Chapter 15

1 Abijam’s wicked reign. 7 Asa succeedeth him. 9 Asa’s good reign. 16 The war between Baasha and him causeth him to make a league with Ben-hadad. 23 Jehoshaphat succeedeth Asa. 25 Nadab’s wicked reign. 27 Baasha conspiring against him executeth Ahijah’s prophecy. 31 Nadab’s acts and death. 33 Baasha’s wicked reign.

1. The eighteenth year. In ancient times almost every nation had its own calendar, and recorded the dates relating to foreign countries in terms of its own methods of reckoning. Even today we express all ancient dates, originally recorded in various calendars, in terms of our own modern calendar and the b.c. scale of years. In the period of the Hebrew monarchies years were not numbered in a continuous series (as the year 1954 represents the 1954th year of the Christian Era), they were numbered for each king’s reign. Thus in Judah the year in which Abijam began to reign was called the 18th of Jeroboam, king of Israel. This is the first of many time statements showing the relationship between the reigns of the two Hebrews kingdoms. It seems evident from these relationships that the books of Kings record any dates connected with the accession of a king of Judah according to the system of reckoning used in Judah, and those concerning a king of Israel by the Israelite system. Since the statement in this verse is a record concerning the reign of a king of Judah, the mention of the 18th year of Jeroboam in this connection would mean the 18th year of his reign as reckoned in Judah, and not necessarily the 18th year as Jeroboam himself reckoned it (see p. 148).

2. The daughter. Probably the granddaughter, for according to 2 Chron. 13:2, the mother of Abijah, there called Michaiah, was the daughter of “Uriel of Gibeah.” The “Abishalom” of this passage also called “Absalom” (2 Chron. 11:20), is in all probability the rebel son of David, whose mother was also named Maachah (2 Sam. 3:3). Absalom had only one daughter, Tamar (2 Sam. 14:27), who probably married Uriel. Of the “eighteen wives, and threescore concubines” of Rehoboam, Maachah was the favorite, and her son Abijah was selected by Rehoboam from his 28 sons for the kingship (2 Chron. 11:21, 22).

3. Sins of his father. Although following the idolatrous practices of his father, Abijah set himself up before Israel as the champion of the Jerusalem Temple and the worship of Jehovah, rebuking the Israelites for their worship of the golden calves (2 Chron. 13:4–12).

4. A lamp. That is, his posterity. “For David’s sake” refers to the Lord’s promise to David in 2 Sam. 7:12–16.

5. Matter of Uriah. This is the only passage where this qualification of the praise of David is found. The reference to Uriah is not found in a number of manuscripts of the LXX.

6. There was war. This verse, repeating the statement of ch. 14:30, is lacking in a number of the manuscripts of the LXX.

7. Between Abijam and Jeroboam. An account of the war is found in 2 Chron. 13:3–20. The writer of Kings touches lightly on military matters, omitting entirely a number of items described in detail in Chronicles.

10. His mother’s name was Maachah. The Jews, in common with Oriental usage, call any male ancestor, however remote, a father, and any female ancestor, a mother (see Gen. 3:20; 10:21; 17:4; 36:43; etc.). Maachah was the mother of Abijam (1 Kings 15:2), and therefore the grandmother of Asa. She is called “queen” (1 Kings 15:13), indicating that she held the honored position of queen mother at the court, and that great deference was still being paid to her.

11. Which was right. The reign of Asa was a turning point in the history of Judah. The prophets Azariah and Hanani (2 Chron. 15:1, 2; 16:7) gave guidance and inspiration to the king in his efforts to follow the way of the Lord. The account in Kings gives only a few brief details of this interesting reign, which is reported in much greater detail in Chronicles (2 Chron. 14:1 to 16:14).

12. He took away. In this effort to rid the land of sodomites he evidently was not entirely successful, for it was left to his son Jehoshaphat to complete the task (1 Kings 22:46).

13. Idol. Heb. miphleseth. This word occurs only here and in the parallel passage in 2 Chron. 15:16. It implies something horrible and shocking. Probably an obscene image of some particularly monstrous kind is meant. The act of Maachah in making such an idol was regarded as so flagrant that she was removed from her high station in her old age, and the idol was publicly burned.

14. Not removed. Asa made an earnest attempt to remove “the altars of the strange gods, and the high places,” and to rid the land of the corrupting shrines (2 Chron. 14:3–5), but in this effort he did not meet with complete success.

15. Brought in. Efforts were being put forth by both Abijah and Asa to replace the Temple treasures that had been taken away by Shishak during the reign of Rehoboam (ch. 14:26).

16. Between Asa and Baasha. During the first ten years of Asa’s reign the land was peaceful (2 Chron. 14:1, 6). In his 15th year he gained a great victory over the invading armies of Zerah the Ethiopian (2 Chron. 14:9–15; cf. 2 Chron. 15:10). It was probably after that that hostilities broke out with Baasha of Israel.

17. Built Ramah. Upon Asa’s great victory over Zerah, many strangers flocked to him “out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him” (2 Chron. 15:9). To prevent his subjects from thus falling away to Asa, Baasha fortified Ramah, a town in Benjamin about 6 mi. (9.6 km.) north of Jerusalem, close to the boundary between Israel and Judah, thus endeavoring to control the border.

