The submission of Judah, which Ahaz proffered, would be of the utmost importance in connection with any projects that might be entertained of Egyptian conquests. Naturally, Damascus was the first object of attack. It was the head of the confederacy, and it lay nearest to an army descending upon Lower Syria, as all Asiatic armies would descend, from the north. It appears from an inscription of Tiglath-pileser's, that Rezin met him in the field, was defeated, and slain. An attack upon Pekah followed. Now probably it was that the entire trans-Jordanic region was overrun: and that the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, were carried into captivity 1 Chronicles 5:26. Megiddo and Dor appear also to have been occupied, and the Arabs of the south chastised. Tiglathpileser then returned to Damascus, where a son of Rezin had assumed the crown; he besieged and took the city, and punished Rezin's son with death. Tiglath-pileser appears by one of his inscriptions to have held a court at Damascus, to which it is probable that the tributary kings of the neighborhood were summoned to pay their tributes and do homage for their kingdoms. Among the tributes brought to him at this time, those of Judaea, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Gaza, Ascalon, and Tyre, are mentioned.

Kir - Kir is mentioned by Amos Amo 9:7 as the country from which the Syrians came. It is joined by Isaiah Isa 22:6 with Elam or Elymais. Its position can only be conjectured. Perhaps the word designates a region adjoining Elymais, in the extreme southeastern limits of Assyria.

The king of Assyria hearkened unto him - It is said, 2 Chronicles 28:20, that Tilgath-pilneser distressed him, but strengthened him not.

Though he came against the Syrians, and took Damascus, and slew Rezin, yet he did not help Ahaz against the Philistines, nor did he lend him any forces to assist against Israel; and he distressed him by taking the royal treasures, and the treasures of the temple, and did him little service for so great a sacrifice. He helped him a little, but distressed him on the whole.

It appears that, about this time, Pekah king of Israel nearly ruined Judea: it is said, 2 Chronicles 28:6, that he slew one hundred thousand valiant men in one day; and that he carried away captive to Samaria two hundred thousand women and children, and much spoil; but, at the instance of the prophet Oded, these were all sent back, fed and clothed, 2 Chronicles 28:8-16.

And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him,.... Complied with his request:

for the king of Syria went up against Damascus, and took it; the metropolis of the kingdom of Syria, and so made a powerful diversion in favour of the king of Judah:

and carried the people of it captive to Kir; not Cyrene, as the Vulgate Latin version, a country belonging to Egypt, which the king of Assyria had no power over; but a place in upper Media, as Josephus (p) relates, which belonged to the Assyrian king; see Isaiah 22:6, compared with 2 Kings 21:2, of this captivity Amos had prophesied some time before, Amos 1:5.

and slew Rezin; the king of Syria, which also was foretold in the same prophecy.

(p) Antiqu. l. 9. c. 12. sect. 3.

Tiglath-pileser then marched against Damascus, took the city, slew Rezin, and led the inhabitants away to Kir, as Amos had prophesied (Amos 1:3-5). קיר, Kir, from which, according to Amos 9:7, the Aramaeans had emigrated to Syria, is no doubt a district by the river Kur (Κῦρος, Κύῤῥος), which taking its rise in Armenia, unites with the Araxes and flows into the Caspian Sea, although from the length of the river Kur it is impossible to define precisely the locality in which they were placed; and the statement of Josephus (Ant. ix. 13, 3), that the Damascenes were transported εἰς τὴν ἄνω Μηδίαν, is somewhat indefinite, and moreover has hardly been derived from early historical sources (see M. v. Niebuhr, Gesch. Assurs, p. 158). Nothing is said here concerning Tiglath-pileser's invasion of the kingdom of Israel, because this has already been mentioned at 2 Kings 15:29 in the history of Pekah.

And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

Damascus: Heb. Dammesek

16:1-9 Few and evil were the days of Ahaz. Those whose hearts condemn them, will go any where in a day of distress, rather than to God. The sin was its own punishment. It is common for those who bring themselves into straits by one sin, to try to help themselves out by another.