2 Kings 16:12
in 2 Kings 16When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings on it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king drew near unto the altar, and offered thereon.
KJV
And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
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This verse in 2 Kings 16
Commentary
4 notes on this verseHis sacrifices were not offered to the God of Israel, but to the gods of Damascus (as we find 2 Chron. xxviii. 23 ), and, when he borrowed the Syrians' altar, no marvel that he borrowed their gods.
This site's exposition
the king approached to the altar
on 2 Kings 16:12-13
Ahaz does not merely install the altar; he offers on it in person, burnt offering, meat offering, drink offering and the blood of peace offerings, the full round of Levitical sacrifice performed on a Syrian design. Gill notes the irony in the forms themselves, offering and libation and sprinkled blood, patterns the nations had long borrowed from Israel's worship and that the king now borrows back. The king who could not overcome Rezin outside Jerusalem's walls conforms his own worship to Damascus once the war is over.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar,.... Looked at it, and liked it, being exactly according to the pattern he had sent: and the king approached the altar, and offered thereon; either by a priest, or it may be in his own person, having no regard to the laws and appointments of God, and especially as his sacrifices were not offered to him, but to the gods of Damascus and Syria, 2Ch 28:23.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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
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.
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
13 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּבֹ֤א | vaiyavo' | and he came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| מִדַּמֶּ֔שֶׂק | midamesek | from Damascus | H1834 → | 45 times |
| וַיַּ֥רְא | vaiyar' | and he saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמִּזְבֵּ֑חַ | hamizbeach | the altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| וַיִּקְרַ֥ב | vaiyikrav | and he drew near | H7126 → | |
| הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ | hamizbeach | the altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| וַיַּ֥עַל | vaiyaal | and he offered up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| עָלָֽיו׃ | ʾalav | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
וַיָּבֹ֤אand he came
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
מִדַּמֶּ֔שֶׂקfrom Damascus
midamesekH1834 →45 times
וַיַּ֥רְאand he saw
vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמִּזְבֵּ֑חַthe altar
hamizbeachH4196 →401 times
וַיִּקְרַ֥בand he drew near
vaiyikravH7126 →
הַמֶּ֛לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַthe altar
hamizbeachH4196 →401 times
וַיַּ֥עַלand he offered up
vaiyaalH5927 →890 times
עָלָֽיו׃on it
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
1 Kings 13:1Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 23:17
Then the king asked, “What is this monument I see?” And the men of the city replied, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced these things…
- 1 Kings 12:32–33
And Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to…
- 1 Thessalonians 4:15
By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep.
- Jeremiah 25:3
“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again,…
- Jeremiah 32:29
And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to…
- 2 Kings 23:17
Through
2 Chronicles 28:23Since Damascus had defeated him, he sacrificed to their gods and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 25:14
When Amaziah returned from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the Seirites, set them up as his own gods, bowed before them, and burned sacrifices to them.
- Jeremiah 44:20–28
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him,
- 2 Chronicles 25:14
Through
2 Chronicles 28:25In every city of Judah he built high places to offer incense to other gods, and so he provoked the LORD, the God of his fathers.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 28:3
Moreover, Ahaz burned incense in the Valley of Hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
- 2 Chronicles 28:3
About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.