But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord - hypocritical pretext of keeping the law (Deuteronomy 6:16). "Tempt,"
i.e., put God to the proof, as in Matthew 4:7, by seeking His miraculous interposition without warrant. But here there was the warrant of the prophet of God: to have asked a sign when thus offered would not have been a tempting, but a trusting of God. Not to ask a sign when God offered one, in order to elicit faith from him, was tempting, in addition to distrusting Him. Ahaz' true reason for declining was his resolve not to do God's will, but to negotiate with Assyria, and persevere in his idolatry (2 Kings 16:7-8; 2 Kings 3:4; 2 Kings 3:10). Men often excuse their distrust in God, and trust in their own devices, by professed reverence for God. Ahaz may have fancied that though Yahweh was the God of Judea, and could work a sign there, that was no proof that the local god of Syria might not be more powerful. Such was the common pagan notion (Isaiah 10:10-11; Isaiah 36:18-20)).