16:17 King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea” 4 down from the bronze bulls that supported it 5 and put it on the pavement.
1 tn Heb “son.” Both terms (“servant” and “son”) reflect Ahaz’s subordinate position as Tiglath-pileser’s subject.
2 tn Heb “hand, palm.”
3 tn Heb “who have arisen against.”
4 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.
5 tn Heb “that [were] under it.”
7 tc The MT reads, “he ran from there,” which makes little if any sense in this context. Some prefer to emend the verbal form (Qal of רוּץ [ruts], “run”) to a Hiphil of רוּץ with third plural suffix and translate, “he quickly removed them” (see BDB 930 s.v. רוּץ, and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings [AB], 289). The suffix could have been lost in MT by haplography (note the mem [מ] that immediately follows the verb on the form מִשֳׁם, misham, “from there”). Another option, the one reflected in the translation, is to emend the verb to a Piel of רָצַץ (ratsats), “crush,” with third plural suffix.