ACHAZ (Hebr. “He [God] holds”). — King of Judah for 16 years, probably from 743 to 728, or from 741 to 726. Son of Joatham, he succeeded him at the age of 25.
Since A. had not joined the anti-Assyrian alliance, the confederate kings waged war against him in order to dethrone him. From the west, the Philistines invaded the neighboring Judean cities, while from the north Facee, king of Israel, pursued the routed Judeans, after killing 20,000 of them; and Rasm (Razon), king of Damascus, having occupied the port of Elat, advanced northward, laying siege to Jerusalem and wishing to install there as king the “son of Tabeel,” his sympathizer. Isaiah, calm while all trembled like leaves in the wind (Is. 7:2), urged a confident waiting, assuring them that he could prove, even by a miracle, that the Lord was ready to intervene on behalf of his people. But when A. refused to ask for the confirming miracle, the prophet foretold the future birth of Emmanuel. A. first sought to secure the help and goodwill of the hostile deities through sacrifices and prayers, sacrificing his own son to Moloch and offering victims to the gods of Damascus (II Par. 28:23); then he appealed to Teglathphalasar III (autumn of 735) through an embassy which, together with the request for help, brought him all the gold and silver from the royal palace and the Temple. The Assyrian king, after conquering Damascus (732 B.C.), received there the homage of the vassal kings, including that of A. (Ianhazi, in the Assyrian text), who, in order to pay the tribute, had to strip the Temple even of its precious furnishings.
A. introduced polytheism into the kingdom, promoting the worship of the high places (hamoth, V. BAMĀH) and imitating that of the patron deity of Nineveh. Having removed the altar of burnt offerings, he had another built on the model of the Assyrian one he had seen at Damascus, on which he was the first to offer sacrifices. Finally, he dared to close the Temple, establishing altars “at every corner of Jerusalem” (II Par. 28:24). At his death, the impious king was not buried in the royal tombs. II Reg. 16:1-30; II Par. 28:1-27.