Ahaz's accession and apostasy — 'Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD, like his father David, but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel' (אחז בן עשׂרים שׁנה בממלכו וששׁ עשׂרה שׁנה מלך בירושׁלם ולא עשׂה הישׁר בעיני יהוה כדוד אביו). The assessment is immediately negative — Ahaz 'did not do what was right,' contrasting with David. The phrase 'walked in the ways of the kings of Israel' invokes northern apostasy as the paradigm.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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