2 Kings 16 16

2 Kings 16:16 kjv

Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.

2 Kings 16:16 nkjv

Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that King Ahaz commanded.

2 Kings 16:16 niv

And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.

2 Kings 16:16 esv

Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.

2 Kings 16:16 nlt

Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz commanded him.

2 Kings 16 verses

2 Kings 16 16 Meaning

2 Kings 16:16 details King Ahaz's sacrilegious command to Urijah the high priest regarding the Temple's altar system in Jerusalem. Ahaz instructs Urijah to perform all prescribed sacrifices—the morning and evening offerings, the king's offerings, and the offerings of the people—upon a new, foreign altar that Ahaz had personally introduced (described as "the great altar" in 2 Kgs 16:10-13, copied from Damascus). The original bronze altar, divinely commissioned, is relegated by Ahaz for his own personal inquiry, thus effectively displacing the core of Yahwistic worship with a paganized structure and diminishing God's sacred altar to a tool for personal consultation, symbolizing Ahaz's utter apostasy and disregard for Mosaic Law.

2 Kings 16 16 Context

This verse is situated in 2 Kings chapter 16, which recounts the apostate reign of King Ahaz of Judah. Ahaz, unlike many of his predecessors who were generally faithful or who, though flawed, honored Yahweh to some degree, stands out as one of the most wicked kings of Judah, embracing pagan practices and even sacrificing his own son (2 Kgs 16:3). Facing pressure from Rezin of Aram and Pekah of Israel (the Syro-Ephraimitic war), Ahaz disregards the prophet Isaiah's counsel to trust in the LORD and instead seeks help from Tiglath-pileser III, King of Assyria. While in Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser, Ahaz is so impressed by a pagan altar that he sends its precise dimensions and pattern back to Jerusalem for Urijah the high priest to build before Ahaz even returns. Upon his return, Ahaz institutes this new altar, described as "the great altar," as the primary place of worship. Verse 16 outlines Ahaz's further command, effectively sidelining God's legitimate bronze altar in favor of his idolatrous innovation, and dedicating the displaced legitimate altar for his own unholy "inquiry." This action marks a profound public desecration of the Temple and a radical shift away from covenant worship under a king who led Judah into deep syncretism and foreign subservience.

Word Analysis

• And King Ahaz (וַיְצַו מֶלֶךְ אָחָז):

  • Ahaz (אָחָז, ʼAḥaz): Meaning "He has grasped" or "He has held," perhaps reflecting his grip on power or his grasping after foreign alliances and practices. His actions consistently reflect a desire for self-reliance and syncretism over faith in Yahweh. He stands as a stark negative example among Judah's kings.
  • King (מֶלֶךְ, melekh): Highlights his authority, which he consistently abused by encroaching on sacred space and religious practice, areas reserved for priests under God's law. His command reflects usurpation of divine authority over the Temple.
  • Commanded (וַיְצַו, vaytzav): Denotes a strong, authoritative order. Ahaz’s command here demonstrates his belief in his ultimate authority over even the high priest and the sanctity of Temple worship. This is in direct conflict with the Law of Moses which placed the priests in charge of Temple service according to divine instruction, not royal whim.

• Urijah the priest (אֻרִיָּה הַכֹּהֵן):

  • Urijah (אֻרִיָּה, Uriyyah): Meaning "Yahweh is my light." This name stands in stark, tragic irony to his actions. As the high priest, his duty was to serve Yahweh according to the Law, to uphold holiness, and to instruct the people (Mal 2:7). His immediate and unquestioning compliance with Ahaz's idolatrous commands indicates profound moral and spiritual failure, likely out of fear of the king (Prov 29:25) or desire for self-preservation, forsaking his divine calling. He serves as a tragic figure of priestly compromise.
  • Priest (הַכֹּהֵן, haKohen): Specifically, the high priest. His position made his complicity particularly egregious. The high priest was meant to be the custodian of God's truth and the spiritual leader of the nation.

• saying, Upon the great altar (לֵאמֹר עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ הַגָּדוֹל):

  • The great altar (הַמִּזְבֵּחַ הַגָּדוֹל, hammizbeach haggadol): This refers to the new altar built at Ahaz’s command based on the Damascus pattern (2 Kgs 16:10-12). It is called "great" likely because of its impressive size, mirroring pagan altars, rather than any divine approval. The use of this altar for Israelite sacrifices constituted a profound act of syncretism and apostasy, attempting to integrate foreign idolatry into the very core of Yahwistic worship.

• burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening grain offering, and the king's burnt offering, and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering, and their drink offerings (הַקְטֵר אֶת־עֹלַת הַבֹּקֶר וְאֶת־מִנְחַת הָעֶרֶב וְאֶת־עֹלַת הַמֶּלֶךְ וְאֶת־מִנְחָתוֹ וְאֵת עֹלַת כָּל־עַם הָאָרֶץ וּמִנְחָתָם וְנִסְכֵּיהֶם):

  • Morning burnt offering… evening grain offering… etc.: These refer to the Tamid (continual) sacrifices, established by God (Exod 29:38-42; Num 28:3-8). Ahaz did not abolish the traditional sacrifices entirely but shifted the altar for them. This move was more insidious than outright abolition; it meant Yahweh's worship was defiled by being offered on an unholy, foreign altar. This indicates a religious hybridity—maintaining the forms of worship while corrupting its essence and locus. Ahaz thus involved the entire nation ("all the people of the land") in this sacrilege.

• and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice (וְכָל־דַּם־הָעֹלָה וְכָל־הַדָּם הַזֶּבַח תִּזְרֹק עָלָיו):

  • Sprinkle... all the blood: This refers to the prescribed priestly ritual of applying sacrificial blood to the altar (Lev 1:5; 3:2), symbolizing atonement and consecration. The instruction here continues the practice but now transfers the sacred act to an altar of Ahaz's own design, thereby polluting the very ritual that God ordained for purification and reconciliation. The transfer of the "sacred" blood ritual to an unholy altar underscored the profanity of Ahaz's changes.

• and the brazen altar shall be for me to inquire by (וּמִזְבַּח הַנְּחֹשֶׁת יִהְיֶה־לִּי לְבַקֵּר):

  • Brazen altar (מִזְבַּח הַנְּחֹשֶׁת, mizbach hannesheth): This is the original altar for burnt offerings (Exod 27:1-8; 38:1-7) established by God, through Moses, as part of the Tabernacle and later the Temple (2 Chr 4:1). It was the primary locus of sacrifice and atonement in Israelite worship. Ahaz’s removal of it from its central, sacred function was a profound act of theological rebellion.
  • Shall be for me (יִהְיֶה־לִּי, yihyeh-li): Explicitly highlights Ahaz's personal claim over the altar, emphasizing his hubris and ownership, treating a holy object of Yahweh as his private possession.
  • To inquire by (לְבַקֵּר, lĕvaqqēr): This verb means "to inspect," "to search," "to look closely at," or "to inquire." In this context, it suggests Ahaz designated the legitimate bronze altar not for Yahwistic worship, but for his personal, possibly divinatory or simply secular purposes, using it as a reference point for his own inspections or personal consultations, rather than the divinely appointed purpose of burnt offerings and atonement. This signifies the demotion of God's sacred altar from its holy function to an object of personal convenience or a base for idolatrous practices (like seeking omens). It symbolizes the total rejection of God’s ordered worship.

2 Kings 16 16 Commentary

2 Kings 16:16 lays bare the extent of King Ahaz's audacious rebellion against Yahweh and the alarming compliance of Urijah the high priest. Ahaz's instruction to use the newly constructed, pagan-patterned altar (from Damascus) for all official Temple sacrifices profoundly defiled the sanctuary. It was not a cessation of worship, but a corruption, a fusion of foreign practices with divine rituals. By commanding that even the fundamental Tamid offerings be presented on this foreign altar, Ahaz effectively relocated the core of Yahwistic worship from God’s prescribed place to his own creation, signifying his preference for human innovation over divine instruction. Even more scandalous is the demotion of the original bronze altar—God's sacred design for atonement and communion—to a mere tool for Ahaz's "personal inquiry," perhaps for divination, astrological observations (cf. 2 Kgs 21:5), or simply as an object of convenience to step upon. This act emptied the divine altar of its meaning, stripping it of its sacred purpose. Urijah's obedience highlights the severe spiritual bankruptcy of the priesthood during this period, prioritizing the king's will over God's Law, echoing themes of priestly failure and the corruption of leadership found in texts like Malachi or the story of Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10). Ahaz's reign stands as a grave warning against syncretism, unholy alliances, and the devastating impact of impious leadership on a nation's spiritual well-being. It underscores the perpetual conflict between divine authority and human autonomy, and the cost of replacing reverence for God with reverence for worldly power or personal whim.

Bonus Section

• The "great altar" from Damascus introduced by Ahaz became known in Rabbinic tradition and some commentaries as the "altar of Ahaz." Its placement likely forced the priests to move the divinely ordained bronze altar (the "brazen altar") from its central and proper position directly in front of the Temple entrance, where it normally stood.
• Ahaz’s actions, especially regarding the brazen altar being "for me to inquire by," indicate a complete subversion of priestly functions and direct inquiry with God through prophets or Urim and Thummim. Instead of consulting Yahweh's ways, Ahaz makes God's own altar subservient to his own means of inquiry, hinting at non-Yahwistic forms of divination or perhaps simple personal convenience, demonstrating profound irreverence.
• The defilement introduced by Ahaz directly sets the stage for the major religious reforms of his son Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18), who later purged the Temple, cleansed its structures, and reinstated proper Yahwistic worship, implying a long process of undoing Ahaz's destructive innovations. This contrast highlights the spiritual battle for Judah's faithfulness through generations of kings.