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2 Kings 16:10

in 2 Kings 16

Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.

KJV

And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath–pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.

This verse in 2 Kings 16

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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 of which pleased Ahaz so well that he determined to have one like it at Jerusalem. For this he had no Divine authority, and the compliance of Urijah was both mean and sinful.

This site's exposition

a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction

on 2 Kings 16:10-11

At Damascus, Ahaz admires a pagan altar and sends its exact pattern home. Uriah the priest builds it before the king even returns, with no recorded word of protest. Henry sets this eagerly copied foreign design against the pattern God himself gave Moses for the tabernacle.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The pattern God showed to Moses in the mount or to David by the Spirit was not comparable to this pattern sent from Damascus. The hearts of idolaters walked after their eyes, which are therefore said to go a whoring after their idols; but the true worshippers worship the true God by faith.
And King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The sin in this affair consisted in meddling with, and improving according to human taste and fancy, the altars of the temple, the patterns of which had been furnished by divine authority (Ex 25:40; Urijah was one of the witnesses taken by Isaiah to bear his prediction against Syria and Israel (Isa 8:2).

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And saw an altar - Rather, “The altar,” i. e. an Assyrian altar, and connected with that formal recognition of the Assyrian deities which the Ninevite monarchs appear to have required of all the nations whom they received into their empire. The fashion of the altar - Assyrian altars were not very elaborate, but they were very different from the Jewish. They were comparatively small, and scarcely suited for “whole burnt-offerings.” One type was square, about half the height of a man, and ornamented round the top with a sort of battlement. Another had a triangular base and a circular top consisting of a single flat stone. A third was a sort of portable stand, narrow, and about the height of a man. This last was of the kind which the kings took with them in their expeditions.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Before [king Achaz] came. [He built the altar] before the king came from Damesek. 1 Achaz decided to worship the idols of Arom because he believed they were responsible for his defeat. See II Divrei Hayomim:23.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Kings 16:11:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

27 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֵּ֣לֶךְand he went

    vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times

  • הַמֶּ֣לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • אָחָ֡זAhaz

    ʾachazH271 →42 times

  • לִ֠קְרַאתto meet

    likratH7122 →139 times

  • תִּגְלַ֨תTiglath-

    tiglatH8407 →12 times

  • פִּלְאֶ֤סֶרpileser

    pileserH8407 →12 times

  • מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of

    melekh-H4428 →2525 times

  • אַשּׁוּר֙Assyria

    ʾashurH804 →151 times

  • דּוּמֶּ֔שֶׂקDamascus

    dumesekH1834 →45 times

  • וַיַּ֥רְאand he saw

    vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַthe altar

    hamizbeachH4196 →401 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • בְּדַמָּ֑שֶׂק[was] in Damascus

    bedamasekH1834 →45 times

  • וַיִּשְׁלַח֩and he sent

    vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times

  • הַמֶּ֨לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • אָחָ֜זAhaz

    ʾachazH271 →42 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אוּרִיָּ֣הUriah

    ʾuriyahH223 →39 times

  • הַכֹּהֵ֗ןthe priest

    hakohenH3548 →750 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • דְּמ֧וּת[the] likeness of

    demutH1823 →

  • הַמִּזְבֵּ֛חַthe altar

    hamizbeachH4196 →401 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • תַּבְנִית֖וֹpattern its

    tavnitoH8403 →

  • לְכָֽל־for all

    lekholH3605 →5413 times

  • מַעֲשֵֽׂהוּ׃work its

    maasehuH4639 →236 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Romans 12:2

    Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of…

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 1:14

      As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.

    • Ephesians 4:22–24

      to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

    • 2 Corinthians 5:17

      Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

    • Colossians 3:10

      and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

    • 1 John 2:15–17

      Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

  • Through

    Matthew 15:6

    he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

    it leads to

    • 1 Timothy 5:8

      If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

    • Jeremiah 8:8

      How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception?

  • Through

    Isaiah 8:2

    And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 16:10–11

      Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its…

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Kings

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.