2 Kings 16:18
in 2 Kings 16And on account of the king of Assyria, he removed the Sabbath canopy they had built in the temple and closed the royal entryway outside the house of the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the covered way for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he unto the house of Jehovah, because of the king of Assyria.
KJV
And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria.
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This verse in 2 Kings 16
Commentary
5 notes on this verseI certainly do not think that he built [the altar] for the God of all things but just for certain of those who are falsely called gods. This is what the book of Chronicles points out. It reads, "In the time of his distress this …
This site's exposition
cut off the borders of the bases
on 2 Kings 16:17-18
Ahaz cuts down the bases, removes the laver, and takes the great sea off the twelve brasen oxen Solomon set under it at 1 Ki 7:23-25, the same twelve-tribe signature standing behind Elijah's twelve stones at Carmel. Barnes reads the stripping as conversion to other uses rather than outright destruction, since the bases, oxen and sea are still standing to be inventoried when Jerusalem finally falls at 2 Ki 25:13-16. The covert built for the sabbath and the king's own entry are likewise altered, and the chapter states the reason plainly, for the king of Assyria, the price of a rescue bought partly with the temple's own furnishings.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
And the covert for the Sabbath - There are a great number of conjectures concerning this covert, or, as it is in the Hebrew, the מוסך musach, of the Sabbath.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The covert ... in the house - A canopied seat in the temple for the king and his family when they attended public worship on the sabbath. It stood no doubt in the inner court of the temple. The king’s entry without - This would seem to have been a private passage by which the king crossed the outer court to the east gate of the inner court when he visited the temple Eze 46:1-2. Turned he from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria - This passage is very obscure. Some translate - “altered he in the house of the Lord, because of the kine of Assyria,” supposing the “covert” and the “passage” to have been of rich materials, and Ahaz to have taken them to eke out his “presents to the king of Assyria.” Others render, “removed he into the house of the Lord from fear of the king of Assyria.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The canopy for Shabbos. The roof of a tent made for shade, 13 Alternatively, a building in which the mishmar, i.e., the family of kohanim that had served during the week, would stay until after Shabbos. That too he removed.—Radak to sit under it in the [Temple] courtyard on Shabbos.
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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מוּסַ֨ךְ | misakh | [the] covered structure of | H4329 → | |
| הַשַּׁבָּ֜ת | hashabat | the sabbath | H7676 → | 110 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּנ֣וּ | banu | people had built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בַבַּ֗יִת | vabayit | in the house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מְב֤וֹא | mevo' | [the] entrance of | H3996 → | |
| הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| הַֽחִיצ֔וֹנָה | hachitzonah | <the> outer | H2435 → | |
| הֵסֵ֖ב | hesev | he removed | H5437 → | 161 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֖י | mipenei | <from> because of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| מֶ֥לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אַשּֽׁוּר׃ | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
מוּסַ֨ךְ[the] covered structure of
misakhH4329 →
הַשַּׁבָּ֜תthe sabbath
hashabatH7676 →110 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
בָּנ֣וּpeople had built
banuH1129 →376 times
בַבַּ֗יִתin the house
vabayitH1004 →2046 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
מְב֤וֹא[the] entrance of
mevo'H3996 →
הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
הַֽחִיצ֔וֹנָה<the> outer
hachitzonahH2435 →
הֵסֵ֖בhe removed
hesevH5437 →161 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִפְּנֵ֖י<from> because of
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
מֶ֥לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
אַשּֽׁוּר׃Assyria
ʾashurH804 →151 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
Ezekiel 46:2The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost, while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and peace offerings. He is to bow in…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 44:3
Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 46:8
When the prince enters, he shall go in through the portico of the gateway, and he shall go out the same way.
- Ezekiel 44:3
Through
2 Kings 11:5and commanded them, “This is what you are to do: A third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath shall guard the royal palace,
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 9:25
Their relatives came from their villages at fixed times to serve with them for seven-day periods.
- 2 Kings 11:19
He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD and entered the…
- 1 Chronicles 9:25
Through
1 Kings 10:5the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the service and attire of his attendants and cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he presented at the house of the LORD, it took her…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 26:16
The lots for the West Gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the ascending highway fell to Shuppim and Hosah. There were guards stationed at every watch.
- Ezekiel 46:2
The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost, while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and peace offerings. He is to bow in…
- 1 Kings 4:22–23
Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal,
- 2 Chronicles 9:4
the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the service and attire of his attendants and cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he presented at the house of the LORD, it took her…
- 1 Chronicles 26:16
About 2 Kings

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Theodoret of Cyrus, QUESTION 48, ON 2 KINGS.
