The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 268

as Melkarth, Adonis, Rimmon, etc. Yee., heat'hen, whom the Lord oast out from and made his son to paee through the fire. before the children of Israel. (On the In Chronicles (2 Chron. xxviii. 3) we are practice of this terrible rite by the Canaan- told that "he burnt incense in the valley itish nations at the time of the Israelite of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the invasion, see Lev. xviii. 21 ; Deut. xii. 31; fire," e.s if he had sacrificed more than one xviii. 9, 10 ; Ps. ovi. 37, 38. J son. The pre.ctioe of offering children in Ver. 4.-And he sacrificed end burnt eaoriflce was not e. feature of the Assyro- incense in the high places. The special Dabylonian religion, as some suppose, but sin of Ahuz here noted is that he not only an intrinsic part of the worship of the Phm- allowed the high-place and grove worship, nicians, common to them with the Moabites, a.s so many other kings of Juclah ha,l done, Ammonites, and others. It was based e.g. Solomon (1 Kings iij, 2), Rchoboam upon the principle of e. man's offering to (1 Kings xiv. 23), Asa (1 Kings xv. 14), God that which was dearest and most Jehoshaphat (1 Kings xxii. 43), Joash (eh. precious to himself, whence the crowning xii. 3), Amaziah (eh. xiv. 4), Azariah (eh. sacrifice of the kind we.a e. man's offering of xv. 4), and Jotho.m (eh. xv. 35), but himself his firetborn son (see eh. iii. 27 ; Micah vi. countenanced and took part in it, which 7). Some have supposed that the rite no other king appears to have done. It was was e. mere dedication or lustration, the probably the stimulus that his example children passing between two fires, and gave to the cult which induced Hezekiah to being thenceforward employed only in God's abolish it (see eh. xviiL 4). And on the service. But the expressions used by the hills, and under every green tree (comp. sacred writer and others, and still more the 1 Kings xiv. 23, with the comment). ' descriptions that have come down to us from Vere. 5, 6,-War of .tlhaz u:ith Pekah and heathen and patristic authors, make it abso- lutely certain that the "passing through Rezin. the fire" we.a no such innocent ceremony Ver. 5.-Then Bezin King of Syria and ae this, but involved the death of the Pekah son of Bemaliah King of Israel came children. The author of Chronicles says, up to Jerusalem to war. The alliance " Ahaz burnt his children in the fire ; " between Rezin and Pekah has been alreadv Jeremiah (xix. 5), 11 They have built also glanced e.t ( eh. xvi. 37). It began, ap- the high places of Bae.I, to bum their sons parently, in the reign of Jotham. The with fire for burnt offei-ings unto Baal;" policy which brought it about was one that Ezekiel (xvi. 21), "'fhou hast slain my was entirely new. Since Syria developed children, and delivered them to cause them an aggressive tendency under the first Ben- to pass through the fire." Josephus declares hsdad (1 Kings xx. 1), there had till now of Ahaz that he "made his own son a whole been no alliance made with her by either of burnt offering (1'5,ov C:,;\.01<a6T"'u• 1ra,1Sa)." the two Israelite kingdoms. She had been Diodorus Siculue describes the ceremony reckoned as their common enemy; e.nd as it took place at Ca.rthnge, the Phmnician while they had on two occasions been allied oolony. 'fhere WliS in the great temple together against her (1 Kings xxii. 4-36: there, he says, an image of Saturn (Moloch), eh. viii. 28), never as yet had ei t I,er asked which was a human figure with e. bull's her help age.inst the other. Now, however, head and outstret-0hed arms. This image Ephraim became confederate with Syria of metal was made glowing hot by a. fire against Judah. The new policy must be kindled within it; and the children, laid ascribed to the new condition of things con- in its arms, rolled from thence into the fiery eq uent upon the attitude assumed by Assyri11 lap below. If the children cried, thA parents under Tiglath-pileser. Assyria had been stopped their noise by fondling and kissing under a cloud for forty years. The nations of them; for the victim ought not to weep, the western coast of Asia had ceased to fear and the sound of complaint wus drowned in her, and had felt at liberty to pursuo their the din of flutes and kettle-drums (Diod. own quarrels. Her recovery of vigour altered Sic., xx. 14). "Mothers," so.ya Plutaroh the whole situation. It was ut once evident (' De Superstitiune,' § 13), "stood by with- to the statesmen who directed the policy of out tears or sobs; if they wept or sobbed, the small westem st11tes that, unless they they lost the honour of the aot, and tbe combined, they were lost. Hence the alliance children were so.crificed notwithste.uding." between Pekah and Rezin. Probably they The only doubtful point is whether the would have been glad to have dmwn Abu children were placed alive in the glowing iuto the confederacy; but it would seem arms of the imnge, or whether they were that he did not shore their fears, 11nd would first killed o.nd afterwal'd~ burnt in sacrifice ; not join them. Hereupon the dc,i~n Wt\~ but the description of Diodorus seems to fol'mcd to dethrone him, and set up in hi~ imply the more crnel of the two proceed- place a new ruler, u certllin lleu-Tabenl ings. Aooording to the abominations of the (Isa. vii. 6), on whose assist11nce they coulJ sa THE SECON)) BOOK OF 'l'HE KINGS. (ea, XVI, 1-20.