1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father.
3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.
4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.
7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.
10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the Lord, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the altar.
15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon the pavement of stones.
18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria.
19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
<html><b>He exiled [it's people] to Kir.</b> The people therein he exiled to a province named Kir.</html>
<html><b>Before [king Achaz] came.</b> [He built the altar] before the king came from Damesek.1<i class=“footnote”>Achaz decided to worship the idols of Arom because he believed they were responsible for his defeat. See II Divrei Hayomim 28:23.</i></html>
<html><b>And the Copper Altar … he brought, etc.</b> It is impossible to say that this was the Copper Altar that Moshe made, because it was hidden. It is also impossible to say that his was the stone altar that Shlomo made, and he called it the “Copper Altar,”2<i class=“footnote”>II Divrei Hayomim 7:7.</i> because it was impossible to move it from one corner to another without taking it apart,3<i class=“footnote”>Alternatively, “he placed the new altar near the Copper Altar, i.e., near Shlomo's altar which is referred to as the Copper Altar. He placed it closer to the Sanctuary than Shlomo's altar without moving that altar to show that it was important to him.—Radak</i> but we learned that the fire that descended in Shlomo's time, did not leave the altar until Menashe came and removed it,4<i class=“footnote”>Maseches Zevachim 61b.</i> for he demolished the altar, as we find in the Aggadah of [the chapter entitled] “Cheilek.”5<i class=“footnote”>See Maseches Sanhedrin 103b.</i> I have no way to explain this “[copper] altar” except as [referring to] the basin and the bases of copper, which were accessories of the altar and were near the holy altar. Now, when Achaz made the altar for the idols, he removed the basin and moved it to another side, [farther] away from the Temple, so as not to intervene between the altar he made and the Temple of Adonoy, and he placed it next to the holy altar on the north. We find that our Rabbis6<i class=“footnote”>Maseches Shabbos 55a.</i> explained a passage in a similar manner, ”And they came and stood next to the Copper Altar.”7<i class=“footnote”>Yechezkeil 9:2.</i> Did the Copper Altar exist? He said to them, ”Begin from the place where they recite songs before Me.” Thus we see here that copper musical instruments are referred to as a “[copper] altar.”8<i class=“footnote”>It follows then, that the copper basin which is an accessory to the altar is referred to as “the Copper Altar.”</i></html>
<html><b>To visit.</b> At intervals, when it enters my mind to visit it.9<i class=“footnote”>The Copper Altar will be for occasional use, thereby, establishing the new altar as the primary one.</i></html>
<html><b>The frames of the bases.</b> The rows upon which the bases were made,10<i class=“footnote”>He removed the bases from the ten basins, and out of contempt, he set the basins on a stone floor.—Radak</i> as it is stated, ”The bases were made in the following manner: They had frames … ”11<i class=“footnote”>I Melochim 7:28.</i> 12<i class=“footnote”>See I Melochim 7:23-27.</i></html>
<html><b>The canopy for Shabbos.</b> The roof of a tent made for shade,13<i class=“footnote”>Alternatively, a building in which the mishmar, i.e., the family of <i>kohanim</i> that had served during the week, would stay until after Shabbos. That too he removed.—Radak</i> to sit under it in the [Temple] courtyard on Shabbos. <b>And the king's … entrance.</b> [The entrance] through which he would come, from his house to the Beis [Hamikdosh] of Adonoy through the outside,14<i class=“footnote”>He sealed up that entrance so that access to the palace could be gained only through the Beis Hamikdosh. This would make an attack on the palace more difficult because now the only access to the palace would be through the Beis Hamikdosh.—Ralbag</i> he changed to a concealed place because of the king of Ashur, so that he would not covet those vessels, and he also changed the entrance, in case he would have to hide and secretly escape.</html>