2 Kings 16:3
New International Version
He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

New Living Translation
Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel, even sacrificing his own son in the fire. In this way, he followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations the LORD had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.

English Standard Version
but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

Berean Standard Bible
Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel; indeed he made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel.

New American Standard Bible
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and he even made his son pass through the fire, in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel.

NASB 1995
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel.

NASB 1977
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel.

Legacy Standard Bible
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh had dispossessed from before the sons of Israel.

Amplified Bible
Instead he walked in the way of the [idolatrous] kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire [as a human sacrifice], in accordance with the repulsive [and idolatrous] practices of the [pagan] nations whom the LORD drove out before the Israelites.

Christian Standard Bible
but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his son in the fire, imitating the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had dispossessed before the Israelites.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
but walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even made his son pass through the fire, imitating the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had dispossessed before the Israelites.

American Standard Version
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 nations, whom Jehovah cast out from before the children of Israel.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he walked in the way of the Kings of Israel, also he made his son pass through into fire in the manner of the law of the Gentiles whom LORD JEHOVAH destroyed from before the children of Israel.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, he 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.

Contemporary English Version
and was even more sinful than the kings of Israel. He sacrificed his own son, which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the LORD had forced out of Israel.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel: moreover he consecrated also his son, making him pass through the fire according to the idols of the nations: which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He followed the example of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son by burning him alive. Sacrificing [children] was one of the disgusting things done by the nations that the LORD had forced out of the Israelites' way.

Good News Translation
and followed the example of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the LORD had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced.

International Standard Version
Instead, he behaved like the kings of Israel did by making his son pass through fire, the very same abomination that the heathen practiced, whom the LORD evicted from the land right in front of the Israelis.

JPS Tanakh 1917
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.

Literal Standard Version
and he walks in the way of the kings of Israel, and he has also caused his son to pass over into fire, according to the abominations of the nations that YHWH dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel,

Majority Standard Bible
Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

New American Bible
He walked in the way of the kings of Israel; he even immolated his child by fire, in accordance with the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD had dispossessed before the Israelites.

NET Bible
He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire, a horrible sin practiced by the nations whom the LORD drove out from before the Israelites.

New Revised Standard Version
but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even made his son pass through fire, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

New Heart English Bible
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yes, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.

Webster's Bible Translation
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even 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.

World English Bible
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out from before the children of Israel.

Young's Literal Translation
and he walketh in the way of the kings of Israel, and also his son he hath caused to pass over into fire, according to the abominations of the nations that Jehovah dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Ahaz Reigns in Judah
2Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. And unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 4And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.…

Cross References
Leviticus 18:21
You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

Deuteronomy 12:31
You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

2 Kings 17:8
and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel.

2 Kings 17:17
They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

2 Kings 17:19
and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced.

2 Kings 21:2
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

2 Kings 21:6
He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.


Treasury of Scripture

But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yes, 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.

he walked

2 Kings 8:18
And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

1 Kings 12:28-30
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt…

1 Kings 16:31-33
And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him…

made his son

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 evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

2 Kings 23:10
And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

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.

according

2 Kings 21:2,11
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 of Israel…

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 their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

1 Kings 14:24
And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

Jump to Previous
Abominable Abominations Burned Cast Caused Children Detestable Dispossessed Driven Drove Fire Following Heathen Israel Israelites Kings Nations Offering Practices Presence Sacrificed Walked Walketh Way Ways
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Abominable Abominations Burned Cast Caused Children Detestable Dispossessed Driven Drove Fire Following Heathen Israel Israelites Kings Nations Offering Practices Presence Sacrificed Walked Walketh Way Ways
2 Kings 16
1. Ahaz's wicked reign
5. Ahaz, assailed by Rezin and Pekah, hires Tiglath-Pileser against them
10. Ahaz, sending a pattern of an altar from Damascus to Urijah,
12. diverts the bronze altar to his own devotions,
17. He raids the temple
19. Hezekiah succeeds him














(3) But he walked in the way.--See Notes on 2Chronicles 28:2.

Made his son to pass through the fire.--The chronicler rightly explains this as a sacrifice by fire. That such an appalling rite is really intended may be seen by reference to 2Kings 17:31; Jeremiah 19:5; Ezekiel 16:20; Ezekiel 23:37; Jeremiah 32:35. The expression, "To make-to pass through the fire to Moloch" (Leviticus 18:21) may have originated, as Movers suggests, in the idea that the burning was a kind of passage to union with the deity, after the dross of the flesh had been purged away; or it may be a mere euphemism. Ahaz appears to have been the first Israelite king who offered such a sacrifice. He, no doubt, regarded it as a last desperate resource against the oppression of his northern enemies. It is absurd to suppose that the king intended it in love to his child, as Thenius suggests. (See Judges 11:31.) Such dreadful sacrifices were only made in cases of dire extremity. (Comp. 2Kings 3:27.) . . .

