2 Kings 16:1-20

B. THE REIGN OF AHAZ 16:1-20

Considerable attention is devoted to Ahaz because of the religious significance of his reign. For the first time since the bloody reign of Athaliah, the Davidic dynasty faced the threat of removal from the throne in Jerusalem. To preserve himself on the throne, Ahaz appealed for aid from Assyria. He thus brought Judah under the political influence andwhat is worsethe religious influence of the Mesopotamian superpower. After a brief introduction to the reign of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:1-4), the author discusses the Syro-Ephraimitic invasion of Judah (2 Kings 16:5-9), and the Temple alterations made by Ahaz (2 Kings 16:10-18).

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE REIGN OF AHAZ (2 Kings 16:1-4)

TRANSLATION

(1) In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham the king of Judah began to reign. (2) Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and sixteen years he reigned in Jerusalem; he did not do that which was upright in the eyes of the LORD his God like David his father. (3) But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and even his son he caused to pass through the fire according to the abominations of the nations which the LORD drove out from before the children of Israel. (4) And he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Eleventh King of Judah
AHAZ BEN JOTHAM
735-720 B.C.*
(Possessor)

2 Kings 16; 2 Chronicles 28

Synchronism
Ahaz 1 = Pekah 17
Contemporary Prophets
Isaiah, Micah, Oded

Mother: ?

Appraisal: Bad

It is an abomination to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness. Proverbs 16:12

* coregent from 743 B.C.
emeritus king from 720 B.C.

COMMENTS

Ahaz seems to have usurped the reins of government from his father Jotham in 735 B.C., the seventeenth year of Pekah of Israel. His sixteen years of effective rule should be dated 735-720 B.C. However, Ahaz served as coregent with Jotham from as early as 743 B.C. He was still living and occupying an emeritus position from 720-715 B.C.

Ahaz was the most wicked king who to this point had reigned in Judah. Of all the kings of Judah only Manasseh and Amon receive greater condemnation. Ahaz reintroduced and personally participated in the worship of Canaanite deities. Like the kings of Israel, he made molten images for Baal (cf. 2 Chronicles 28:2), and, even worse, made his son to pass through the fire. The irony of this action is pointed out by the author: it was because of such abominable practices as these that God had driven the Canaanites out of the land before the armies of Israel![584] (2 Kings 16:3). Ahaz not only tolerated the continued existence of the worship in the high places and groves, he himself took part in that worship (2 Kings 16:4). This illegitimate and unregulated worship, while in many cases ostensibly directed to Yahweh, was very corrupt and paganized.

[584] See Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:31; Deuteronomy 18:9-10.

A further comment is necessary on the practice of passing one's son through the fire. This was no symbolic ceremony in which a child might be dedicated to the service of some pagan god as some commentators imagine. The Chronicler clearly states that Ahaz burnt his children (plural!) in the fire (2 Chronicles 28:3).[585] The sacrificial burning of children was a practice particularly associated with Moloch the god of Moab. The theory was that a man should offer to his deity what was nearest and dearest to himself. The sacrifice as it was performed at the Phoenician colony of Carthage is described by the Roman writer Diodorus Siculus (XX, 14). In the Temple there was an image of Moloch, a human figure with a bull's head and outstretched arms. This image of metal was made glowing hot by a fire kindled within it; and the children laid in its arms, rolled from thence into the fiery lap below. If the children cried, the parents stopped their noise by fondling and kissing them; for the victim was not supposed to weep, and the sound of complaint was drowned in the din of flutes and drums. It is not certain whether the children were first slain or whether they were placed alive in the glowing arms of the image. Ezekiel 16:21 suggests the former, but the precise ritual may have varied from time to time and place to place.

[585] Compare Jeremiah 19:5 and Ezekiel 16:21.

2. THE SYRO-EPHRAIMITIC INVASION OF JUDAH (2 Kings 16:5-9)

TRANSLATION

(5) Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel went up to Jerusalem to war; and they besieged Ahaz, but were not successful. (6) At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, and drove the Jews from Elath; and the Arameans came to Elath where they dwell to this day. (7) And Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, Your servant and your son am I! 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. (8) And Ahaz took the silver and gold which was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it to the king of Assyria as a present. (9) And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him, and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried it captive to Kir, and he slew Rezin.

