2 Kings 16:3

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
walked	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
way	בְּדֶ֖רֶךְ be.De.rekh	H1870	a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
kings	מַלְכֵ֣י mal.Khei	H4428	a king · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
son	בְּנוֹ֙ be.No	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
through	הֶעֱבִ֣יר he.'e.Vir	H5674	to cross over · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
fire	בָּאֵ֔שׁ ba.'Esh	H784	fire (literally or figuratively) · preposition with the article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
abominations	כְּתֹֽעֲבוֹת֙ ke.to.'a.Vot	H8441	properly · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
heathen	הַגּוֹיִ֔ם ha.go.Yim	H1471	a foreign nation · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
LORD	יְהוָה֙ Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
out	הוֹרִ֤ישׁ ho.Rish	H3423	to occupy (by driving out previous tenants · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
before	מִפְּנֵ֖י mi.pe.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
children	בְּנֵ֥י be.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵֽל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even the…
Leviticus 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
2 Kings 21:2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children o…
2 Kings 17:17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evi…
2 Kings 21:11 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him,…
Psalms 106:37-38 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
Leviticus 20:2 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that…
Deuteronomy 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an obs…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 16:1-4

We have here a general character of the reign of Ahaz. Few and evil were his days - few, for he died at thirty-six - evil, for we are here told, 1. That he did not that which was right like David (Kg2 16:2), that is, he had none of that concern and affection for the instituted service and worship of God for which David was celebrated. He had no love for the temple, made no conscience of his duty to God, nor had any regard to his law. Herein he was unlike David; it was his honour that he was of the house and lineage of David, and it was owing to God's ancient covenant with David that he was now upon the throne, which aggravated his wickedness; for he was a reproach to that honourable name and…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 16:3

walked in the way of the kings of Israel--This is descriptive of the early part of his reign, when, like the kings of Israel, he patronized the symbolic worship of God by images but he gradually went farther into gross idolatry (Ch2 28:2). made his son to pass through the fire-- (Kg2 23:10). The hands of the idol Moloch being red hot, the children were passed through between them, which was considered a form of lustration. There is reason to believe that, in certain circumstances, the children were burnt to death (Psa 106:37). This was strongly prohibited in the law (Lev 18:21; Lev 20:2-5; Deu 18:10), although there is no evidence that it was practised in Israel till the time of Ahaz.

Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 16:3

Made his son to pass through the fire - On this passage I beg leave to refer the reader to my notes on Lev 18:21; Lev 20:2, Lev 20:14, where the subject is considered at large.

John Gill on 2 Kings 16:3

But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel..... Worshipping the calves as they did; which, as it was contrary to the religious sentiments in which he was educated, so against his political interest, which was the only, or at least the principal thing, which swayed with the kings of Israel to continue that idolatry: yea, and made his son to pass through the fire; between two fires to Molech, by way of lustration; which might be true of Hezekiah his son, and others of his sons, for he had more he burnt with fire, as appears from 2 Chronicles 28:3, both ways were used in that sort of idolatry; see Gill on Leviticus 18:21, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast o…

The Church Fathers

Do you see that demons dwell in their souls and that these demons are more dangerous than the ones of old? And this is very reasonable. In the old days the Jews acted impiously toward the prophets; now they outrage the Master of the prophets. Tell me this. Do you not shudder to come into the same place with people possessed, who have so many unclean spirits, who have been reared amid slaughter and bloodshed? Must you share a greeting with them and exchange a bare word? Must you not turn away from them since they are the common disgrace and infection of the whole world? Have they not come to every form of wickedness? Have not all the prophets spent themselves making many and long speeches of accusation against them? What tragedy, what manner of lawlessness have they not eclipsed by their blood guilt? They sacrificed their own sons and daughters to demons. They refused to recognize nature, they forgot the pangs of birth, they trod underfoot the rearing of their children, they overturned from their foundations the laws of kinship, they became more savage than any wild beast.
— John Chrysostom, DISCOURSES AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 1.6.7

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Ahaz — Possessor. (1.) A grandson of Jonathan (1 Chr. 8:35; 9:42). (2.) The son and successor of Jotham, king of Judah (2 Kings 16; Isa. 7-9; 2 Chr. 28). He gave himself up to a life of wickedness and…
Hinnom — A deep, narrow ravine separating Mount Zion from the so-called “Hill of Evil Counsel.” It took its name from “some ancient hero, the son of Hinnom.” It is first mentioned in Josh. 15:8. It had been…
Pekah — Open-eyed, the son of Remaliah a captain in the army of Pekahiah, king of Israel, whom he slew, with the aid of a band of Gileadites, and succeeded (B.C. 758) on the throne (2 Kings 15:25). Seventeen…
Ahaz · .Idolatrous abominations of — .Idolatrous abominations of
Fire · Children — Children
Heathen, The · Evil of imitating — Evil of imitating
Idolatry · .Human sacrifices — .Human sacrifices
Kings · Who reigned over Judah: Ahaz — Who reigned over Judah: Ahaz
Molech · Children sacrificed to — Children sacrificed to

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Kings 16:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 16:1-4

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 16:3

Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 16:3

John Gill on 2 Kings 16:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

2 Kings 16:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 16:1-4

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 16:3

Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 16:3

John Gill on 2 Kings 16:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Kings 16:1-4

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Kings 16:2-3