2 Kings 16:10

10 King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria in Damascus. The altar in Damascus made a great impression on him. He sent back to Uriah the priest a drawing and set of blueprints of the altar.

2 Kings 16:10 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 16:10

And King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king
of Assyria
When he heard he was come thither, and had taken it, to congratulate him on the victory, and to give him thanks for his assistance; which place from Jerusalem was one hundred and sixty miles, according to Bunting F17

and saw an altar that was at Damascus;
where, in all probability, he attended at the sacrifice on it along with the king of Assyria:

and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and
the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof;
not only the size and form of it, but all the decorations and figures on it, with which it was wrought. This Urijah was very probably the high priest, for it can scarcely be thought that Ahaz would write to any other, or that any other priest would or could have complied with his request; and he seems to be the same Isaiah took to be a witness in a certain affair, though he now degenerated from the character he gives of him, ( Isaiah 8:2 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F17 Travels p. 185.

2 Kings 16:10 In-Context

8 Then Ahaz robbed the treasuries of the palace and The Temple of God of their gold and silver and sent them to the king of Assyria as a bribe.
9 The king of Assyria responded to him. He attacked and captured Damascus. He deported the people to Nineveh as exiles. Rezin he killed.
10 King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria in Damascus. The altar in Damascus made a great impression on him. He sent back to Uriah the priest a drawing and set of blueprints of the altar.
11 Uriah the priest built the altar to the specifications that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. By the time the king returned from Damascus, Uriah had completed the altar.
12 The minute the king saw the altar he approached it with reverence and arranged a service of worship with a full course of offerings:
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.