But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
Walked in the way of the kings of Israel. This is descriptive of the early part of his reign, when, like the kings of Israel, he patronized the symbolic worship of God by images, but he gradually went further into gross idolatry (2 Chronicles 28:2).
Made his son to pass through the fire (2 Kings 23:10). The hands of the idol Moloch, or Baal, being red hot, the children were passed through between them, which was considered a form of lustration; but there is reason to believe that in certain circumstances the children were burnt to death (Deuteronomy 12:31; Psalms 106:37; Jeremiah 7:31; Ezekiel 16:20-21; Ezekiel 23:37-39). It was the former of these practices Ahaz observed-that of purifying or sanctifying his children, by letting or 'making them pass through the fire,' and thereby dedicating them to that pagan divinity. It was a simple and quick operation, merely placing the child between the glowing arms of the idol; but the rite was considered symbolical of purity. And something like this is observed still in Persia by the king of Persia, who sends his son, seated on black horse, to ride through the flames, in order to prove the sacredness of his character, and to show to the crowd that fire will not hurt him. The practice, however, of making children pass through the fire was strongly prohibited in the law (Leviticus 18:21; Leviticus 20:2-5; Deuteronomy 18:10), although there is no evidence that it was practiced in Israel until the time of Ahaz.