COMMENTS

The alliance between Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Samaria was briefly noticed in 2 Kings 15:37 in connection with the reign of Jotham. This alliance is an extraordinary and somewhat unexpected political development. Not since the early days of Benhadad I had either Judah or Israel been allied with the Aramean state. For a century and a half the kings of Damascus had been bitter enemies of the people of God. However, the military resurgence of Assyria under the dynamic leadership of Tiglath-pileser in 745 B.C. forced the states of Syria-Palestine into a political realignment. For reasons which are not entirely clear, Ahaz of Judah rejected the overtures of this coalition and refused to lend his support to any military effort against Assyria. He either did not feel threatened by Assyria, or else he feared Tiglath-pileser so much that he did not wish to offend the Great King in any way.

Ahaz's refusal to participate in the newly formed coalition brought down upon him the wrath of Rezin and Pekah. Jerusalem was besieged, but did not fall (2 Kings 16:5). The fortifications of Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:9) and Jotham (2 Chronicles 27:3) had, no doubt, greatly strengthened the city since the time it was captured so easily by Jehoash (cf. 2 Kings 14:13). Frustrated at Jerusalem, Rezin roamed farther south and captured Elath and drove out the Jewish garrison which had been stationed there since the days of Uzziah (cf. 2 Kings 14:22). From that time on the Arameans (or perhaps Edomites[586]) occupied this important seaport city (2 Kings 16:6).

[586] The difference in the Hebrew spelling of Edomites and Arameans is so slight that it is conceivable that a scribal error occurred here. It is difficult to imagine Arameans from Damascus still remaining in far distant Elath for any length of time. It is far more reasonable to regard the capture of Elath as a blow against Judah. Once the city fell, it was returned to the native people.

In his extreme desperation, Ahaz turned to Tiglath-pileser of Assyria for relief from his two antagonists. This reliance on man rather than God is exactly what the prophet Isaiah had tried to forestall when he confronted Ahaz just before the Syro-Ephraimitic attack (Isaiah 7:1-9). But the king was not a man of faith, and to him it appeared that the only logical and reasonable course of action was to submit willingly to the Assyrian. Better to be the vassal of a distant power than to lose his throne altogether. So Ahaz submitted himself completely to Tiglath-pileser, and at the same time asked the mighty king to deliver him from the Syro-Ephraimitic threat (2 Kings 16:7).

Sacred treasuries and royal treasuries were drained in order to send to Nineveh the appropriate gift which would seal the alliance between the two countries (2 Kings 16:8). Tiglath-pileser welcomed this overture. His imperialistic policy called for the eventual subjugation of Aram and the submission of Judah. In 732 B.C. the Assyrian attacked and captured the city of Damascus just as Amos the prophet had previously foretold (cf. Amos 1:4-5). A great host of captivesthirty thousand according to the Assyrian annalswas carried away to Kir,[587] a district in the eastern Assyrian empire the location of which has not been positively identified, Rezin himself was slain when the city fell (2 Kings 16:9).

[587] According to Amos 9:7 Kir was the original home of the Arameans.

4. TEMPLE ALTERATIONS BY AHAZ (2 Kings 16:10-18)

TRANSLATION

(10) And King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria in Damascus, and he saw an altar that was in Damascus; and King Ahaz sent unto Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar, and the specification for all its workmanship. (11) And Urijah the priest built the altar according to all which King Ahaz sent unto him from Damascus. (12) And the king came from Damascus; and the king saw the altar, and the king approached the altar, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (13) And he offered burnt offerings and meal offerings, and poured out drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings upon the altar. (14) And the bronze altar which was before the LORD he removed from before the house, from between the (new) altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the (new) altar. (15) And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar offer the morning burnt offering and the evening sacrifice, the burnt offering of the king and his sacrifice, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land and their sacrifice and their drink offerings; and all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice you shall sprinkle upon it; and as for the bronze altar, it will be for me to inquire concerning it. (16) And Urijah the priest did according to all which King Ahaz commanded. (17) And King Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed from upon them the laver; and the sea he took down from upon the bronze oxen which were under it, and put it upon a pedestal of stone. (18) And the covert for the sabbath which they had built in the house, and the entry of the king without, he turned from the house of the LORD from before the king of Assyria.

