[471] 1 Kings viii. 64; 2 Chron. iv. 1. In this and similar instances commentators, biassed by _a priori_ considerations, have imagined that Ahaz did not in person offer sacrifices. But this is what the text says, and it was the custom of kings to regard themselves as invested with Divine attributes. Ahaz may have had this lesson impressed on his mind by his visit to Tiglath-Pileser. See Grätz, _Gesch. der Juden._, ii. 150. Layard, _Nin. and Bab._, 472 ff., gives us pictures of Assyrian kings ministering at their altars, which are of various shapes. [472] 2 Kings xvi. 15. Vulg., _paratum erit ad voluntatem meam_. The LXX. followed another reading: ἔσται μοὶ εἰς τὸ πρωί. Grätz (ii. 150), for לכקר, "to inquire," reads לקרב "to draw near to." [473] 1 Kings vii. 23-39. [474] 2 Kings xvi. 18. The allusions are obscure. R.V., "the covered way"; A.V., "the covert for the Sabbath." See 2 Chron. ix. 4. Here the Hebr. _Q'ri_ has _Mûsak_, and the Vulg. _Musach Sabbati_. The LXX. evidently did not understand it (καὶ τὸν θεμέλιον τῆς καθέδρας ᾠκοδόμησεν). For "covert for the Sabbath," Geiger suggests "molten images for the Shame" (Bosheth-Baal, by transposition of _Shabbath_). Comp. 2 Chron. xxviii. 2. [475] 2 Chron. xxviii. 20: "Tiglath-Pileser came unto him, and distressed him, but helped him not." [476] 2 Kings xviii. 15, 16. [477] In justice to Ahaz, we should observe that (1) in every instance the later account multiplies and magnifies and gives a darker colouring to his offences; (2) that neither Isaiah, Micah, nor any other prophet has a word of reproach for such enormities in Ahaz. [478] It is a Jewish tradition that Hezekiah would not bury his father Ahaz in a sarcophagus, but on a bier (_Pesachin_, f. 56, 1; _Sanhedrin_, f. 47, 1; Grätz, _Gesch. d. Juden._, ii, 224). [479] His name, _Chizquîyyah_, is shortened from _Yechizquîyyahoo_ (Isa. i. 1; 2 Kings xx. 10; Hos. i. 1). It means "Jehovah's strength" (_Gesen._), or "Yah is might" (_Fûrst_). PROBABLE DATES. B.C. 745. Accession of Tiglath-Pileser. 746. Death of Uzziah. Accession of Jotham. First vision of Isaiah (Isa. vi.). 735. Accession of Ahaz. Syro-Ephraimitish war. 734-732. Siege and capture of Damascus, and ravage of Northern Israel by Tiglath-Pileser. Visit of Ahaz to Damascus. 727. Accession of Shalmaneser IV. 722. Accession of Sargon. Capture of Samaria, and captivity of the Ten Tribes. 720. Defeat of Sabaco by Sargon at Raphia. 715(?). Accession of Hezekiah. 711. Sargon captures Ashdod. 707. Sargon defeats Merodach-Baladan, and captures Babylon. 705. Murder of Sargon. Accession of Sennacherib. 701. Sennacherib besieges Ekron. Defeats Egypt at Altaqu. Invades Judah, and spares Hezekiah. Invades Egypt, and sends the Rabshakeh to Jerusalem. Disaster of Assyrians at Pelusium, and disappearance from before Jerusalem.