מלכים ב, פרק ט״ז, פסוק ט״ו

A radical shift takes place in the daily order of the Temple service under the direction of King Ahaz. The original altar dedicated to God is pushed aside in favor of a newly constructed one, fundamentally changing the daily worship. King Ahaz issues a direct order to Uriah the priest, transferring all the regular, public sacrifices—such as the daily morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering [מצודת דוד]—to this new structure. Driven by his own wickedness, the king demands that the entirety of the regular sacrificial service be redirected to his creation, effectively making the new altar the primary center of worship [רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ, אברבנאל, מלבי״ם].

The king refers to his new structure as the great altar. The primary approach among commentators is that this new altar was simply larger in physical size than the original copper altar built by Solomon [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל, רלב״ג]. However, another perspective suggests that its greatness did not necessarily lie in its physical dimensions, but rather in the high honor and importance it held within the king's own mind [רלב״ג].

As the new structure is given priority, the original copper altar is marginalized and reduced to a secondary status [רד״ק]. Ahaz decrees that the original altar will be kept solely for his personal inquiry. This new role has nothing to do with the daily morning services; rather, it implies a process of searching and seeking [מצודת ציון]. Instead of serving as the focal point for daily worship, the old altar is reserved only for occasional use, left waiting for those rare moments when the king might decide to seek it out and offer a sacrifice upon it [רש״י, מצודת דוד, רלב״ג, רד״ק, אברבנאל, ביאור שטיינזלץ, מלבי״ם].