{"id":64175,"date":"2019-10-08T08:45:10","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T05:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64175"},"modified":"2023-05-04T16:26:58","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T13:26:58","slug":"ahaz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/ahaz\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahaz"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our chapter relates the reign of King Ahaz of Judah (743\u2013727 BCE). Unlike his forefather, King David, Ahaz did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Most prominently, \u201ceven his son he passed through the fire [sacrificed]\u2026He sacrificed and made offerings at the shrines, on the hills, and under every leafy tree\u201d (II Kings 16:1-4, II Chronicles 28). Ahaz joined forces with the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser III, whose altar he saw in Damascus and had copied in the Temple in Jerusalem (II Kings 16:10-16). Ahaz reigned in the time of Isaiah (see Isaiah 7-9). Isaiah counsels Ahaz to trust in God rather than foreign allies (Isaiah 7:11) and gives Ahaz the sign of the birth of a child, whose mother will call him Immanuel, meaning “God-is-with-us” (Isaiah 7:13-14).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rabbinic Sages (see Midrash Genesis Rabbah 42:3 and parallels) compare Ahaz to the tutor of a king\u2019s son who plotted to kill the son. He reasoned that if he himself did the deed he would be executed by the king. So, he separated the son from his wet-nurse in order to let him die by malnutrition. Similarly, Ahaz reasoned that if there are no children there will be no disciples who will become sages. And if there are no sages, there will be no prophets. And if there are no prophets, the Holy One, blessed be He, will have no one upon whom to cause His divine presence to dwell. The Midrash goes on to explain that this evil king was called Ahaz (literally \u201che seized\u201d), because he \u201cseized\u201d the synagogues and study-houses to close them. When he did this evil deed, everyone began to cry out \u201cWoe\u201d (\u201cVay\u201d), as it says: And (Vay \u2013 Woe) it came to pass in the days of Ahaz (Vay-yehi biyemey Ahaz)\u2026 (Isaiah 7:1).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, according to Scripture, it seems Ahaz had only one son, Hezekiah, who ruled Judah after him (II Kings 18:1). His mother was Abi (II Kings 18:2), also called Abijah (11 Chronicles 29:1). According to Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 63b, the son whom Ahaz \u201cpassed through the fire\u201d was none other than his only son Hezekiah. But Hezekiah was saved by his mother, who daubed him with the blood of the salamander, whose blood was a legendary fire-retardant (see Aristotle, History of Animals V, 19).<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1873 a clay tablet was discovered in the ancient Assyrian palace at Nimrud on which Tiglath-Pileser III boasts of the tribute paid to him by Ahaz as mentioned in II Kings 16:8. In part, the inscription reads: \u201cFrom these I received tribute \u2026 Jehoahaz [Ahaz] of Judah \u2026 including gold, silver, iron, fine cloth and many garments made from wool that was dyed in purple\u2026\u201d. In the mid-1990\u2019s a bulla (clay seal) came to light bearing the inscription \u201cBelonging to Ahaz (son of) Yehotam, King of Judah\u201d. Most recently, in 2015, another such bulla was discovered that reads “Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz king of Judah”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Alabaster wall relief, the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III stands over an enemy, from the Central Palace at Nimrud,\u00a0 Neo-Assyrian period, circa 728 BCE \/ The British Museum \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64189,"id":64189,"title":"2kings16-Tiglath-pileser_III_stands_over_an_enemy","filename":"2kings16-Tiglath-pileser_III_stands_over_an_enemy-1.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings16-Tiglath-pileser_III_stands_over_an_enemy-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/ahaz\/2kings16-tiglath-pileser_iii_stands_over_an_enemy\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings16-tiglath-pileser_iii_stands_over_an_enemy","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64175,"date":"2019-10-08 06:56:16","modified":"2019-10-08 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