COMMENTS

Following the conquest of Damascus, Tiglath-pileser summoned Ahaz and other vassal kings to confirm officially their submission to him through a formal treaty. While in the city, Ahaz saw an altaralmost certainly an Assyrian altarwhich struck his fancy. The Assyrian Kings were accustomed to carry altars about with them and to have them set up in their fortified camps or in other convenient places. Ahaz may have been required by Tiglath-pileser to order this Assyrian altar to be set up in Jerusalem; on the other hand, he may have volunteered to do so knowing that this would greatly please his new master. At an earlier time Ahaz had sacrificed to the gods of Damascus because that city had proved militarily superior to Judah (2 Chronicles 28:23). But with the destruction of Damascus, the gods of Damascus had been discredited. Pagan mentality viewed the gods of the prevailing military force to be superior deities. Furthermore, vassal treaties generally compelled recognition of the gods of the suzerain. For these reasons Ahaz sent back to Jerusalem to Urijah the high priest detailed instructions for making this altar which differed in size and workmanship from the altars which Solomon had constructed (2 Kings 16:10).

Being a man with no backbone, Urijah[588] does not seem to have thought even of remonstrance, much less of resistance to

the royal orders. He did just as Ahaz ordered (2 Kings 16:11). Upon return from Damascus, the king personally made use of the new altar for his private sacrifices[589] (2 Kings 16:12-13). One sin led to another, and shortly Ahaz ordered the Solomonic bronze altar which stood directly in front of the Temple moved to one side. This left the space clear between the Temple and the new altar. Solomon's altar, shifted to one side, was put, as it were, in the background; the eye rested on the new altar, right in front of the porch of the Temple (2 Kings 16:14). By virtue of its position immediately before the sacred house, the new altar, which was probably smaller than the Solomonic altar, became the great altar. The king ordered Urijah to offer all the regular and occasional sacrifices upon that new altar. The king was probably afraid to completely remove or break up the old altar which by this order had become superfluous. He therefore said that he would take time to inquire, i.e., consider what he would do with it (2 Kings 16:15). Again the high priest acquiesced in the demands of the king (2 Kings 16:16).

[588] Urijah is almost certainly the Uriah of Isaiah 8:2 who earlier had served as a witness to one of Isaiah's most dramatic predictions.

[589] The words might be construed to mean that Ahaz, like Uzziah, usurped priestly functions; but if such had been the case it would seem that the author would have made this perfectly clear.

With the passage of time, Ahaz became ever more bold in the innovations which he introduced into God's Temple. He removed the border of the bases of the ten bronze lavers which were used in the Temple court. These borders seem to have consisted of ornamental panels on which were carved in relief figures of lions, oxen and cherubim (cf. 1 Kings 7:29). What may have motivated the king in this action is not clear. Perhaps he was merely being destructive. On the other hand he may have wished to use these beautiful panels for some other decorative purpose. The king also took the lavers off their bases, which in effect made these lavers immobile. Solomon's molten sea or giant laver was taken off the backs of the twelve bronze oxen which supported it (cf. 1 Kings 7:23-26) and placed on a pedestal of stone (2 Kings 16:17). Once again the king's motives are obscure. The most likely guess is that he wished to use the bronze oxen for decorative purposes elsewhere.

The covert for the sabbath was probably a covered place or stand in the court of the Temple which was used by the king whenever he visited the Temple on sabbath days or festival days. It probably was richly ornamented. The entry of the king without probably refers to the ascent into the house of the Lord which Solomon constructed for his own use (1 Kings 10:5). The queen of Sheba marveled over this work of art. Ahaz is said to have turned them from the house of the Lord from before, i.e., because of, or for fear of, the king of Assyria. Commentators have had a great deal of trouble interpreting this sentence and any suggestion as to its meaning would be pure speculation. Perhaps the meaning is that Ahaz was forced to destroy these works of art in order to meet his tribute obligations to Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 16:18).

5. THE DEATH OF AHAZ (2 Kings 16:19-20)

TRANSLATION

(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? (20) And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

COMMENTS

The Book of Chronicles adds some important information about Ahaz which is not recorded in Kings. The most significant information is as follows: (1) The complete defeat of Ahaz by Pekah (2 Chronicles 28:5-8); (2) the losses he sustained at the hands of the Edomites and Philistines (2 Chronicles 28:17-18); (3) the fact that at one point in his life Ahaz adopted the worship of the Aramean gods (2 Chronicles 28:23); (4) the fact that in his latter years he shut up the Temple and suspended the sacrificial offerings and burning of incense (2 Chronicles 28:24; 2 Chronicles 29:7); (5) the fact that he set up additional high places so that each city would have its own place of worship (2 Chronicles 28:5). When he died, Ahaz was buried in the city of David (2 Kings 16:20), but not in the sepulchers of the kings (2 Chronicles 28:27). Like Uzziah before him, he was not considered worthy of a sepulcher in the royal catacomb.