretic scholars (Qere) and the LXX, Targums, Vulgate.

The UBS Text Project, p. 362, suggests that Elath was restored to Edom which was the original text but that there are no existing MSS that support this.

Aram ‒ ארם

Edom ‒ אדם

This is the common "R" ‒ "D" confusion caused by the similarity of the Hebrew letters.

▣ "Elath" This city is located on the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba. It is very close to Ezion-geber. They both were ports. The one who controlled this port controlled the lucrative trade route north to Jerusalem and Damascus.

Solomon first developed this area for Israel (cf. 1 Kgs. 9:26-28). It was restored by Uzziah (cf. 2 Kgs. 14:22; 2 Chr. 26:2).

It was an Idumean city which

1. shows Syria's influence far to the south (i.e., Josephus Antiq. 9.12.1; R. K. Harrison, Old Testament Times, p. 229)
2. was restored to Edom and this continued "to this day" (cf. 2 Chr. 28:17)

The UBS Text Project, p. 362, suggests that Elath was restored to Edom and was the original text but that there are no existing MSS that support this.

1. Aram ‒ ארם
2. Edom ‒ אדם

This is the common "R" ‒ "D" confusion.

SPECIAL TOPIC: EDOM AND ISRAEL, C.

▣ "Elath. . .Eloth" This verse contains two spellings of this Idumean city's name, which may also show the composite nature of the history recorded in Kings (i.e., a northern source and a southern source). See John H. Walton and D. Brent Sandy, The Lost World of Scripture.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:7-9
  ⁷So 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." ⁸Ahaz 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. ⁹So 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.

16:7 This is diplomatic language of a vassal to his overlord (i.e., "servant" and "son"). Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-pileser III in v. 10.

16:8 Ahaz paid tribute to Assyria to save Judah from the Syro-Ephraimatic coalition (cf. vv. 17-18 and possibly v. 15).

16:9 "Kir" This is omitted by the LXX. In Amos 1:5 it is also identified as the place where the Syrians were exiled in 732 B.C. It possibly refers to "Ashur" or a region of Assyria (cf. Isa. 22:6; ABD, vol. 4, p. 83).

Josephus (Antiq. 9.12.3) identifies the place of exile as "Upper Media." He also notes that a colony of Assyrians occupied Damascus.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:10-16
  ¹⁰Now 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. ¹¹So 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. ¹²When the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; then the king approached the altar and went up to it, ¹³and burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, and poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. ¹⁴The 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. ¹⁵Then 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." ¹⁶So Urijah the priest did according to all that King Ahaz commanded.

16:10 "the altar" This worship altar was probably built by the king of Syria but the Assyrian victors kept it. Ahaz's building a copy of it was a way to acknowledge and honor Tiglath-pileser III (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 1250-1251).

Its construction and placement in the temple in Jerusalem shows how quickly true YHWHism was corrupted.

The MT has three descriptive words.

1. a model ‒ BDB 198
2. its pattern ‒ BDB 125
3. exact in all its details ‒ BDB 481 CONSTRUCT BDB 795

▣ "Urijah" This priest (BDB 22)

1. was called a "faithful witness" by Isaiah (cf. Isa. 8:2, "Uriah")
2. was probably the "high priest," but not listed in 1 Chr. 5:27-41 nor in Josephus (Antiq. 10)

▣ "its model" The UBS Text Project, p. 362, gives "model" or "the likeness" (BDB 198, cf. Gen. 1:26) a "B" rating (some doubt).

1. דמות ‒ likeness (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 643-647)
2. מדות ‒ measurement (BDB 551, LXX)

The altar was probably originally Rimmon's (2 Kgs. 5:18) but now was spared by Tiglath-pileser III and used for the worship of Ashur, the head of the Assyrian pantheon.

16:11 Urijah the priest built an altar in accordance with Ahaz's instructions and model. He did this before Ahaz returned from Damascus.

This rapid building implies the altar was of wood, not stone or metal. Most metal had been stripped from the temple and palace and sent as tribute to Tiglath-pileser III.

16:12-13 Ahaz used his role as king to inaugurate this new sacrificial altar (cf. 2 Sam. 6:17-18; 1 Kgs. 8:63; 12:32). He

1. drew near to it
2. ascended to it
3. offered a burnt offering
4. poured out a drink offering
5. offered a peace offering

The difference between this and Uzziah's act was that this altar was not in the central shrine, but before it.

SPECIAL TOPIC: BURNT OFFERING

SPECIAL TOPIC: PEACE OFFERING

SPECIAL TOPIC: GRAIN OFFERING

16:14 "the bronze altar" Ahaz moved this to the side and replaced it with the new one. It is possible that all the bronze had been removed and given to Tiglath-pileser III as tribute (cf. vv. 17-18).

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE

16:15 "the morning burnt offering" This morning and evening daily offering was called "the continual" (cf. Exod. 29:38-42; Num. 28:2-8).

It seems that in this period only the morning offering was a burnt offering and the evening offering was a grain offering (cf. Ezek. 46:13-15).

▣ "But the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by" This is unusual! The VERB "inquire" (BDB 133, KB 151, Piel INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) could mean

1. decide later what to do with it (cf. v. 14) ‒ JPSOA
2. a place for Ahaz to seek spiritual information
   1. from YHWH (but note 2 Chr. 28:24-28)
   2. but probably divination (cf. 2 Chr. 28:23; NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 707, #1)

SPECIAL TOPIC: DIVINATION

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:17-18
  ¹⁷Then 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. ¹⁸The 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.

16:17-18 Ahaz stripped Solomon's temple to pay tribute.

1. the borders of the stands (cf. 1 Kgs. 7:27-39)
2. the laver of its stand of oxen
3. "the covered way"; see note below

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE LAVER

The MT has "the covered way (Qere) for the sabbath" (BDB 697 CONSTRUCT BDB 992). The exact reference is uncertain.

1. NASB and JPSOA pick up on "passage"
2. TEV sees it as the special platform for the king to stand on (cf. 2 Kgs. 11:14; 2 Chr. 6:13; 23:13 [Vulgate] and Neh. 8:4)
3. LXX picks up on "foundation" (BDB 414)
4. NJB footnote suggests that "dais" was a symbol of royal power that Assyria made Ahaz remove

Whatever it was, this was removed to give the king of Assyria more tribute!

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:19-20
  ¹⁹Now 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? ²⁰So Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. What does "pass through the fire" mean?
2. Who recovered Elath and lived there?
3. Where is Kir?
4. Why did Ahaz build a new altar?
5. What did Ahaz do with Solomon's bronze altar?
6. What was "the covered way" of v. 18?

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