Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Ahaz the son of Jotham reigns: the kings of Syria and Israel conspire against him. He calls on Tiglath-pileser and sends him a great weight of gold and silver: the latter, being invoked, lays waste Syria and Israel. Meanwhile Ahaz worships idols and profanes the temple.
Vulgate Text: 4 Kings 16:1-20
1. In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. 2. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord his God, as David his father had done. 3. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel; moreover he consecrated his son, making him pass through fire according to the idols of the nations, which the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. 4. He also sacrificed victims and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every leafy tree. 5. Then Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to make war: and when they besieged Ahaz, they were not able to overcome him. 6. At that time Rezin the king of Syria restored Elath to Syria, and drove the Jews out of Elath; and the Edomites came to Elath, and dwelt there to this day. 7. And Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of the Assyrians, saying: I am your servant and your son; come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who have risen up against me. 8. And when he had collected the silver and gold that could be found in the house of the Lord and in the king's treasuries, he sent gifts to the king of the Assyrians. 9. And he agreed to his request: for the king of the Assyrians went up to Damascus and devastated it, and transferred its inhabitants to Cyrene, and killed Rezin. 10. And king Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-pileser the king of the Assyrians in Damascus, and when he saw the altar of Damascus, king Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a copy and likeness of it according to all its workmanship. 11. And Uriah the priest built an altar: according to all that king Ahaz had commanded from Damascus, so did the priest Uriah, until king Ahaz came from Damascus. 12. And when the king had come from Damascus, he saw the altar and worshipped it: and he went up and offered holocausts and his own sacrifice; 13. and he poured libations and poured out the blood of the peace offerings which he had offered upon the altar. 14. Moreover the bronze altar, which was before the Lord, he removed from the front of the temple and from the place of the altar, and from the place of the temple of the Lord; and placed it on the side of the altar to the north. 15. King Ahaz also commanded Uriah the priest, saying: Upon the great altar offer the morning holocaust and the evening sacrifice, and the holocaust of the king and his sacrifice, and the holocaust of all the people of the land, and their sacrifices and their libations: and all the blood of the holocaust and all the blood of the victim you shall pour upon it; but the bronze altar shall be kept at my disposal. 16. And so Uriah the priest did according to all that king Ahaz had commanded. 17. And king Ahaz took the engraved bases, and the laver that was upon them; and he took the sea down from the bronze oxen that supported it, and placed it upon a pavement of stone. 18. And the Musach of the sabbath, which he had built in the temple, and the king's outer entrance he turned toward the temple of the Lord, because of the king of the Assyrians. 19. And 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? 20. And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the City of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
Verse 3: He Consecrated His Son, Making Him Pass Through Fire
3. HE CONSECRATED HIS SON (to the idol Moloch) MAKING HIM PASS THROUGH FIRE. Note a twofold practice: The Ammonites and Hebrews consecrated their sons to the idol Moloch in two ways: first, by burning them in fire -- the rite and manner I reviewed in Leviticus chapter 18, verse 21; secondly, by leading them through fire, both to purify them by fire from sins and impurities, and to initiate and dedicate them to the idol Moloch by this rite. Theodoret describes the rite: "I saw," he says, "in some cities once a year pyres lit, and some leap over them, not only boys but also men; and infants are carried through the flame by their mothers. This seemed to be a kind of expiation and purification. I believe this was also the sin of Ahaz." Therefore Theodoret and from him Salianus judge that Ahaz did not burn his son, but merely led him through fire, and thus purified and dedicated him to the idol. Hence in 2 Chronicles 28:3, it is said: "And he purified his sons in fire." From which passage it is clear that Ahaz purified not one but several, and perhaps all his sons by this rite; for it is not plausible that he burned several or all of them, since his son Hezekiah succeeded him in the kingdom.
Josephus however, and from him Abulensis and Adrichomius, think that he sacrificed and burned his son to the idol Moloch. Lyra thinks he did both, namely burned one of his sons, and purified the others by leading them through fire. Moreover there is no doubt that many Jews, stirred by this example of Ahaz their king, consecrated their own sons to Moloch.
Verse 7: And Ahaz Sent Messengers to Tiglath-pileser, to Help him Against Rezin the King of Syria and Pekah
7. AND AHAZ SENT MESSENGERS TO TIGLATH-PILESER, to help him against Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the king of Israel, and therefore he sent all the gold and silver of both the temple and his own palace. Ahaz sinned in this matter because God through Isaiah, chapter 7, verse 4, had promised him help against Rezin and Pekah; but he, distrusting God, trusted in king Tiglath-pileser, and therefore was plundered and oppressed by the same. Hear 2 Chronicles 28:19: "For the Lord had humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Judah, because he had stripped him of help and held the Lord in contempt. And He brought against him Tiglath-pileser king of the Assyrians, who both afflicted him and, with no one resisting, laid waste. Therefore Ahaz, having despoiled the house of the Lord and the house of the kings and princes, gave gifts to the king of the Assyrians, and yet nothing profited him. Moreover even in the time of his distress he increased his contempt of the Lord; he himself, king Ahaz in person, sacrificed victims to the gods of Damascus, his conquerors, and said: The gods of the kings of Syria help them; I will appease them with sacrifices and they will be present to me -- whereas on the contrary they were the ruin of him and of all Israel."
