7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria , saying , "I am your servant and your son ; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel , who are rising up against me." 8 Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house , and sent a present to the king of Assyria . 9 So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir , and put Rezin to death .
10 Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria , and saw the altar which was at Damascus ; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model , according to all its workmanship .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 16:7-10
Commentary on 2 Kings 16:1-9
(Read 2 Kings 16:1-9)
Few and evil were the days of Ahaz. Those whose hearts condemn them, will go any where in a day of distress, rather than to God. The sin was its own punishment. It is common for those who bring themselves into straits by one sin, to try to help themselves out by another.
Commentary on 2 Kings 16:10-16
(Read 2 Kings 16:10-16)
God's altar had hitherto been kept in its place, and in use; but Ahaz put another in the room of it. The natural regard of the mind of man to some sort of religion, is not easily extinguished; but except it be regulated by the word, and by the Spirit of God, it produces absurd superstitions, or detestable idolatries. Or, at best, it quiets the sinner's conscience with unmeaning ceremonies. Infidels have often been remarkable for believing ridiculous falsehoods.