2 Kings 16:14
in 2 Kings 16He also took the bronze altar that stood before the LORD from the front of the temple (between the new altar and the house of the LORD) and he put it on the north side of the new altar.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the brazen altar, which was before Jehovah, he brought from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the house of Jehovah, and put it on the north side of his altar.
KJV
And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the Lord, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the altar.
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This verse in 2 Kings 16
Commentary
6 notes on this versePut it on the north side - He seems to have intended to conform every thing in the Lord’s house as much as possible to the idolatrous temples which he saw at Damascus, and to model the Divine worship in the same way: in a word to honor and worship the gods of Syria, and not the God of heaven. All the alterations specified here were in contempt of the true God. Thus he provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers, 2Ch 28:25.
This site's exposition
brought also the brasen altar
The Lord's own brasen altar, standing before the house since Solomon's day, is physically moved off center and set to the north side to make room for the new one. Clarke reads the relocation as deliberate, an attempt to conform the whole pattern of worship at Jerusalem to what Ahaz had seen at Damascus rather than a single act of vandalism. The true altar is not destroyed, only displaced, and the displacement is its own statement about where the king now looks.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He thinks his new altar is much more stately, and much more sightly, and disgraces that; and therefore "let that be laid aside as a vessel in which there is no pleasure." His superstitious invention, at first, jostled with God's sacred institution, but at length jostled it out.
And he brought also the brasen altar which was before the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hereto the “Brasen altar” (marginal reference) had, it would seem, occupied a position directly in front of the temple porch, which it exactly equalled in width. Now Ahaz removed it from this place, and gave the honorable position to his new altar, which he designed to supersede the old far all ordinary purposes 2Ki 16:15. From between the altar ... - Urijah, having received no official directions, had placed the new altar in front of the old, between it and the eastern gate of the court. Ahaz consequently on his arrival found the brasen altar “between the (new) altar and the house of the Lord.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
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.
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
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֵ֨ת | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמִּזְבַּ֣ח | hamizbach | the altar of | H4196 → | 401 times |
| הַנְּחֹשֶׁת֮ | hanechoshet | <the> bronze | H5178 → | 140 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | [was] <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָה֒ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיַּקְרֵ֗ב | vaiyakrev | and he brought near | H7126 → | |
| מֵאֵת֙ | meet | from with | H854 → | 929 times |
| פְּנֵ֣י | penei | [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַבַּ֔יִת | habayit | the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| מִבֵּין֙ | mibein | from between | H996 → | 407 times |
| הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ | hamizbeach | the altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| וּמִבֵּ֖ין | umibein | and from between | H996 → | 407 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיִּתֵּ֥ן | vaiyiten | and he put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֹת֛וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יֶ֥רֶךְ | yerekh | [the] side of | H3409 → | |
| הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ | hamizbeach | the altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| צָפֽוֹנָה׃ | tzafonah | north -ward | H6828 → |
וְאֵ֨תand <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַמִּזְבַּ֣חthe altar of
hamizbachH4196 →401 times
הַנְּחֹשֶׁת֮<the> bronze
hanechoshetH5178 →140 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לִפְנֵ֣י[was] <to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָה֒Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיַּקְרֵ֗בand he brought near
vaiyakrevH7126 →
מֵאֵת֙from with
meetH854 →929 times
פְּנֵ֣י[the] face of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הַבַּ֔יִתthe house
habayitH1004 →2046 times
מִבֵּין֙from between
mibeinH996 →407 times
הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַthe altar
hamizbeachH4196 →401 times
וּמִבֵּ֖יןand from between
umibeinH996 →407 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיִּתֵּ֥ןand he put
vaiyitenH5414 →2011 times
אֹת֛וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יֶ֥רֶךְ[the] side of
yerekhH3409 →
הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַthe altar
hamizbeachH4196 →401 times
צָפֽוֹנָה׃north -ward
tzafonahH6828 →
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
Matthew 23:35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 24:20–22
Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments…
- Hebrews 11:4
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he…
- Zechariah 1:1
In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying:
- Genesis 4:8
Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
- Revelation 18:24
And there was found in her the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who had been slain on the earth.
- 2 Chronicles 24:20–22
Through
Exodus 40:29He placed the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the LORD had commanded…
it leads to
- Exodus 40:6
Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.
- Exodus 40:6
Through
2 Chronicles 4:1He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.
it leads to
- Exodus 27:1–8
“You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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…
- Exodus 27:1–8
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); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.