2 Kings 16:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Kings 16:8
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.
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
treasures
וּבְאֹֽצְר֖וֹתu.ve.'o.tze.Rot
H214
a depository · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
king’s
הַמֶּ֑לֶךְha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
house
בֵּ֣יתbeit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
sent
וַיִּשְׁלַ֥חvai.yish.Lach
H7971
to send away · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
present
שֹֽׁחַדSho.chad
H7810
a donation (venal or redemptive) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
king
לְמֶֽלֶךְle.Me.lekh-
H4428
a king · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Assyria
אַשּׁ֖וּר'a.Shur
H804
Ashshur · 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
2 Kings 12:17-18 Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it: and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.
2 Kings 16:17-18 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 wer…
2 Kings 18:15-16 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house.
2 Chronicles 16:2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-hadad king of Sy…
2 Chronicles 28:20-21 And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.
Psalms 7:15-16 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
Isaiah 7:17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departe…
Isaiah 8:7-8 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory:…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 16:5-9
Here is, 1. The attempt of his confederate neighbours, the kings of Syria and Israel, upon him. They thought to make themselves masters of Jerusalem, and to set a king of their own in it, Isa 7:6. In this they fell short, but the king of Syria recovered Elath, a considerable port upon the Red Sea, which Amaziah had taken from the Syrians, Kg2 14:22. What can those keep that have lost their religion? Let them expect, thenceforward, to be always on the losing hand. 2. His project to get clear of them. Having forsaken God, he had neither courage nor strength to make head against his enemies, nor could he, with any boldness, ask help of God; but he made his court to the king of Assyria, and got…
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser--In spite of the assurance given him by Isaiah by two signs, the one immediate, the other remote (Isa 7:14; Isa 8:4), that the confederate kings would not prevail against him, Ahaz sought aid from the Assyrian monarch, to purchase which he sent the treasures of the palace and temple. Tiglath-pileser marched against Damascus, slew Rezin the king, and carried the people of Damascus into captivity to Kir, which is thought to have been the city Karine (now Kerend), in Media.
Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 16:7
I am thy servant and thy son - I will obey thee in all, and become tributary to thee; only help me against Syria and Israel.
John Gill on 2 Kings 16:8
And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord,.... Which Uzziah and Jotham had put there; for all that was found there in the times of Amaziah was taken away by Jehoash king of Israel, 2 Kings 14:14.
and in the treasures of the king's house; whatever gold and silver he had of his own:
and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria; to obtain his help and assistance.
Keil & Delitzsch
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…
Alliances — On the first establishment of the Hebrews in Palestine no connections were formed between them and the surrounding nations. But with the extension of their power under the kings alliances became…
Assyria — The name derived from the city Asshur on the Tigris, the original capital of the country, was originally a colony from Babylonia, and was ruled by viceroys from that kingdom. It was a mountainous…
Damascus — Activity, the most ancient of Oriental cities; the capital of Syria (Isa. 7:8; 17:3); situated about 133 miles to the north of Jerusalem. Its modern name is Esh-Sham; i.e., “the East.” The situation…
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…
Rezin — Firm; a prince, a king of Syria, who joined Pekah (q.v.) in an invasion of the kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 15:37; 16:5-9; Isa. 7:1-8). Ahaz induced Tiglath-pileser III. to attack Damascus, and this…
Temple, Solomon’s — Before his death David had “with all his might” provided materials in great abundance for the building of the temple on the summit of Mount Moriah (1 Chr. 22:14; 29:4; 2 Chr. 3:1), on the east of the…
Tiglath-Pileser III. — Or Tilgath-Pil-neser, the Assyrian throne-name of Pul (q.v.). He appears in the Assyrian records as gaining, in the fifth year of his reign (about B.C. 741), a victory over Azariah (= Uzziah in 2…
Ahaz · .Robs the temple to purchase aid from the king of Asia — .Robs the temple to purchase aid from the king of Asia
Alliances · .Ahaz and Tiglath — .Ahaz and Tiglath
on 2 Kings 16:7-8
In this distress Ahaz turned to Tiglath-pileser, without regarding either the word of Isaiah in Kg2 7:4., which promised salvation, or the prophet's warning against an alliance with Assyria, and by sending the gold and silver which were found in the treasures of the temple and palace, purchased his assistance against Rezin and Pekah. Whether this occurred immediately after the invasion of the land by the allied kings, or not till after they had defeated the Judaean army and advanced against Jerusalem, it is impossible to discover either from this verse or from Ch2 28:16; but probably it was after the first great victory gained by the foe, with which Isa 7 and 8 agree. - On קומים for קמים see…
Rather than trusting in God’s provision (Isa 7:7-16), Ahaz petitioned Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria to rescue him from his enemies. Tiglath-pileser was successful, and his victory brought about the death of Rezin, the capture of Damascus, and the deportation of its citizens (732 BC). It also contributed to unseating Pekah as king of Israel in the same year (2 Kgs 15:29-30). The cost of the rescue was great, however; Ahaz paid a heavy tribute to Tiglath-pileser, and the Assyrian intervention reduced Judah to vassal status.
Assyria · Tiglathpileser king of: Asked to aid Ahaz against Syria — Tiglathpileser king of: Asked to aid Ahaz against Syria
Diplomacy · .Ahaz purchases assistance from the king of Assyria — .Ahaz purchases assistance from the king of Assyria
Kings · Who reigned over Judah: Ahaz — Who reigned over Judah: Ahaz
Rezin · 1. A king of Syria who harassed the — 1. A king of Syria who harassed the
Syria · .By Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria — .By Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria
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).
