2 Kings 16:19

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?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) Which he did.—Some MSS., and the LXX., Syriac, and Arabic have the usual formula, “and all which he did.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:17-20 Ahaz put contempt upon the sabbath, and thus opened a wide inlet to all manner of sin. This he did for the king of Assyria. When those who have had a ready passage to the house of the Lord, turn it another way to please their neighbours, they are going down-hill apace to ruin.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The rest of the acts of Ahaz - Such as are described in Isaiah 7:10-13; 2 Chronicles 28:23-25; 2 Chronicles 29:3, 2 Chronicles 29:7.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. the covert for the Sabbath—the portico through which the priests entered the temple on the Sabbath.

the king's entry without—a private external entrance for the king into the temple. The change made by Ahaz consisted in removing both of these into the temple from fear of the king of Assyria, that, in case of a siege, he might secure the entrance of the temple from him.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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? Some others are written in the canonical book of Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 28:1 and were, it is highly probable, in the annals of the kings of Judah, now lost.

Geneva Study Bible

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?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19, 20. Death of Ahaz. Hezekiah king of Judah (2 Chronicles 28:26-27)

19. the rest of the acts of Ahaz] The Chronicler gives us somewhat more detail concerning the doings of this king. ‘He gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut them in pieces: he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem, and in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.’ Some part of this conduct may have been to satisfy the demands of the conqueror to whom he had become a vassal; but much of it was due to the love for foreign idolatry, for Baal and Rimmon and Moloch and the excesses which attended on their worship.

in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah] In 2 Chronicles 28:26 we are referred to the record of Israel as well as of Judah, and the war with Pekah would no doubt form a large chapter in the history of the former kingdom.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 19, 20. - The death of Ahaz. The writer terminates his account of the reign of Ahaz with his usual formulae, which in this instance are wholly colorless. Ahaz's acts were written in the book of the chronicles of the kings; he died, and was buried with his fathers; Hezekiah, his son, reigned in his stead. This is all that he thinks it needful to say. Verse 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? The writer of Chronicles adds some important facts not found in the narrative of Kings. Among them are the following:

(1) The complete defeat of Ahaz by Pekah, who "smote him with a great slaughter" (2 Chronicles 28:5), killing a hundred and twenty thousand of his soldiers, and carrying Off two hundred thousand captives, men, women, and children (2 Chronicles 28:8); these captives were, however, afterwards restored (ver. 15).

(2) His defeat by the Syrians (ver. 5). This is, perhaps, implied in 2 Kings 16:6; but it is not expressly stated.

(3) His defeat by the Edomites, who invaded his land, and made a largo number of prisoners (2 Chronicles 28:17).

(4) The conquest in his reign of a considerable portion of Southern Judaea by the Philistines (ver. 18).

(5) The fact that Ahaz at one time in his life adopted the Syrian worship, and "sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which smote him" (ver. 23).

(6) The fact that in his latter years he shut up the temple (ver. 24), closing the doors of the porch (2 Chronicles 29:7), extinguishing the lamps (2 Chronicles 29:7), and putting an end to the burning of incense and the offering of sacrifice.

(7) The fact that, not content with the previously existing high places, he set up a number of new ones, so that there should be a "high place" in every several city (2 Chronicles 28:25). The religious condition of Judaea can scarcely have been worse in the worst time of Manasseh or Amon. 2 Kings 16:19

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Conclusion of the reign of Ahaz. According to 2 Chronicles 28:27, he was buried in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.