; Not of the Temple properly ſocalled ; but of one of the Courts of the Temple, probably that which Jed ro the King's Palace, 2 Chron. 23. 20- called alſo thenew gate. Jer. 26. 10. and 36. 10.
36 C4 Now the reſt of the a&s of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of }udah ? | 37 ( In thoſe days kthe LORD began to ſend / againſt Judah, * Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the fon of «1;;.,, 1. Remaliah. )
k i.e. Towards the end of Jotham's Reign. li.e. Diſpoſed their ; Hearts to unite their Forces rogether, and to make preparation fora , war againſt Judah : which yet they did not execute till 4haz his Reign. :
35 And jotham ſlept with his Fathers,and was buried with his Fathers in the ciry of David his Father, and Ahaz his ſon reigned in his ſtead.
Ahaz's Idolatry, 1 — 4. Rexin King of Syria : and Pekah King of Iſrael war again# him : he hireth Tiglath-Pileſer againſt them, 5===g, Abat goeth ro Damaſcus to meet the King of Aſſyria, ſecth an Altar : the Pattern whereof he ſends to Uriah, who maketh one like it at Jeruſalem : Ahaz acrificeth on it, 18 ==am16, He ſpoileth the Temple : Herekiah ſucceedeth him, 17 29. N * the ſeventeenth year of Pekah 2 the- ſon of FO Remaliab, Ahaz the ſon of Jotham king of Judah £ Chr began to reign. a a Of which ſee on chap. 15. 30. 2 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign b, and reigned fixteen years in Jeruſalem, and did not thet which was right in the ſight of the LORD his God, like David his Father. b Of the Difficulty here arifing, ſee the Notes on chap. 18. 2: to which it more properly belongs. 2 But he walked in the way ofthe kings of Iſrael, yea, and made his ſon to paſs through the fire c, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD caſt out from before the children of [ſrae], c Either, r. By way of Luſtration, to paſs haſtily thorow it, ſo as to be ſcorched, and, as it were, baptized with ir: Or, 2. By way of Oblation, ſo as to be utterly conſumed, aud offered for a Burnt-offe= ring, which was the praftice of Heathens, and of ſome 1ſrael:tes, in imitation of them 3 of which, ſee 2 Kings 21: 6. Pſal, 105. 36 ſer. 7« 31. which ſeems beſt to agree with 2 Chron. 28. 3« where it is ſaid, he burnt his children, 1. e. 1ome of them : firſt one, as is here noted, and afterwards others of them, as is there obſerved. Of theſe praftices, ſee more on Lev. 18. 21. and Dev. 18. 10. : 4 And he facrificed and burnt incenſe in the high
places, and on the hills, and under every greentree 4.
d After the manner ofthe Heathens ; See on Deut. 12, 2. Jer 2. 20:
Hoſea 4. 13+ I” 5 © * Then Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah ſon of *I7:" Remaliah king of Iſrael, came up to Jeruſalem to war:
and they beſieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him e.
e Becauſe God of his own meer Grace, undertook their Prote&ion,
as he promiſed to do, and diſappointed the Hopes and Deſign of their Enemies : of which, ſee on 1a. 7.
6 Atthat time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath f to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath : and theSyrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
f ne. Took it from the Jews, who had not long lince taken it, chap. 14.22, Itlay in the land of Zdom, upon the Red Sea, very con- venuently for Navigaticn ; of which, ſee on 1 Kings g. 26.
f Which hedid more calily effeR, becaulc the people were enraged
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« %0 Ahaz Cant meſſengers to Tiglath-pileſer king of ATi Tying I am thy ſervant, and thy ſon g : come y.2n {ve m2 out of the hand of the king of Syria, ans ©:c of the hand of the king'vt Iſrael 4, which riſe up 2zainft me.
s I yield my fzIf to thee, as thy Vaſſal, to ſerve and obey thee, ad pay theeTribute upon condition thou doſt aſſiſt me againſt my Enemies. h For though they were now gone from Jeruſalem, yet he july concluded they would return again,and from time to time moleſt and vex him.
$ And Ahaz * took the ſilver and the gold that was found in the houſe of the LORD, and in the treaſures of the kings houſe, and ſent zt for a preſent to the king of Ailyria. Eg .
5 And the king of Aſſyria hearkened unto him : for 6. the king of Afſyria went up againſt + Damaſcus z, and wt" took it, and carried the people of it captive & to Kir /, and ſlew Rezin. |
; The Mztropolis of the Syrians, and the Head of that Kingdom, Iſa. 7.8. k As was propheſied, Amos 1: 5. 1 Not Kir of Moab, If. 15: 1+ but a part of Med;a, which then was ſubjett to the King of Aſſyria.
io © And king Ahaz went to Damaſcus, to meet Tiglath-pileſer king of Affyria mz, and faw an altar » that was at Damaſcus : and Aing Ahaz ſent to Uriah the prieſt the faſhion of the altar,and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanſhip thereof.
-» To congratulate his Vifory, and acknowledge his Favour and Help, and to beg the Counrinuance of it. # Ofan excellent Stru&ure, upon which the Syrians uſed to offer to their Idols; ſee 2 Chron, 28: 23- | : £ :
11And Urijah the prieſt built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had ſent from Damaſcus 0; fo Urijah the prieſt made ir againſt king Ahaz came from Damaſcus p.
o So he complied with the Kings Command againſt his own Con- ſcience, and againſt the expreſs Command of that great God, to whom the King, and he both, were ſubje&. p He made haſte,and delayed not to do it, to pleaſe the King and advance himſelf.
12 And when the king was come from Damaſcus, the king ſaw the altar : and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon 9.
q To wit, a Sacrifice,and that not unto God,but unto the Syrian Idcls, as appears from 2 Chron. 28. 23,24- to whom that Altar was appropriared. Whether he offered this by himſelf,or by a Prieſt, Is not certain. :
13 And he burnt his burnt-offering, and his meat- offering, and poured his drink-offering, and ſprinkled the blood of | his peace-offerings r upon the altar.
r For the Heathens; and Ahaz, in imitation of them, offered the ſame ſorts of Offerings to their FalſeGods,which the Iſraelites did to the true, the Devil being-noted to be Gods Ape in his Worſhip.
14 And he brought alſo the brazen altar [which was before the LORD x, from the fore-front of the houſe, from between the altar and the houſe of the LORD «, and put it on the north ſide of che altar x. |