He saw the altar that was at Damascus: The Hebrew has the definite article before the noun altar, so it seems that a specific altar is intended. Perhaps this was an altar dedicated to the Syrian god Rimmon, mentioned in 2 Kgs 5.18. Or perhaps it was an altar dedicated to King Tiglath Pileser himself or to gods that he worshiped. It is also possible to understand the Hebrew to mean “an altar” (so Revised English Bible), not referring to a specific well-known altar in Damascus.

Uriah the priest: Since the proper name Uriah is qualified here by the words the priest, there should be no danger of confusing this person with the Hittite officer named Uriah, who was killed by David in order to get Uriah’s wife Bathsheba (2 Sam 11). It is, however, probable that this is the same Uriah mentioned by the prophet Isaiah (8.2), and he was probably the high priest. For this reason translators should not say “a priest named Uriah” since the definite article here seems to indicate a specific priest and not just any priest. A possible rendering is “the high priest Uriah.”

A model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details: Instead of a model, one version of the ancient Greek translation reads “the measurements” (Jerusalem Bible) of the altar, but this evidence is not very strong, and Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text. The Hebrew noun rendered model has the meaning of “image” or “copy.” Most modern versions attempt to translate the idea of a “model” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible), “sketch” (Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New International Version), or “plans” (New Century Version). The problem is complicated by the fact that the Hebrew word translated pattern, which follows, has a very similar meaning. Perhaps the best solution to the problems of the last part of this verse will be to assume that Ahaz sent two things, although it is not clear exactly what these two things were. These two things may have been (1) a two-dimensional depiction like a drawing or a sketch and (2) a three-dimensional representation like a model. These things enabled Uriah the priest to know all the details and proportions of the altar. This model provided by New Jerusalem Bible may be helpful: “a picture and model of the altar, with details of its construction.” A slightly different understanding is expressed in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, in which both Hebrew words are understood to refer to two-dimensional objects as follows: “a sketch of the altar and a detailed plan of its construction.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .