2 Kings 16 13

2 Kings 16:13 kjv

And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.

2 Kings 16:13 nkjv

So he burned his burnt offering and his grain offering; and he poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.

2 Kings 16:13 niv

He offered up his burnt offering and grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings against the altar.

2 Kings 16:13 esv

and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.

2 Kings 16:13 nlt

He presented a burnt offering and a grain offering, he poured out a liquid offering, and he sprinkled the blood of peace offerings on the altar.

2 Kings 16 verses

2 Kings 16 13 Meaning

King Ahaz, demonstrating his profound apostasy, actively engaged in acts of worship on the new, Damascus-style altar he had commissioned. He personally performed the prescribed Yahwistic offerings – his burnt offering, his grain offering, his drink offering – and applied the blood of his peace offerings directly onto this unauthorized altar. This action represented a complete corruption of the pure worship of Yahweh by incorporating foreign elements and discarding God’s specific instructions regarding the location and manner of sacrifice.

2 Kings 16 13 Context

The events in 2 Kings 16:13 take place during the reign of King Ahaz of Judah (735-715 BC), a king notorious for his wickedness and idolatry. The immediate preceding verses (2 Kgs 16:10-12) detail Ahaz's visit to Damascus, the capital of Aram, where he encountered an impressive foreign altar. Motivated by political alliance with Assyria (which had defeated Aram) and possibly religious curiosity or appeasement, Ahaz sent precise architectural plans of this Damascus altar to Uriah the priest in Jerusalem, demanding a replica be built. Uriah readily complied, constructing the new altar before Ahaz's return. This verse (16:13) describes Ahaz's inaugural act of worship on this foreign altar, setting it up in the place of the existing bronze altar of Yahweh, symbolizing his full embrace of syncretism and rejection of Yahweh's covenant stipulations for proper worship. Historically, this period was marked by the Syro-Ephraimite War, where Israel and Aram allied against Judah, leading Ahaz to appeal to Assyria for help, which brought Judah under Assyrian influence and control.

2 Kings 16 13 Word analysis

• וַיַּ֨קְטֵר (Wayyaqtēr): From the root qāṭar, Hiphil conjugation, meaning "he made smoke ascend," or "he burned sacrifices." This term specifically refers to the act of making a sacrifice rise in smoke, emphasizing its ritualistic, cultic nature, not just general burning. It indicates a deliberate act of worship.
• אֶת־עֹלָת֜וֹ (et-ʿōlātō): "His burnt offering." ʿŌlāh (עֹלָה) means "that which goes up," referring to a sacrifice completely consumed by fire on the altar, symbolizing complete dedication to God and often functioning as an atonement for general sin. The suffix "-o" ("his") highlights Ahaz's personal initiative in this act.
• וְאֶת־מִנְחָת֗וֹ (wəʾet-minḥātō): "And his grain offering." Minḥāh (מִנְחָה) denotes a "gift" or "tribute," specifically an offering of grain, flour, or baked goods. It accompanied other offerings or was offered independently as a thanks-offering. The suffix "-o" again emphasizes Ahaz's ownership and deviation from divine command.
• וַיַּסֵּךְ֙ (wayyassēk): From the root nāsaḵ, Hiphil, "he poured out." This verb is specific for libations or drink offerings, emphasizing a ceremonial act of pouring liquid (often wine or oil) as part of worship.
• אֶת־נְסֶכ֔וֹ (et-nissəḵō): "His drink offering." Nēsek (נֶסֶךְ) is the noun form of "drink offering" or "libation." Such offerings were standard in Israelite worship as an act of devotion or a seal of a covenant. Again, the "his" underscores Ahaz's personal, but illicit, act.
• וְאֶת־דַּ֣ם (wəʾet-dam): "And the blood of." Blood (dam) was central to Old Covenant atonement. Leviticus 17:11 states that "the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls." Its proper handling was critical to the sacrificial system.
• הַשְּׁלָמִ֔ים (haššəlāmīm): "The peace offerings." Šəlāmīm (שְׁלָמִים) refers to "fellowship offerings" or "offerings of wholeness/well-being." Parts were burned, some given to priests, and the rest eaten by the worshipper, symbolizing communion and peace with God and community.
• זָרַק֙ (zāraq): From the root zāraq, Qal, "he sprinkled" or "he threw/tossed." This specific term describes the act of applying sacrificial blood to the altar or to the people, a ritual action signifying atonement, sanctification, or dedication.
• עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַ (ʿal-hammizbēaḥ): "Upon the altar." This the altar specifically refers to the newly constructed, foreign-style altar (mentioned in 2 Kgs 16:11-12) that Ahaz had moved into a prominent position, effectively replacing or subordinating the divinely ordained bronze altar in the Temple courtyard. This signifies the profound desecration and rejection of God's prescribed worship place.

Words-Group Analysis:

• "And he burnt his burnt offering and his grain offering, and poured out his drink offering...": This list specifies all the common types of personal offerings in Yahwistic worship. Ahaz is not inventing new types of sacrifices but performing traditional ones. The issue is where and how he performs them, reflecting an obedience problem, not a category-of-sacrifice problem. The repeated use of the possessive "his" ('o suffix) signifies Ahaz's personal decision and ownership of these corrupt acts, directly disobeying God’s exclusive claims on worship.
• "...threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.": This emphasizes the most sacred part of the sacrificial ritual—the application of blood—being done on a polluted and illegitimate altar. The blood, meant for atonement and reconciliation, is profaned by being placed on a structure not sanctioned by Yahweh, signifying the defilement of the covenant itself. Ahaz performed the proper action (zāraq, sprinkling blood) but on the wrong object (ʿal-hammizbēaḥ, the foreign altar), making his worship an abomination despite superficial conformity to ritual.

2 Kings 16 13 Bonus section

• The Damascene altar likely represented an aesthetic preference or a symbolic act of aligning Judah with the dominant political and cultural powers (Assyria and its client states) rather than an explicit dedication to a specific foreign deity by Ahaz in this immediate verse. However, later verses in 2 Chronicles 28:22-25 confirm Ahaz's explicit sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, showing a progressive decline.
• Ahaz did not completely remove the bronze altar but displaced it, moving it to a less prominent northern side of the new altar (2 Kgs 16:14). This suggests he might have wanted to keep a façade of Yahwistic worship while integrating foreign practices, thus diluting and corrupting the true faith rather than outright abandoning all ritual.
• Uriah the priest's complicity in constructing the new altar (2 Kgs 16:10-12) without apparent protest highlights the pervasive spiritual compromise even within Judah's religious leadership, further indicating the depth of the nation's spiritual decline under Ahaz. This contrasts sharply with faithful priests and prophets of earlier eras.
• Ahaz's actions serve as a powerful cautionary tale that obedience is paramount in worship. Ritualistic actions, no matter how precise, become meaningless or even offensive if performed outside the framework of God's revealed will and design.

2 Kings 16 13 Commentary

2 Kings 16:13 succinctly captures the essence of King Ahaz's profound apostasy. Far from abandoning Yahwistic rituals, Ahaz performed legitimate types of offerings—burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and peace offerings—which were integral to Mosaic worship. However, his grievous sin lay in where he performed these acts: on the newly built altar designed after one he admired in pagan Damascus, rather than on the divinely ordained bronze altar of the Temple. This act was a calculated move, not an accidental error, and demonstrates Ahaz's audacious rejection of God's sovereignty over Judah's worship.

By placing Yahwistic sacrifices on an altar born of foreign inspiration, Ahaz demonstrated radical syncretism, blending God's worship with pagan customs. This defilement violated clear Mosaic commands for centralized worship and God’s exclusivity. It effectively distorted the theological meaning of these sacrifices: acts meant for atonement, communion, and dedication to the one true God were now performed on a structure representing human will and possibly homage to foreign deities or powers (symbolizing subservience to Assyria, which conquered Aram and thus legitimized Aramean culture). The irony is severe: sacred blood, meant to mediate forgiveness, was defiled by an altar of apostasy. Ahaz's actions illustrate that God is concerned not merely with the what of worship, but fundamentally with the how and where—the complete obedience to His divine revelation. His perverted worship mirrored his political subjugation to foreign powers and brought immense spiritual harm upon Judah.