16:1 In the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah, Jotham’s son Ahaz became king over Judah. 16:2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. 1 He did not do what pleased the Lord his God, in contrast to his ancestor David. 2 16:3 He followed in the footsteps of 3 the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire, 4 a horrible sin practiced by the nations 5 whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites.
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 tn Heb “and he did not do what was proper in the eyes of the
3 tn Heb “he walked in the way of.”
4 sn This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67.
5 tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”