CHAPTER XVI _Ahaz begins to reign, acts wickedly, and restores idolatry in_ _Judea_, 1-4. _Rezin, king of Syria, besieges Jerusalem, but cannot take it;_ _he takes Elath, and drives the Jews thence_, 5, 6. _Ahaz hires Tiglath-pileser against the king of Syria and the_ _king of Israel, and give... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 16:2. _TWENTY YEARS OLD_ WAS _AHAZ_] Here is another considerable difficulty in the chronology. Ahaz was but _twenty years_ old when he began to reign, and he died after he had reigned _sixteen_ years; consequently his whole age amounted only to _thirty-six years_. But Hezekiah his so... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 16:3. _MADE HIS SON TO PASS THROUGH THE FIRE_] On this passage I beg leave to refer the reader to my notes on Leviticus 18:21; Leviticus 20:2; Leviticus 20:14, where the subject is considered at large.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 16:5. _BUT COULD NOT OVERCOME_ HIM.] It is likely that this was the time when Isaiah was sent to console Ahaz; (see Isaiah 7:1;) and predicted the death both of Rezin and Pekah, his enemies.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 16:6. _RECOVERED ELATH TO SYRIA_] 2 Kings 14:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 16:7. _I AM THY SERVANT AND THY SON_] I will _obey_ thee in all, and become _tributary_ to thee; only help me against Syria and Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 16:9. _THE KING OF ASSYRIA HEARKENED UNTO HIM_] It is said, 2 Chronicles 28:20, that _Tilgath-pilneser distressed him, but strengthened him not_. Though he came against the Syrians, and took Damascus, and slew Rezin, yet he did _not help_ Ahaz against the Philistines, nor did he lend h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 16:10. _AHAZ WENT TO DAMASCUS_] He had received so much help on the defeat of Rezin, that he went to Damascus to meet the king of Assyria, and render him thanks. _AHAZ SENT TO URIJAH THE PRIEST THE FASHION OF THE ALTAR_] This was some idolatrous altar, the _shape_ and _workmanship_ o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 16:14. _PUT IT ON THE NORTH SIDE_] He seems to have intended to _conform_ every thing in the Lord's house as much as possible to the idolatrous temples which he saw at Damascus, and to model the Divine worship in the same way: in a word to honour and worship the gods of Syria, and not... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 16:18. _AND THE COVERT FOR THE SABBATH_] There are a great number of conjectures concerning this _covert_, or, as it is in the Hebrew, the מוסך _musach, of the Sabbath_. As the word, and others derived from the same root, signify _covering_ or _booths_, it is very likely that this mea... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 16:20. _WAS BURIED WITH HIS FATHERS IN THE CITY OF DAVID_] But it is expressly declared, 2 Chronicles 28:27, that _he was not buried in the sepulchres of the kings of Israel_; and this was undoubtedly intended as a mark of _degradation_. His reign was _disastrous_ and _impious_; and... [ Continue Reading ]