Verse 9: He Transferred its Inhabitants (of Damascus) to Cyrene -- not the One that is in Ethiopia, nor the
9. He transferred its inhabitants (of Damascus) TO CYRENE -- not the one that is in Ethiopia, nor the one that is in Africa, but to Cyrene which is in Media. Hence Josephus says the Damascenes were transferred to Media.
And when he saw the altar of Damascus -- of outstanding form, material, and workmanship -- it pleased him; hence he ordered Uriah the High Priest to have a similar one made in the temple at Jerusalem after its design, in place of the altar fabricated by Solomon. Whether Ahaz erected this altar to idols (as the Damascenes did) and sacrificed to them on it, or to the true God, Scripture does not express; but it is probable that he erected it to idols, because he himself worshipped them just like the Damascenes, and ordered altars to be set up to them everywhere, in order to win the favor of Tiglath-pileser and bind him to himself by worshipping his gods and idols -- but in vain: for it was for this reason that he was plundered and subjugated by him, as I said. So Abulensis and others.
Verse 11: Uriah the Priest Built the Altar
11. And Uriah the priest built the altar. Uriah the High Priest sinned by erecting this impious altar, preferring to please king Ahaz rather than God. St. Ambrose acted differently; for as he himself relates in book V, epistle 32: "When it was imposed upon us to hand over the vessels of the Church to the Emperor, I gave this reply: that if anything of my own were demanded -- a farm, a house, gold, or silver -- whatever was in my power I would willingly offer, but from the temple of God I could take nothing away, nor hand over what I had received to guard, not to surrender. Moreover I was also looking out for the Emperor's welfare, since it was not expedient for me to hand over, nor for him to receive. Let him hear the voice of a free priest: if he wishes to be well counseled, let him withdraw from offense to Christ, and far be it from me to surrender the inheritance of Christ, and the inheritance of Dionysius, who died in exile for the sake of the faith, the inheritance of Eustorgius the confessor, the inheritance of Mirocles and of all the faithful Bishops who went before."
Verse 14: Moreover the Bronze Altar (fabricated by Solomon) which was Before the Lord (that Is, Before the
14. Moreover the bronze altar (fabricated by Solomon) WHICH WAS BEFORE THE LORD (that is, before the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, in which God dwelt giving oracles) HE REMOVED -- out of contempt, as is said in 2 Chronicles 28:19 and 22; because Ahaz was most impious, and therefore a despiser of God, His altar, and His temple. For this reason he moved God's altar from its place, and substituted his own Damascene altar for it, and placed the altar of God beside his own altar, as it were a deputy and makeshift, relegated to the corner.
Verse 15: Upon the Great Altar (which I, Having Removed Solomon's, Caused to Be Erected After the Model of
15. Upon the great altar (which I, having removed Solomon's, caused to be erected after the model of the altar of Damascus) OFFER THE HOLOCAUST.
Verse 17: He Placed It Upon the Pavement
17. AND HE PLACED IT UPON THE PAVEMENT. Ahaz did all these things out of contempt, as I said, for the altar (for the lavers and the bronze sea served it), and so that it would be useless for its purposes, namely for sacrifices; and thus the Jews would be compelled to sacrifice not on it to the true God, but to idols.
Verse 18: The Musach of the Sabbath
18. AND ALSO THE MUSACH OF THE SABBATH WHICH HE HAD BUILT IN THE TEMPLE. Supply from the preceding verse "he took away," and
"removed," that is, he took away and destroyed. What the "Musach" was, there are various opinions; but two are more probable. The first: Musach in Hebrew means the same as covering or roof; it therefore signifies either a covered throne, in which kings sat on sabbaths and other feast days, so as to be present at sacrifices and hear the law of God -- hence in chapter 23, verse 3, it is called "a platform," as R. Solomon holds. Hence the Septuagint translates: the foundation of the sabbath seat, by which they seem to understand the base on which the king's chair was placed when he came on the sabbath to the temple to pray and hear the law, Ezekiel 46:1. "Musach of the sabbath" therefore in Hebrew signifies a sabbath tent covered with a splendid canopy, which was near the priests' court but outside it, in which the king sat on sabbaths and feasts watching the sacrifices. And this is the tribunal in which Joash sat when he was made king by Jehoiada the High Priest, 4 Kings chapter 11, verse 14; or at least "Musach" signifies a pulpit, as Vatablus translates, or a covered and roofed platform on which the Levites and priests sat while interpreting the law and the prophets to the people, as Vilalpandus holds, as Ezra did, Nehemiah chapter 8, verse 4. The latter opinion is that the "Musach" was a covering, namely a veil or platform prepared for the Levites and other guardians of the temple, who performed their sacred duties in the temple on successive sabbaths by turns, says Vatablus. Or the "Musach" was a covered place in the people's court, so that under it men who gathered at the temple to pray or to hear the law might be sheltered from heat, rain, and wind. Hence Marinus in his Lexicon translates "Musach" as portico. All these interpretations are probable; for the impious Ahaz seems to have removed these things. Hence in 2 Chronicles 29:24, it is said that he closed the temple of the Lord. But since the "Musach of the sabbath" seems to pertain to "the king's entrance," which is contained in this same verse, hence another interpretation which I shall now present seems more probable.
