Keraia
People

Ahaz

Ahaz, son of Jotham, reigned as king of Judah for 16 years.

The name Ahaz means “one that takes or possesses”

MaleKingTribe of JudahDivided Monarchy eraOld & New Testaments7 books53 verses

Summary

A king of Judah living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 2 Kings 15:38; referred to as Ahaz (אָחָז) or Ahaz (Ἀχάζ); a son of Jotham; husband of Abi; father of Hezekiah and Maaseiah.

Profile

Ahaz ruled Judah during a difficult time, from 743 to 715 BC. His father, Jotham, and his son, Hezekiah, were praised for following the Lord (see 2 Kings 15:32–38; 2 Chronicles 27:1–9; and 2 Kings 18:1–8). However, Ahaz was wicked and even sacrificed one of his sons to false gods.

There was a lot of conflict during Ahaz's reign. King Pekah of Israel and King Rezin of Aram (Syria) wanted him to join a group against Assyria, but he refused. So, Pekah and Rezin attacked Judah and won major victories, which greatly scared Ahaz. Isaiah the prophet encouraged Ahaz to trust in the Lord, but Ahaz refused (Isaiah 7).

Ahaz showed his lack of trust in the true God by asking Tiglath-pileser III for help (2 Kings 16:7–9). Ahaz made Judah dangerously dependent on Assyria, turning it into a vassal state. The Assyrian king then defeated the Arameans in a two-year campaign that lasted from 734 to 732 BC and killed Rezin. He subdued Israel and added large areas of Pekah’s land to the Assyrian Empire (2 Kings 15:29).

Ahaz became a devoted follower of Assyria. He adopted many religious practices based on Assyrian examples. Ahaz visited Tiglath-pileser III in Damascus. There, he saw an Assyrian altar and sent a model of it to Jerusalem. A similar altar was built there, replacing the original bronze altar (2 Kings 16:10–18). Several other changes to the temple also show Ahaz's departure from faith in the Lord.

Ahaz shows why the people of Judah were eventually exiled. He did not act properly as a king (Deuteronomy 17:14–20). He also did not worship the Lord. When he died, his son Hezekiah became king (2 Kings 16:20).

Passages for Further Study

2 Kings 15:38–16:20; 2 Chronicles 27:9–28:27; Isaiah 7:1–25

Events

Dates are approximate

Glossary entries

Ahaz (King) Achaz

Family members

Father

Jotham

Spouse

Abi

Children

Hezekiah Maaseiah

Alternative names

Mentions

Includes 16 verses that refer to Ahaz without naming them, as “he”, “she”, or the subject of a verb.

  1. 2 Kings 15:38
    And Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David his father. And his son Ahaz reigned in his place.
  2. 2 Kings 16:1
    In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah.
  3. 2 Kings 16:2
    Ahaz 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.
  4. 2 Kings 16:3Referred to, not named
    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.
  5. 2 Kings 16:4Referred to, not named
    And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
  6. 2 Kings 16:5
    Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.
  7. 2 Kings 16:7
    So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hands of the kings of Aram and Israel, who are rising up against me.”
  8. 2 Kings 16:8
    Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria.
  9. 2 Kings 16:9Referred to, not named
    So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.
  10. 2 Kings 16:10
    Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction.
  11. 2 Kings 16:11
    And Uriah the priest built the altar according to all the instructions King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, and he completed it before King Ahaz returned.
  12. 2 Kings 16:15
    Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, “Offer on the great altar the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, and the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, as well as the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings of all the people of the land. Splatter on the altar all the blood of the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar to seek guidance.”
  13. 2 Kings 16:16
    So Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had commanded.
  14. 2 Kings 16:17
    King Ahaz also cut off the frames of the movable stands and removed the bronze basin from each of them. He took down the Sea from the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone base.
  15. 2 Kings 16:19
    As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
  16. 2 Kings 16:20
    And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David, and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.
  17. 2 Kings 17:1
    In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years.
  18. 2 Kings 18:1
    In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.
  19. 2 Kings 20:11
    So Isaiah the prophet called out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow back the ten steps it had descended on the stairway of Ahaz.
  20. 2 Kings 23:12
    He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD. The king pulverized them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.
  21. 1 Chronicles 3:13
    Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,
  22. 2 Chronicles 27:9
    And Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And his son Ahaz reigned in his place.
  23. 2 Chronicles 28:1
    Ahaz 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.
  24. 2 Chronicles 28:2Referred to, not named
    Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even made cast images of the Baals.
  25. 2 Chronicles 28:3Referred to, not named
    Moreover, Ahaz burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
  26. 2 Chronicles 28:4Referred to, not named
    And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
  27. 2 Chronicles 28:5Referred to, not named
    So the LORD his God delivered Ahaz into the hand of the king of Aram, who attacked him and took many captives to Damascus. Ahaz was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force.
  28. 2 Chronicles 28:16
    At that time King Ahaz sent for help from the king of Assyria.
  29. 2 Chronicles 28:19
    For the LORD humbled Judah because Ahaz king of Israel had thrown off restraint in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD.
  30. 2 Chronicles 28:20Referred to, not named
    Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz but afflicted him rather than strengthening him.
  31. 2 Chronicles 28:21
    Although Ahaz had taken a portion from the house of the LORD, from the royal palace, and from the princes and had presented it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.
  32. 2 Chronicles 28:22
    In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.
  33. 2 Chronicles 28:24
    Then Ahaz gathered up the articles of the house of God, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the house of the LORD, and set up altars of his own on every street corner in Jerusalem.
  34. 2 Chronicles 28:25Referred to, not named
    In every city of Judah he built high places to offer incense to other gods, and so he provoked the LORD, the God of his fathers.
  35. 2 Chronicles 28:26Referred to, not named
    As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz and all his ways, from beginning to end, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
  36. 2 Chronicles 28:27
    And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.
  37. 2 Chronicles 29:19
    Moreover, we have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz in his unfaithfulness cast aside during his reign. They are now in front of the altar of the LORD.”
  38. Isaiah 1:1
    This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
  39. Isaiah 7:1
    Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.
  40. Isaiah 7:3
    Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,
  41. Isaiah 7:4Referred to, not named
    …and say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Do not be afraid or disheartened over these two smoldering stubs of firewood—over the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.
  42. Isaiah 7:5Referred to, not named
    For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted your ruin, saying:
  43. Isaiah 7:9Referred to, not named
    The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.’”
  44. Isaiah 7:10
    Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying,
  45. Isaiah 7:11Referred to, not named
    “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
  46. Isaiah 7:12
    But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask; I will not test the LORD.”
  47. Isaiah 7:16Referred to, not named
    For before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
  48. Isaiah 7:17Referred to, not named
    The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since the day Ephraim separated from Judah—He will bring the king of Assyria.”
  49. Isaiah 14:28
    In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden was received:
  50. Isaiah 38:8
    I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.
  51. Hosea 1:1
    This is the word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel.
  52. Micah 1:1
    This is the word of the LORD that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem:
  53. Matthew 1:9
    Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.