What Does 2 Kings 16:15 Mean?
And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar send up the morning rising offering in smoke, and the evening gift, and the king's rising offering, and his gift, with the rising offering of all the people of the land, and their gift, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the rising offering, and all the blood of the slaughtered offering; and the bronze altar shall be for me to search through.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.THE KEY
The king splits the sacred system in two: the great altar receives every offering, while the old bronze altar becomes his private place of inquiry.
THE MEANING
You see authority dividing what is offered from where it seeks an answer: every morning, evening, royal, and communal offering is directed to the great altar, while the bronze altar is reserved for the king’s own inquiry. The verse exposes how a shared sacred order can be reorganized while its former center is retained for private access.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that preserving a sacred place preserves its former purpose: the bronze altar remains, but its assigned use changes.
THE ROOT
לְבַקֵּר
levaqqer
GROWS FROM
ב־ק־ר
b-q-r
Seek out, examine, inquire
“search through” in this verse is levaqqer. The verb is built on ב־ק־ר (b-q-r, seek, examine, inquire). The king keeps the bronze altar for his own inquiry while directing all the listed offerings elsewhere, separating consultation from sacrifice.
ALSO GROWS
biqqer: Examined, inspected
בִּקֵּר
This verbal form shows inquiry as close examination; the king reserves the bronze altar for this seeking.
mevaqqer: One who examines, an inspector
מְבַקֵּר
The agent form keeps the root’s searching action visible: the altar becomes a place where the king seeks or examines.
עֹלָה
ʿolah
GROWS FROM
ע־ל־ה
ʿ-l-h
Rise, go up, ascend
“morning rising offering” in this verse is ʿolah. עֹלָה (ʿolah, burnt offering) is named from ע־ל־ה (ʿ-l-h, rise or go up): it is the offering that rises. The repeated word gives the command a movement the king redirects to the great altar, even as the bronze altar is reserved for inquiry.
ALSO GROWS
ʿalah: To rise, go up
עָלָה
The verb gives the offering’s root sense: what is placed on the altar is imagined as rising.
ʿaliyah: Ascent, going up
עֲלִיָּה
This noun makes ascent a trajectory, reinforcing the movement carried by עֹלָה (ʿolah, burnt offering).
heʿelah: To bring up, cause to ascend
הֶעֱלָה
This causative form makes the directed movement explicit as the king routes the offerings to the great altar.
מִזְבֵּחַ
mizbeach
GROWS FROM
ז־ב־ח
z-b-ḥ
Slaughter, sacrifice
“slaughtered offering” in this verse is mizbeach. מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach, altar) grows from ז־ב־ח (z-b-ḥ, slaughter or sacrifice), so the place carries the act it receives in its name. When the bronze altar is retained for inquiry, its sacrificial identity sits beside a newly assigned function.
ALSO GROWS
zavach: To slaughter, sacrifice
זָבַח
The verb names the act associated with an altar, making the king’s reassignment of the bronze altar stand out.
zevach: A sacrifice, a slaughtered offering
זֶבַח
This noun names the offering itself, the very practice the king directs to the great altar instead.
THE PATTERN
Sacred forms can remain visible even as authority redirects their purpose and separates outward offerings from the search for an answer.
And Samuel said, Does the LORD delight in rising offerings and slaughtered offerings as much as in hearing and responding to the voice of the LORD? Behold, hearing and responding is better than a slaughtered offering; to prick the ear is better than the fat of rams.And the Lord says, Because this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips give me weight, but their heart has gone far from me, and their awe of me is a command of men, trained.And he said to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a cave of robbers.THE THREAD
And Samuel said, Does the LORD delight in rising offerings and slaughtered offerings as much as in hearing and responding to the voice of the LORD? Behold, hearing and responding is better than a slaughtered offering; to prick the ear is better than the fat of rams.Both verses use עֹלָה (ʿolah, burnt offering), from ע־ל־ה (ʿ-l-h, rise or go up). Ahaz routes the rising offerings to one altar while reserving another for inquiry; Samuel sets offerings beside hearing, revealing that ascent and response are not identical.
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