AND THE KING'S OUTER ENTRANCE HE TURNED TOWARD THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD BECAUSE OF THE KING OF THE ASSYRIANS. First, some explain it thus, as if to say: Ahaz profaned the temple by making it a kind of vestibule of his royal palace, so that there would be no access to it except through the temple, so that he would be safer from the king of the Assyrians, who would have to storm the temple first before proceeding to storm the palace. But from the other side, which did not adjoin the temple, the palace could be attacked, and more easily taken than the temple.
Secondly, Theodoret and Lyra think that Ahaz blocked the passage by which one went from the palace to the temple, so that the king of the Assyrians would not understand that he had completely abandoned the true God and His worship, in order to follow and worship his gods. The Chaldean translation supports this, who translates "turned" as "turned away" (for to convert is to turn in another direction or the opposite way). In Hebrew it is heseb, that is, he made to go around, so that indeed if anyone wished to go from the palace to the temple, he would be forced to go down in a great circuit from Mount Zion, and cross all of Ophel, to come to the foot of Mount Moriah, and thence ascend to the temple by 900 steps, so that the inconvenience of so long a circuit and difficult ascent would deter those of the king's household from going to the temple, says Salianus. But "he turned toward the temple" does not mean to turn away, but to turn into the temple. Hence thirdly, more clearly some explain it as if to say: Ahaz added to the temple the vestibule of his palace, through which one went to the temple and which was outside the temple, and made what had previously been exterior to the temple now be within the temple, so as to imitate the king of the Assyrians, who had his palace so connected to the temple that it seemed to be part of the temple; which was a certain degradation and profanation of the temple. For thus it came about that no one could enter the palace except through the temple. So Vatablus.
Finally, the most obvious and fitting meaning of this entire verse seems to be this: that by "Musach of the sabbath" we should understand the tent and canopy in which the king sat on sabbaths and feasts in the lay people's court, but in the first place, nearest to the priests' court, so as to watch the sacrifices from close by and hear the hymns which the priests and Levites sang in their court, as is clear from Ezekiel 46:1. For no layperson, not even the king, was permitted to enter the priests' court -- only priests and Levites. But Ahaz, to please the king of the Assyrians, who considered it undignified and unseemly to stand outside with the common people, "turned" this "Musach," or tent, "into the temple of the Lord," that is, by tearing down the intervening wall, he joined it to the priests' court, so that it would be near the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, so that now not among the laity and the common people, but among the priests, both kings could stand or sit, as if set apart from the crowd and counted among the priests, so as to see and hear from close by all the sacred rites that the priests performed both in the court and in the Holy Place.
Moreover, since the entrance to this royal "Musach," or tent and tribunal, was accessible from the royal house itself, through intermediate courts, Ahaz also joined to the temple this entrance which was part of his royal house, by which the king descended from the palace to the "Musach" -- which is therefore here called "the king's entrance" -- so that what had previously been, as it were, a lay house outside the priests' court, with the intervening partition now torn down, would be enclosed within the priests' court itself, and would thus extend all the way to the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. This meaning is demanded by "he turned toward the temple of the Lord," which pertains both to the king's entrance and to the Musach of the sabbath. So Gaspar Sanchez, following Rabbi Solomon, Lyra, and others; nor does Abulensis disapprove, though he adds another interpretation, saying that there were two roads from the palace to the temple: one open and public, by which the king went to the temple in the sight of the people; the other secret and closed, by which the king privately, when he did not wish to be seen, went to the temple. Ahaz closed the public road, so that to the king of the Assyrians (whose favor he courted) he would appear to be a deserter of his ancestral religion and a worshipper of his idols; but he kept the secret way, so that through it he could enter the temple secretly, and not offend the king of the Assyrians who was ignorant of it, and therefore it is said here of him that "he turned the king's outer entrance toward the temple of the Lord because of the king of the Assyrians." So Abulensis. But against this is the fact that this entrance to the temple already existed before; therefore it cannot be said that Ahaz turned it toward the temple of the Lord.
The Gloss also, followed by Dionysius and Hugh, less accurately thinks that the "Musach of the sabbath" was a building in the vestibule of the temple, into which kings coming to the temple on sabbaths would cast alms: the "Musach" therefore was a royal treasury, just as the "Corbona" was the treasury of the laity.