מלכים ב ט״ז

ויגלה קירה. את העם אשר בה, הגלה למדינה ששמה קיר:

He exiled [it's people] to Kir. The people therein he exiled to a province named Kir.

עד בא. לפני בוא המלך מדמשק:

Before [king Achaz] came. [He built the altar] before the king came from Damesek.¹Achaz decided to worship the idols of Arom because he believed they were responsible for his defeat. See II Divrei Hayomim 28:23.

ואת מזבח הנחשת ויקרב וגו'. אי אפשר לומר מזבח הנחשת שעשה משה, שהרי נגנז, ואי אפשר לומר מזבח אבנים שעשה שלמה וקראו (בדברי הימים ב ז ז) מזבח הנחשת, שהרי אי אפשר לקרבו מזוית לזוית אלא אם הורסו, והרי שנינו אש שירדה בימי שלמה לא נסתלקה מעל המזבח, עד שבא מנשה וסילקה, שהוא הרס את המזבח כמו שמצינו באגדת חלק (זבחים סא ב) אין לי לפרש מזבח זה, אלא בכיורות ומכונות של נחשת, שהיו צרכי מזבח, והיו אצל המזבח הקודש, וכשעשה אחז את המזבח לעבודה זרה, סילק את הכיור והקריבו לצד אחר מאת פני הבית, שלא להפסיק בין המזבח שעשה ובין בית ה', ויתן אותו אצל מזבח הקודש צפונה. ומצינו שפירשו רבותינו דוגמתו (במסכת שבת דף נה א) ויבאו ויעמדו אצל מזבח הנחשת (יחזקאל ט ב), מזבח הנחושת מי הוה, אמר להם התחילו ממקום שאומרין שירה לפני. הרי כאן לכלי שיר של נחושת קראו מזבח:

And the Copper Altar … he brought, etc. It is impossible to say that this was the Copper Altar that Moshe made, because it was hidden. It is also impossible to say that his was the stone altar that Shlomo made, and he called it the “Copper Altar,”²II Divrei Hayomim 7:7. because it was impossible to move it from one corner to another without taking it apart,³Alternatively, “he placed the new altar near the Copper Altar, i.e., near Shlomo's altar which is referred to as the Copper Altar. He placed it closer to the Sanctuary than Shlomo's altar without moving that altar to show that it was important to him.—Radak but we learned that the fire that descended in Shlomo's time, did not leave the altar until Menashe came and removed it,⁴Maseches Zevachim 61b. for he demolished the altar, as we find in the Aggadah of [the chapter entitled] “Cheilek.”⁵See Maseches Sanhedrin 103b. I have no way to explain this “[copper] altar” except as [referring to] the basin and the bases of copper, which were accessories of the altar and were near the holy altar. Now, when Achaz made the altar for the idols, he removed the basin and moved it to another side, [farther] away from the Temple, so as not to intervene between the altar he made and the Temple of Adonoy, and he placed it next to the holy altar on the north. We find that our Rabbis⁶Maseches Shabbos 55a. explained a passage in a similar manner, ”And they came and stood next to the Copper Altar.”⁷Yechezkeil 9:2. Did the Copper Altar exist? He said to them, ”Begin from the place where they recite songs before Me.” Thus we see here that copper musical instruments are referred to as a “[copper] altar.”⁸It follows then, that the copper basin which is an accessory to the altar is referred to as “the Copper Altar.”

לבקר. לפרקים, לכשיעלה בלבי לבקרו:

To visit. At intervals, when it enters my mind to visit it.⁹The Copper Altar will be for occasional use, thereby, establishing the new altar as the primary one.

את המסגרות המכונות. איצטבלאות שהמכונות עשויות עליהם, כמו שנאמר (מלכים א ז כח): וזה מעשה המכונות מסגרות להם:

The frames of the bases. The rows upon which the bases were made,¹⁰He removed the bases from the ten basins, and out of contempt, he set the basins on a stone floor.—Radak as it is stated, ”The bases were made in the following manner: They had frames … ”¹¹I Melochim 7:28. ¹²See I Melochim 7:23-27.

מוסך השבת. גג אהל עשוי לצל, לשבת תחתיו בעזרה ביום השבת:

The canopy for Shabbos. The roof of a tent made for shade,¹³Alternatively, a building in which the mishmar, i.e., the family of kohanim that had served during the week, would stay until after Shabbos. That too he removed.—Radak to sit under it in the [Temple] courtyard on Shabbos.

ואת מבוא המלך. שהיה בא בו מביתו לבית ה' דרך החוץ, הסב אותו במקום הצנע, מפני מלך אשור שלא יחמוד אותן הכלים, וגם את המבוא הסב, שמא יצטרך להחבא, ויברח בהצנע:

And the king's … entrance. [The entrance] through which he would come, from his house to the Beis [Hamikdosh] of Adonoy through the outside,¹⁴He sealed up that entrance so that access to the palace could be gained only through the Beis Hamikdosh. This would make an attack on the palace more difficult because now the only access to the palace would be through the Beis Hamikdosh.—Ralbag he changed to a concealed place because of the king of Ashur, so that he would not covet those vessels, and he also changed the entrance, in case he would have to hide and secretly escape.