2 Kings 16 explained: A King Buys Protection from Assyria

Ahaz's reign judged (vv. 1-4)

Ahaz is measured against his ancestor King David and found lacking, because he worshipped at local hilltop shrines the writers saw as forbidden. Worst of all, he offered his own son in fire, and 2 Chronicles 28:3 says he burned his children, though scholars debate whether the phrase always meant death or sometimes a fire ritual of dedication.

Attacked by two neighbors (vv. 5-6)

Rezin of Aram (based in Damascus) and Pekah of the northern kingdom of Israel besieged Jerusalem, probably to force Judah into their alliance against Assyria, but they could not take it. Judah lost Elath, its port on the Red Sea, and translations differ on who settled there afterward, Arameans or Edomites, because the two words look almost alike in Hebrew and ancient copies vary.

Paying Assyria to step in (vv. 7-9)

Ahaz pledges himself as the Assyrian king's servant, a dependent subject under his protection, and pays with silver and gold from the temple and palace. Assyria crushed Damascus, but the book of Isaiah (chapter 7) shows the prophet urging Ahaz to trust God instead of making this deal.

A new altar from Damascus (vv. 10-16)

After meeting the Assyrian king in Damascus, Ahaz had the priest Uriah build a copy of an altar he saw there, and he moved the old bronze altar from Solomon's day off to the side. Scholars are unsure whether this was pressure to show loyalty or simply his own taste, and also unsure what using the old altar for seeking guidance involved.

Stripping the temple (vv. 17-18)

Ahaz removed bronze from the temple's wheeled washing stands and took the great bronze basin called the Sea off the bronze bulls that held it up, possibly to pay tribute, though the text does not say. He also changed a covered Sabbath structure and the king's own entrance with the Assyrian king in mind, and exactly what these were is now unclear.

Death of Ahaz (vv. 19-20)

Ahaz is buried with the kings in Jerusalem. His son Hezekiah, who will be remembered very differently, takes the throne.

Key verse: 2 Kings 16:7

Something to think about

When people feel cornered, what do they tend to give up to feel safe, and how can anyone tell afterward whether the trade was worth it?