Ahaz
King of Judah during the attack by Syria and Israel. He declined Isaiah’s call to trust God, became a vassal of Assyria and changed the temple’s altar. An inscription of Tiglath-pileser III lists him among those who paid tribute.
Ahaz son of Jotham became king at twenty and reigned sixteen years. Kings says that he did not do what was right and that he made his son pass through the fire (2 Kings 16:1–4). When Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel besieged Jerusalem, Isaiah urged him to stand firm and offered him a sign, which he declined (Isaiah 7:1–12). He appealed instead to Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, sending the treasure of the temple and the palace (2 Kings 16:5–9). An Assyrian tablet lists him, under the fuller name Jehoahaz, among the western kings who paid tribute (Tiglath-pileser III, Summary Inscription 7 rev. 11′).
After meeting the Assyrian king at Damascus he had a copy of the altar he saw there built in the temple and moved the bronze altar aside (2 Kings 16:10–16). Chronicles adds that Assyria’s help brought him no relief (2 Chronicles 28:16–21). His son Hezekiah succeeded him (2 Kings 16:20).
In the timeline
- about 740 BC, estimated dateThe Call of Isaiah
In the year King Uzziah dies, Isaiah sees the Lord enthroned in the temple and is sent as a prophet to Judah. When Syria and Israel attack, he tells King Ahaz to trust God, gives the sign of Immanuel and speaks of a coming king from David’s line.