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2 Kings 16:15

in 2 Kings 16

Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, “Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, and the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, as well as the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings of all the people of the land. Sprinkle on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar to seek guidance.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt-offering, and the evening meal-offering, and the king’s burnt-offering, and his meal-offering, with the burnt-offering of all the people of the land, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt-offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: but the brazen altar shall be for me to inquire by.

KJV

And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.

This verse in 2 Kings 16

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ishodad of Merv

BOOKS OF SESSIONS 2 KINGS 16:15 · Written before 850.

The words "the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by," that is, in order to consult [God]: [the king] says these words in a purely formal manner, and not seriously.

This site's exposition

But I will use the bronze altar to seek guidance

on 2 Kings 16:15-16

He kept the LORD's old altar for himself. “But I will use the bronze altar to seek guidance”, which some read as a private oracle and Barnes as setting the question aside. The Hebrew allows either sense, and Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had commanded.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Having thrust it out from the use for which it was instituted, which was to sanctify the gifts offered upon it, he pretends to advance it above its institution, which it is common for superstitious people to do. The altar was never designed for an oracle, yet Ahaz will have it for that use. The Romish church seemingly magnifies Christ's sacraments, yet wretchedly corrupts them.
And King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

The brasen altar shall be for me to inquire by - The bulk of modern commentators translate - “As for the Brasen altar, it will be for me to inquire (or consider) what I shall do with it.”

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

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

To visit. At intervals, when it enters my mind to visit it. 9 The Copper Altar will be for occasional use, thereby, establishing the new altar as the primary one.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Kings 16:15:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And the Copper Altar … he brought, etc. It is impossible to say that this was the Copper Altar that Moshe made, because it was hidden.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Kings 16:14:1, 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

42 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.

  • וַיְצַוֶּ֣הand he commanded

    vaytzavuhH6680 →494 times

  • הַמֶּֽלֶךְ־the king

    hamelekh-H4428 →2525 times

  • אָ֠חָזAhaz

    ʾachozH271 →42 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אוּרִיָּ֨הUriah

    ʾuriyahH223 →39 times

  • הַכֹּהֵ֜ןthe priest

    hakohenH3548 →750 times

  • לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • עַ֣לon

    ʾalH5921 →5755 times

  • הַמִּזְבֵּ֣חַthe altar

    hamizbeachH4196 →401 times

  • הַגָּד֡וֹל<the> great

    hagadolH1419 →526 times

  • הַקְטֵ֣רmake smoke

    hakterH6999 →116 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • עֹֽלַת־[the] burnt offering of

    ʾolat-H5930 →287 times

  • הַבֹּקֶר֩the morning

    habokerH1242 →214 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • מִנְחַ֨ת[the] grain offering of

    minchatH4503 →211 times

  • הָעֶ֜רֶבthe evening

    haerevH6153 →

  • וְֽאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • עֹלַ֧ת[the] burnt offering of

    ʾolatH5930 →287 times

  • הַמֶּ֣לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • מִנְחָת֗וֹgrain offering his

    minchatoH4503 →211 times

  • וְ֠אֵתand <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • עֹלַ֞ת[the] burnt offering of

    ʾolatH5930 →287 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • עַ֤ם[the] people of

    ʾamH5971 →1873 times

  • הָאָ֙רֶץ֙the land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • וּמִנְחָתָ֣םand grain offering their

    uminchatamH4503 →211 times

  • וְנִסְכֵּיהֶ֔םand drink offerings their

    veniskeihemH5262 →

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • דַּ֥ם[the] blood of

    damH1818 →360 times

  • עֹלָ֛ה[the] burnt offering

    ʾolahH5930 →287 times

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • דַּם־[the] blood of

    dam-H1818 →360 times

  • זֶ֖בַח[the] sacrifice

    zevachH2077 →162 times

  • עָלָ֣יוon it

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • תִּזְרֹ֑קyou will sprinkle

    tizrokH2236 →

  • וּמִזְבַּ֧חand [the] altar of

    umizbachH4196 →401 times

  • הַנְּחֹ֛שֶׁת<the> bronze

    hanechoshetH5178 →140 times

  • יִֽהְיֶה־it will belong

    yihyeh-H1961 →3559 times

  • לִּ֖יto me

    li

  • לְבַקֵּֽר׃to consult

    levakerH1239 →

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

    Daniel 12:11

    And from the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation set up, there will be 1,290 days.

    it leads to

    • Daniel 11:31

      His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.

    • Matthew 24:15

      So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),

    • Revelation 11:2

      But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.

    • Mark 13:14

      So when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

    • Revelation 13:5

      The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months.

  • Through

    2 Kings 18:4

    He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites…

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 31:1

      When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and…

    • Numbers 21:8–9

      Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”

  • Through

    1 Kings 8:64

    On that same day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard in front of the house of the LORD, and there he offered the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of…

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 4:1

      He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Kings

Jews Mourning in Exile, Eduard Bendemann, 1832, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Public domain.
Jews Mourning in Exile, Eduard Bendemann, 1832, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Public domain.

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ishodad of Merv, BOOKS OF SESSIONS 2 KINGS 16:15; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.