Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 16:4
And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
4. And he sacrificed, &c. ] Hitherto we have heard only that the people continued the worship in the high places. Now the king takes part in the same, and so makes it doubly popular.
under every green tree ] Expressly mentioned (Deu 12:2) as among the wrong doings of the heathen: ‘Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations, which ye shall possess, served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills, and under every green tree ’.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He sacrificed … – Other kings of Judah bad allowed their people to do so. Ahaz was the first, so far as we know, to countenance the practice by his own example.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
After the manner of the heathens: See Poole “Deu 12:2“; See Poole “Jer 2:20“; See Poole “Hos 4:13“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1-4. Ahaz . . . did not that whichwas right in the sight of the Lord[See on 2Ch28:1.] The character of this king’s reign, the voluptuousness andreligious degeneracy of all classes of the people, are graphicallyportrayed in the writings of Isaiah, who prophesied at that period.The great increase of worldly wealth and luxury in the reigns ofAzariah and Jotham had introduced a host of corruptions, which,during his reign, and by the influence of Ahaz, bore fruit in theidolatrous practices of every kind which prevailed in all parts ofthe kingdom (see 2Ch 28:24).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills,…. Which none of the kings of Judah before him ever did; for though they connived at this practice in the people, they never encouraged it by their own example; and very probably he offered sacrifices there to idols, see 2Ch 28:25 whereas the people sacrificed to the true God, though at a wrong place:
and under every green tree; and which is never said of the people, and seems to confirm it, that Ahaz sacrificed to other gods, since the Heathens used to place idols under green trees, and worship them, whom the Jews imitated, Jer 2:2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) In the high places.These are evidently distinguished from the hills, two different prepositions being used in the Hebrew as in the English. A bmh, or high-place, was a local sanctuary, and it appears that a sacred pillar or altar might be called a bmh. Mesha king of Moab speaks of his pillar as this bmath (See Note on 2Ki. 1:1.)
Under every green tree.Comp. 1Ki. 14:23; Hos. 14:8. Thenius says not so much a green as a thick-foliaged and shadow-yielding tree. They burn incense . . . under oaks, and poplars, and teil trees, because the shadow thereof is good (Hos. 4:13).
THE SYRO-EPHRAIMITIC WAR, AND THE INTERVENTION OF TIGLATH PILESER. (Comp. Isa. 7:1 to Isa. 9:7, an epitome of the discourses delivered by the prophet at this great national crisis.Cheyne.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. High places hills every green tree Compare Hos 4:13. To all this Chronicles adds that he “made molten images for Baalim.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Invasion Of Judah By Rezin King Of Aram And Pekah King Of Israel. Judah Is Despoiled ( 2Ki 16:4-6 ).
The gathering threat from Israel and Aram to replace first Jotham, and then after his death Ahaz, with an Aramaean puppet who was ‘the son of Tabeel’ (Isa 7:6) became a full reality in the time of Ahaz. The combined forces of Aram and Israel advanced on Jerusalem, wasting the land before them and slaughtering many people, although not necessarily taking all the fortified cities of Judah (it was not an attempt to totally subjugate Judah). But in spite of being besieged Jerusalem did not yield, and they could not overcome it. At the same time an Aramaean army went to the aid of Edom, who were part of their alliance, and freed Elath from the grasp of Judah.
Ahaz recognised that he was in desperate straits, and as the Book of Isaiah reveals, he was torn three ways. Some called on him to join the anti-Assyrian alliance with Aram and Israel, others called on him to submit to the king of Assyria as his vassal thus obtaining his aid, and still others, no doubt partly influenced by Isaiah, called on him to look to YHWH alone for help. The full story can be found in Isaiah 7 onwards (see our commentary). But Ahaz, in spite of an unprecedented offer from YHWH, would choose to submit himself to the king of Assyria and therefore sent messengers offering his submission, promising tribute, and calling for his assistance.
