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. 16:4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
16:5 At that time King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem. 6 They besieged Ahaz, 7 but were unable to conquer him. 8 16:6 (At that time King Rezin of Syria 9 recovered Elat for Syria; he drove the Judahites from there. 10 Syrians 11 arrived in Elat and live there to this very day.)
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.”
6 tn Heb “went up to Jerusalem for battle.”
7 tn That is, Jerusalem, Ahaz’s capital city.
8 tn Heb “they were unable to fight.” The object must be supplied from the preceding sentence. Elsewhere when the Niphal infinitive of לָחָם (lakham) follows the verb יָכֹל (yakhol), the infinitive appears to have the force of “prevail against.” See Num 22:11; 1 Sam 17:9; and the parallel passage in Isa 7:1.
9 tc Some prefer to read “the king of Edom” and “for Edom” here. The names Syria (Heb “Aram,” אֲרָם, ’aram) and Edom (אֱדֹם, ’edom) are easily confused in the Hebrew consonantal script.
10 tn Heb “from Elat.”
11 tc The consonantal text (Kethib), supported by many medieval Hebrew