2 Reis 16:3

But he walked in the way. — See Notes on 2 Crônicas 28:2.

Made his son to pass through the fire. — The chronicler rightly explains this as a sacrifice by fire. That such an appalling rite is really intended may be seen by reference to 2 Reis 17:31; Jeremias 19:5; Ezequiel 16:20; Ezequiel 23:37; Jeremias 32:35. The expression, “To make-to pass through the fire to Moloch” (Levítico 18:21) may have originated, as Movers suggests, in the idea that the burning was a kind of passage to union with the deity, after the dross of the flesh had been purged away; or it may be a mere euphemism. Ahaz appears to have been the first Israelite king who offered such a sacrifice. He, no doubt, regarded it as a last desperate resource against the oppression of his northern enemies. It is absurd to suppose that the king intended it in love to his child, as Thenius suggests. (See Juízes 11:31.) Such dreadful sacrifices were only made in cases of dire extremity. (Comp. 2 Reis 3:27.)

The heathen. — More particularly the Ammonites, who made such sacrifices to Molech or Milcom.