Analysis.
a
b But they were unable to fight (2Ki 16:5 b).
a At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, and drove the Jews from Elath, and the Aramaeans came to Elath, and dwelt there, to this day (2Ki 16:6).
Note that in ‘a’ Jerusalem was besieged, and in the parallel Elath was taken and occupied from then on. Centrally in ‘b’ the enemy could not overcome Ahaz, because at this stage YHWH was with him, as Isaiah makes clear.
2Ki 16:5
‘Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war, and they besieged Ahaz.’
Apart from aid given to the Edomites, possibly as part of the package in which they supported the Aramaeans in their war against Judah, the full force of Aram and Israel advanced on Jerusalem, slaying and spoiling as they went, and shutting up many Judaeans in their fortified cities. The aim was not so much to occupy Judah as to set on the throne of Judah a puppet king. We know from Isaiah that this intended king was ‘the son of Tabeel’. This sonship may have been through a daughter of Ahaz married to an Aramaean named Tabeel, or Tabeel may have been the grandfather, whose daughter had married a son of Jotham or Uzziah, who could thus be seen as having a partial claim to the throne. The name might indicate an alliance with an Aramaean princess connected to Beth Tab’el, a place known from contemporary Aramaean inscriptions as an Aramaean land in northern Transjordan. The result was that Jerusalem found itself under siege.
2Ki 16:5
‘And they were unable to fight.’
One way of seeing this is to take it as meaning that Israel and Aram were unable to fight because they could not breach the walls of Jerusalem or entice Judah out to fight. Alternatively it could signify that Ahaz and Judah found themselves unable to fight. Either is possible, but the fact that Ahaz was able to appeal to the king of Assyria must favour the former. What cannot be avoided is the thought of what Judah had suffered because Ahaz had turned down YHWH’s offer of protection. Many Judaeans not enjoying the protection of the walls of Jerusalem had been carried captive to Damascus and Samaria, and there had been great slaughter (2Ch 28:5-8).
2Ki 16:6
‘At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, and drove the Jews from Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, and dwelt there, to this day.’
At the same time as they besieged Jerusalem Rezin the king of Aram sent an army to Edom where he assisted the Edomites in recovering Elath which had so long been under the control of Judah (2Ki 14:22). The Aramaeans appear to have had close connections with Edom and with the other Transjordan tribes, and were regularly involved in assisting them. See 2Sa 8:13; Isa 17:2 (where Aroer is probably the Aroer in southern Transjordan) and consider the assistance that they gave to the Ammonites (2 Samuel 10). While it is true that the Hebrew consonants for Edom and Aram were very similar, we should always remember that the copyists had regularly previously heard the text being read out and would thus not have been easily deceived by the similarity in an uncertain text. Note the use of the term ‘Jews’ for the first time, here referring to the people of Judah.
Excavations at Ezion Geber revealed a seal of Jotham in one layer followed by the discovery of jars with ‘belonging to Qausanal’ in the next layer. Qaus was the national god of Edom, thus confirming the situation described above. Aram and Edom were close allies.
The author is thus bringing out that while YHWH had not totally destroyed Ahaz, He had afflicted him sorely. Such was the consequence of rejecting YHWH.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Ki 16:4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
Ver. 4. And he sacrificed, &c. ] He “did evil with both hands earnestly,” Mic 7:3 as if afraid to be outdone by any other; he took long strides toward hell, which was but a little afore him, and did even gape for him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
on the hills: Deu 12:2, 1Ki 14:23, Isa 57:5-7, Isa 65:4, Isa 66:17, Jer 17:2, Eze 20:28, Eze 20:29
Reciprocal: Lev 17:5 – in the open 2Ki 17:10 – they set 2Ch 28:4 – General Isa 65:7 – burned Eze 6:13 – upon Mic 1:5 – they Mic 1:13 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 16:4. He sacrificed, &c., in the high places If his father had but had zeal enough to take them away, it might have prevented the corrupting of his sons. They that connive at sin, know not what dangerous snares they lay for those that come after them.