2 Kings 16:3
in 2 Kings 16Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations, whom Jehovah cast out from before the children of Israel.
KJV
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.
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This verse in 2 Kings 16
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ahaz was the worst of all the kings of Judah. He imitated the worst of the Israelite kings - Ahab and Ahaziah - by a re-introduction of the Baal worship, which had been rooted out of Israel by Jehu and out of Judah by Jehoiada. And made Iris son to pass through the fire - i. e. Ahaz adopted the Moloch worship of the Ammonites and Moabites 2Ki 3:27; Mic 6:7, and sacrificed at least one son, probably his firstborn, according to the horrid rites of those nations, and the Canaanite tribes Deu 12:31; Psa 106:37-
This site's exposition
made his son to pass through the fire
on 2 Kings 16:3-4
Ahaz makes his own son pass through the fire, the Molech rite forbidden at Lev 18:21 and 20:2-5, and the practice now stands on David's own throne. Barnes reads it as the Ammonite and Moabite worship named at 2 Ki 3:27, the same fire the king of Moab used on his son under siege. Verse 4 widens the picture to ordinary high-place worship, on the hills and under every green tree, the standing formula for the local shrines Judah never fully cleared.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
John ChrysostomDISCOURSES AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 1.6.7 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Do you see that demons dwell in their souls and that these demons are more dangerous than the ones of old? And this is very reasonable. In the old days the Jews acted impiously toward the prophets; now they outrage the Master of the prophets. Tell me this. Do you not shudder to come into the same place with people possessed, who have so many unclean spirits, who have been reared amid slaughter and bloodshed? Must you share a greeting with them and exchange a bare word? Must you not turn away from them since they are the common disgrace and infection of the whole world? Have they not come to every form of wickedness? Have not all the prophets spent themselves making many and long speeches of accusation against them? What tragedy, what manner of lawlessness have they not eclipsed by their blood guilt? They sacrificed their own sons and daughters to demons. They refused to recognize nature, they forgot the pangs of birth, they trod underfoot the rearing of their children, they overturned from their foundations the laws of kinship, they became more savage than any wild beast.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), who all worshipped the calves. He was not joined in any affinity with them, as Jehoram and Ahaziah were with the house of Ahab, but, ex mero motu--without any instigation, walked in their way. The kings of Israel pleaded policy and reasons of state for their idolatry, but Ahaz had no such pretence: in him it was the most unreasonable impolitic thing that could be.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel.....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The hands of the idol Moloch being red hot, the children were passed through between them, which was considered a form of lustration. There is reason to believe that, in certain circumstances, the children were burnt to death (Ps 106:37). This was strongly prohibited in the law (Le 18:21;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Ahaz . . . did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord--[See on 2Ch 28:1.] The character of this king's reign, the voluptuousness and religious degeneracy of all classes of the people, are graphically portrayed in the writings of Isaiah, who prophesied at that period.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Made his son to pass through the fire - On this passage I beg leave to refer the reader to my notes on Lev 18:21; Lev 20:2, Lev 20:14, where the subject is considered at large.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֕לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he walked | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בְּדֶ֖רֶךְ | bederekh | in [the] way of | H1870 → | 707 times |
| מַלְכֵ֣י | malkhei | [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְגַ֤ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנוֹ֙ | beno | son his | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| הֶעֱבִ֣יר | heevir | he made pass | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בָּאֵ֔שׁ | baesh | in the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| כְּתֹֽעֲבוֹת֙ | ketoavot | according to [the] abominations of | H8441 → | 117 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֔ם | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הוֹרִ֤ישׁ | horish | he had dispossessed | H3423 → | 231 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֹתָ֔ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֖י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וַיֵּ֕לֶךְand he walked
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
בְּדֶ֖רֶךְin [the] way of
bederekhH1870 →707 times
מַלְכֵ֣י[the] kings of
malkheiH4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְגַ֤םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנוֹ֙son his
benoH1121 →4930 times
הֶעֱבִ֣ירhe made pass
heevirH5674 →556 times
בָּאֵ֔שׁin the fire
baeshH784 →378 times
כְּתֹֽעֲבוֹת֙according to [the] abominations of
ketoavotH8441 →117 times
הַגּוֹיִ֔םthe nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הוֹרִ֤ישׁhe had dispossessed
horishH3423 →231 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֹתָ֔ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
מִפְּנֵ֖יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 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
Leviticus 18:21You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:31
You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as…
- Leviticus 20:2–5
“Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.
- Deuteronomy 18:10
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,
- Leviticus 19:12
You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 12:31
Through
Deuteronomy 12:31You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 32:35
They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered…
- Deuteronomy 18:9–10
When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.
- Jeremiah 32:35
Through
2 Kings 21:11“Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed all these abominations, acting more wickedly than the Amorites who preceded him, and with his idols has caused Judah to sin,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 15:4
I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 21:26
He committed the most detestable acts by going after idols, just like the Amorites whom the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.)
- Jeremiah 15:4
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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, DISCOURSES AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 1.6.7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.