Verse 3. - But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. Not, of course, by establishing a worship of calves, but by following the worst practices of the worst Israelite kings, e.g., Ahab and Ahaziah, and reintroducing into Judah the Phoenician idolatry, which Joash and the high priest Jehoiada had cast out (2 Kings 11:17, 18). As the writer of Chronicles says (2 Chronicles 28:2), "He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim." Baalim is either a plural of dignity, or a word denoting the different forms under which Baal was worshipped, as Melkarth, Adonis, Rimmon, etc. Yea, and made his son to pass through the fire. In Chronicles (2 Chronicles 28:3) we are told that "he burnt incense in the valley of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire," as if he had sacrificed more than one son. The practice of offering children in sacrifice was not a feature of the Assyro-Babylonian religion, as some suppose, but an intrinsic part of the worship of the Phoenicians, common to them with the Moabites, Ammonites, and others. It was based upon the principle of a man's offering to God that which was dearest and most precious to himself, whence the crowning sacrifice of the kind was a man's offering of his firstborn son (see 2 Kings 3:27; Micah 6:7). Some have supposed that the rite was a mere dedication or lustration, the children passing between two fires, and being thenceforward employed only in God's service. But the expressions used by the sacred writer and others, and still more the descriptions that have come down to us from heathen and patristic authors, make it absolutely certain that the "passing through the fire' was no such innocent ceremony as this, but involved the death of the children. The author of Chronicles says, "Ahaz burnt his children in the fire;" Jeremiah 19:5, "They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal;" Ezekiel 16:21, "Thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire." Josephus declares of Ahaz that he "made his own son a whole burnt offering (ἴδιον ὠλοκαύτωσε παῖδα)." Diodorus Sicalus describes the ceremony as it took place at Carthage, the Phoenician colony. There was in the great temple there, he says, an image of Saturn (Moloch), which was a human figure with a bull's head and outstretched arms. This image of metal was made glowing hot by a fire kindled within it; and the children, laid in its arms, rolled from thence into the fiery lap below. If the children cried, the parents stopped their noise by fondling and kissing them; for the victim ought not to weep, and the sound of complaint was drowned in the din of flutes and kettle-drums (Died. Sic., 20:14). "Mothers," says Plutarch ('De Superstitione,' § 13), "stood by without tears or sobs; if they wept or sobbed, they lost the honor of the act, and the children were sacrificed notwithstanding." The only doubtful point is whether the children were placed alive in the glowing arms of the image, or whether they were first killed and afterwards burnt in sacrifice; but the description of Diodorus seems to imply the more cruel of the two proceedings. According to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord east out from before the children of Israel. (On the practice of this terrible rite by the Canaanitish nations at the time of the Israelite invasion, see Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:31; Deuteronomy 18:9, 10; Psalm 106:37, 38.)

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Instead, he walked
וַיֵּ֕לֶךְ (way·yê·leḵ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

in the way
בְּדֶ֖רֶךְ (bə·ḏe·reḵ)
Preposition-b | Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 1870: A road, a course of life, mode of action

of the kings
מַלְכֵ֣י (mal·ḵê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 4428: A king

of Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

and even
וְגַ֤ם (wə·ḡam)
Conjunctive waw | Conjunction
Strong's 1571: Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

sacrificed
הֶעֱבִ֣יר (he·‘ĕ·ḇîr)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5674: To pass over, through, or by, pass on

his son
בְּנוֹ֙ (bə·nōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1121: A son

in the fire,
בָּאֵ֔שׁ (bā·’êš)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 784: A fire

according to the abominations
כְּתֹֽעֲבוֹת֙ (kə·ṯō·‘ă·ḇō·wṯ)
Preposition-k | Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 8441: Something disgusting, an abhorrence, idolatry, an idol

of the nations
הַגּוֹיִ֔ם (hag·gō·w·yim)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1471: A foreign nation, a Gentile, a troop of animals, a flight of locusts

whom
אֲשֶׁ֨ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

the LORD
יְהוָה֙ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

had driven out
הוֹרִ֤ישׁ (hō·w·rîš)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3423: To occupy, to seize, to rob, to inherit, to expel, to impoverish, to ruin

before
מִפְּנֵ֖י (mip·pə·nê)
Preposition-m | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

the Israelites.
בְּנֵ֥י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son


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OT History: 2 Kings 16:3 But he walked in the way (2Ki iiKi ii ki 2 kg 2kg)
2 Kings 16:2
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