And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord ,.... Which Uzziah and Jotham had put there; for all that was found there in the times of Amaziah was taken away by Jehoash king of Israel, 2 Kings 14:14 . and in the treasures of the king's house ; whatever gold and silver he had of his own: and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria ; to obtain his help and assistance. read more
REIGN OF AHAZ OVER JUDAH . WAR OF AHAZ WITH PEKAH AND REZIN . EXPEDITION OF TIGLATH - PILESER AGAINST THEM . RELIGIOUS CHANGES MADE BY AHAZ . HIS DEATH . read more
Steps in a downward path: the reign of Ahaz. In the opening chapters of Isaiah we have an account of the condition of the kingdom of Judah at the time that Ahaz succeeded to the throne. The prosperity which the country had enjoyed under Uzziah had been continued and increased under the righteous reign of his son Jotham. And now the grandson, Ahaz, a young man of twenty, finds the country abounding in wealth, full of silver and gold. Isaiah says there was no end of their treasure; their land... read more
A people's king and priest; or, kinghood and priesthood. "In the seventeenth year of Pekah," etc. Throughout all lands, almost throughout all times, two functionaries have been at the head of the peoples, too often treading them down by oppression, and fattening on them by their greed. One of these functionaries was not, among the Jews, of Divine ordinations; for the Almighty is represented as saying, "They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not." Let... read more
The-Syro-Israelitish war. Again was the truth to be verified that national sins bring in their train national calamities. God is not mocked. He vindicates the reality of his moral government by visiting the transgressor with manifest strokes of his displeasure. In addition to the invasion of Pekah and Rezin spoken of below, we read of assaults of the Edomites and of the Philistines, by which Judah was brought very low ( 2 Chronicles 28:17-19 ). The kingdom also was brought into a state of... read more
Expedition of Tiglath-pileser against Pekah and Rezin . In the extremity of his danger, when the confederacy had declared itself, or perhaps later, when he had suffered terrible defeats, and was about. to be besieged in his capital ( 2 Chronicles 28:5 , 2 Chronicles 28:6 ), Ahaz invoked the aid of Tiglath-pileser, sent him all the treasure on which he could lay his hands ( 2 Kings 16:8 ), offered to place himself and his kingdom under the Assyrian monarch's suzerainty, and entreated... read more
And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house. Hitherto the temple treasures had been diverted from their proper use, and secularized for the sole purpose (except in one instance) of buying off the hostility of foreign foe, who threatened the city and the temple itself with destruction (see 1 Kings 14:26 ; 2 Kings 12:18 ; 2 Kings 14:14 ). Now, as on one former occasion ( 1 Kings 15:18 ), they were utilized to... read more
Compare the marginal reference and 1 Kings 15:18. Political necessity was always held to justify the devotion of the temple treasure to secular purposes. read more
2 Kings 16:8. And Ahaz took the silver, &c. The treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king’s house, had been sent some years before by Jehoash to the king of Syria, 2 Kings 12:18. It seems, however, they had been well replenished again by the piety of his successors, Amaziah, Azariah, and especially Jotham. But what authority had Ahaz to dispose thus of the public money, and exhaust the treasures of both church and state, to gratify his new patron and guardian? We can only... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 16:5-9
Here is, 1. The attempt of his confederate neighbours, the kings of Syria and Israel, upon him. They thought to make themselves masters of Jerusalem, and to set a king of their own in it, Isa. 7:6. In this they fell short, but the king of Syria recovered Elath, a considerable port upon the Red Sea, which Amaziah had taken from the Syrians, 2 Kgs. 14:22. What can those keep that have lost their religion? Let them expect, thenceforward, to be always on the losing hand. 2. His project to get... read more