2 Chronicles 28 (NET)

Ahaz’s Reign

1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.1 He did not do what pleased the Lord, in contrast to his ancestor David.2 2 He followed in the footsteps of3 the kings of Israel; he also made images of the Baals. 3 He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire,4 a horrible sin practiced by the nations5 whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 The Lord his God handed him over to the king of Syria. The Syrians6 defeated him and deported many captives to Damascus.7 He was also handed over to the king of Israel, who thoroughly defeated him.8 6 In one day King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel killed 120,000 warriors in Judah, because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors.9 7 Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam, the supervisor of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command. 8 The Israelites seized from their brothers 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a huge amount of plunder and took it10 back to Samaria.11

9 Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there. He went to meet the army as they arrived in Samaria and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah he handed them over to you. You have killed them so mercilessly that God has taken notice.12 10 And now you are planning13 to enslave14 the people15 of Judah and Jerusalem. Yet are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? 11 Now listen to me! Send back those you have seized from your brothers, for the Lord is very angry at you!”16 12 So some of17 the Ephraimite family leaders, Azariah son of Jehochanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jechizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai confronted18 those returning from the battle. 13 They said to them, “Don’t bring those captives here! Are you planning on making us even more sinful and guilty before the Lord?19 Our guilt is already great and the Lord is very angry at Israel.”20 14 So the soldiers released the captives and the plunder before the officials and the entire assembly. 15 Men were assigned to take the prisoners and find clothes among the plunder for those who were naked.21 So they clothed them, supplied them with sandals, gave them food and drink, and provided them with oil to rub on their skin.22 They put the ones who couldn’t walk on donkeys.23 They brought them back to their brothers at Jericho,24 the city of the date palm trees, and then returned to Samaria.

16 At that time King Ahaz asked the king25 of Assyria for help. 17 The Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried off captives. 18 The Philistines had raided the cities of Judah in the lowlands26 and the Negev. They captured and settled in Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its surrounding villages, Timnah and its surrounding villages, and Gimzo and its surrounding villages. 19 The Lord humiliated27 Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel,28 for he encouraged Judah to sin and was very29 unfaithful to the Lord. 20 King Tiglath-pileser30 of Assyria came, but he gave him more trouble than support.31 21 Ahaz gathered riches32 from the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.

22 During his time of trouble King Ahaz was even more unfaithful to the Lord. 23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him.33 He reasoned,34 “Since the gods of the kings of Damascus helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they caused him and all Israel to stumble. 24 Ahaz gathered the items in God’s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem. 25 In every city throughout Judah he set up high places to offer sacrifices to other gods. He angered the Lord God of his ancestors.

26 The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign, including his accomplishments from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.35 27 Ahaz passed away36 and was buried in the City of David;37 they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.

1map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. 2tn Heb “and he did not do what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father.” 3tn Heb “he walked in the ways of.” 4sn This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice (NEB “burnt his sons in the fire”; NASB “burned his sons in the fire”; NIV “sacrificed his sons in the fire”; NRSV “made his sons pass through fire”). For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67. 5tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.” 6tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Syrians) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 7tn Heb “and took captive from him a great captivity and brought [them] to Damascus.” 8tn Heb “who struck him down with a great striking.” 9tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 9, 25). 10tn Heb “the loot.” The pronoun (“it”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy. 11map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1. 12tn Heb “and you killed them with anger [that] reaches as far as heaven.” 13tn Heb “saying.” 14tn Heb “to enslave as male servants and female servants.” 15tn Heb “sons.” 16tn Heb “for the rage of the anger of the Lord is upon you.” 17tn Heb “men from.” 18tn Heb “arose against.” 19tn Heb “for to the guilt of the Lord upon us you are saying to add to our sins and our guilty deeds.” 20tn Heb “for great is [the] guilt to us and rage of anger is upon Israel.” 21tn Heb “and the men who were designated by names arose and took the captives and all their naked ones they clothed from the loot.” 22tn Heb “and poured oil on them.” 23tn Heb “and they led them on donkeys, with respect to everyone stumbling.” 24map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1. 25tc Most Hebrew mss read the plural, “kings,” but one Hebrew ms, the LXX and Vulgate read the singular “king.” Note the singular in v. 20. 26tn Heb “Shephelah.” 27tn Or “subdued.” 28sn That is, “of Judah.” Frequently in 2 Chronicles “Israel” is substituted for “Judah.” 29tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form to emphasize the degree of Ahaz’s unfaithfulness. 30tn Heb “Tilgath-pilneser,” a variant spelling of Tiglath-pileser. 31tn Heb “and he caused him distress and did not strengthen him.” 32tn Heb “divided up,” but some read חִלֵּץ (khillets, “despoiled”). 33tn Heb “the gods of Damascus, the ones who had defeated him.” The words “he thought” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The perspective is that of Ahaz, not the narrator! Another option is that “the kings” has been accidentally omitted after “gods of.” See v. 23b. 34tn Heb “said.” 35tn Heb “As for the rest of his events, and all his ways, the former and the latter, look, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.” 36tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.” 37sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.