2 Kings 16:18

16:18 He also removed the Sabbath awning ¹  that had been built ²  in the temple and the king’s outer entranceway, on account of the king of Assyria. ³ 

2 Kings 17:9

17:9 The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. ⁴  They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress. ⁵ 

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¹ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מוּסַךְ (musakh; Qere) / מִיסַךְ (misakh; Kethib) is uncertain. For discussion see HALOT 557 s.v. מוּסַךְ and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 189-90.

² tn Heb “that they built.”

³ sn It is doubtful that Tiglath-pileser ordered these architectural changes. Ahaz probably made these changes so he could send some of the items and materials to the Assyrian king as tribute. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 190, 193.

⁴ tn The meaning of the verb וַיְחַפְּאוּ (vayÿkhappÿ’u), translated here “said,” is uncertain. Some relate it to the verbal root חָפַה (khafah), “to cover,” and translate “they did it in secret” (see BDB 341 s.v. חָפָא). However, the pagan practices specified in the following sentences were hardly done in secret. Others propose a meaning “ascribe, impute,” which makes good contextual sense but has little etymological support (see HALOT 339 s.v. חפא). In this case Israel claimed that the Lord authorized their pagan practices.

⁵ sn That is, from the city’s perimeter to the central citadel.