2 Kings 16:7-18

16:7 Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your dependent. ¹  March up and rescue me from the power ²  of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who have attacked ³  me.” 16:8 Then Ahaz took the silver and gold that were ⁴  in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as tribute ⁵  to the king of Assyria. 16:9 The king of Assyria responded favorably to his request; ⁶  he ⁷  attacked Damascus and captured it. He deported the people ⁸  to Kir and executed Rezin.

16:10 When King Ahaz went to meet with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria in Damascus, he saw the altar there. ⁹  King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a drawing of the altar and a blueprint for its design. ¹⁰  16:11 Uriah the priest built an altar in conformity to the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. ¹¹  Uriah the priest finished it before King Ahaz arrived back from Damascus. ¹²  16:12 When the king arrived back from Damascus and ¹³  saw the altar, he approached it ¹⁴  and offered a sacrifice on it. ¹⁵  16:13 He offered his burnt sacrifice and his grain offering. He poured out his libation and sprinkled the blood from his peace offerings on the altar. 16:14 He moved the bronze altar that stood in the Lord’s presence from the front of the temple (between the altar and the Lord’s temple) and put it on the north side of the new ¹⁶  altar. 16:15 King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest, “On the large altar ¹⁷  offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of Israel, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal use.” ¹⁸  16:16 So Uriah the priest did exactly as ¹⁹  King Ahaz ordered.

16:17 King Ahaz took off the frames of the movable stands, and removed the basins from them. He took “The Sea” ²⁰  down from the bronze bulls that supported it ²¹  and put it on the pavement. 16:18 He also removed the Sabbath awning ²²  that had been built ²³  in the temple and the king’s outer entranceway, on account of the king of Assyria. ²⁴ 

[16:7]  ¹ tn Heb “son.” Both terms (“servant” and “son”) reflect Ahaz’s subordinate position as Tiglath-pileser’s subject.

[16:7]  ² tn Heb “hand, palm.”

[16:7]  ³ tn Heb “who have arisen against.”

[16:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “that was found.”

[16:8]  ⁵ tn Or “bribe money.”

[16:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “listened to him.”

[16:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “the king of Assyria.”

[16:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “it.”

[16:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “in Damascus.”

[16:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the likeness of the altar and its pattern for all its work.”

[16:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “according to all that King Ahaz sent from Damascus.”

[16:11]  ¹² tn Heb “so Uriah the priest did, until the arrival of King Ahaz from Damascus.”

[16:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the king.”

[16:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the altar.”

[16:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “ascended it.”

[16:14]  ¹⁶ tn The word “new” is added in the translation for clarification.

[16:15]  ¹⁷ tn That is, the newly constructed altar.

[16:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for me to seek.” The precise meaning of בָּקַר (baqar), “seek,” is uncertain in this context. For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 189.

[16:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “according to all which.”

[16:17]  ²⁰ sn See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.

[16:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “that [were] under it.”

[16:18]  ²² tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מוּסַךְ (musakh; Qere) / מִיסַךְ (misakh; Kethib) is uncertain. For discussion see HALOT 557 s.v. מוּסַךְ and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 189-90.

[16:18]  ²³ tn Heb “that they built.”

[16:18]  ²⁴ sn It is doubtful that Tiglath-pileser ordered these architectural changes. Ahaz probably made these changes so he could send some of the items and materials to the Assyrian king as tribute. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 190, 193.