18. Ben-hadad. Benhadad I. There was a Benhadad II who was a contemporary of Ahab (ch. 20:1, 34), and a Benhadad III, son of Hazael, who was a contemporary of Jehoash (2 Kings 13:24, 25).

Hezion. Probably the same as, or the father of, Rezon, Solomon’s enemy (ch. 11:23). In the short time from Solomon to Asa, Syria must have become a formidable military power. With the Temple treasures, Asa now sought to purchase the aid of Benhadad against Baasha. An interesting stone monument of a king named Benhadad, identified by some with this king, showing his picture and containing an inscription in Aramaic, was found a few years ago.

20. Cities of Israel. The cities smitten were in the north, near the borders of Syria. The site of Ijon was probably in the valley between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, west of Mt. Hermon. Dan was 23 3/4 mi. (38 km.) north of the Sea of Galilee. Abel-beth-maachah was 23 3/4 mi. (38 km.) from Dan, and Cinneroth was on the shore of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee). The land of Naphtali, the area in which most of the foregoing cities were situated, was north of the Sea of Galilee. From ch. 20:34 it seems that Syria held these cities at least till the time of Ahab. See Israel’s War with Syria in the Days of Baasha and Ahab.

21. Left off building. Asa’s policy, though it succeeded in its immediate purpose of getting rid of the threat of Baasha, was hardly wise or proper. Asa should have put his trust once more in the Lord as he had done in the crisis when Zerah the Ethiopian invaded the land (2 Chron. 14:9–15). Regardless of the straits in which he found himself, Asa had no right to employ the treasures from the Lord’s Temple to purchase aid from a heathen king. For this matter he was rebuked by the prophet Hanani, but became angry and placed the prophet in prison (2 Chron. 16:7–10). Isaiah later uttered a similar rebuke to Israel because of reliance on Egypt rather than God (Isa. 30:1–17).

22. Built with them. Asa had followed a vigorous military policy, building fortified posts where they might be needed, and making “walls, and towers, gates, and bars” (2 Chron. 14:6, 7). After Baasha had left off his efforts at Ramah, the modern erРRaЖm, in Benjamin, Asa selected a stronger site 1 3/4 mi. (2.8 km.) east of it, Geba, modern JebaФ, which stood at the top of a terraced hill, overlooking the valley to the north, and another site, Mizpah, identified by some with Tell enРNasbeh, 3 1/2 mi. (5.6 km.) northwest of it. The materials collected by Baasha for fortifying Ramah were employed by Asa to fortify Geba and Mizpah. Mizpah must have been a strong and important place, for it was chosen by Gedaliah, governor of Judah appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, as the headquarters from which he commanded the highway from Shechem and Samaria to Jerusalem (Jer. 41:1–5).

23. The acts of Asa. Some of these are recorded in Chronicles. The most important are his war with Zerah the Ethiopian, his celebration of a great festival in Jerusalem in his 15th year, his imprisonment of Hanani the seer, his oppression of some of the people, and the going in his final illness, not to the Lord, but the physicians.

Old age. According to 2 Chron. 16:12, this was in the 39th year of his reign.

24. Jehoshaphat. According to the system of chronology adopted for use in this commentary, Jehoshaphat reigned with Asa for a period before his father’s death. Evidently Asa’s declining health caused him to associate his son with him on the throne to assist in carrying the responsibilities of state.

25. The second year. According to Israelite reckoning, but the first according to Asa’s own reckoning (see on v. 1). The chronological data of the kings introducing the accounts of their reigns are, generally speaking, arranged in accord with the sequence of their accessions to the throne. This is why the reign of Nadab is now introduced after that of Asa, rather than the reign of Jehoshaphat, Asa’s successor. Thus far we have had the following:

1 Kings 15:1, 2

Abijam in Judah

18th year of Jeroboam

1 Kings 15:9, 10

Asa in Judah

20th year of Jeroboam

1 Kings 15:25

Nadab in Israel

2d year of Asa

The remaining reigns recorded in 1 Kings occur in the following order:

1 Kings 15:28, 33

Baasha in Israel

3d year of Asa

1 Kings 16:8

Elah in Israel

26th year of Asa

1 Kings 16:10

Zimri in Israel

27th year of Asa

1 Kings 16:23

Omri in Israel

31st year of Asa

1 Kings 16:29

Ahab in Israel

38th year of Asa

1 Kings 22:41, 42

Jehoshaphat in Judah

4th year of Ahab

1 Kings 22:51

Ahaziah in Israel

17th year of Jehoshaphat

It will be noticed that all these reigns are arranged in a perfect order of chronological sequence. Thus Jehoshaphat is not introduced until Ahab’s reign has been given, since it was in the 4th year of Ahab that Jehoshaphat began to rule, and Ahaziah is not introduced till after Jehoshaphat, since it was in the 17th year of Jehoshaphat that Ahaziah began his reign. This shows how the books of Kings are built around a framework of

26. He did evil. This is the sole item that is left on record concerning Nadab’s reign.

27. Of Issachar. Baasha sprang from an obscure tribe, hardly distinguished at any time in Hebrew history.

Gibbethon. This was a Levitical town in the territory originally assigned to Dan (Joshua 19:44; 21:23). It was in the Shephelah (see on Joshua 19:44). Many towns in this border area frequently changed hands between the Hebrews and the Philistines. The town was now in the hands of the Philistines, and 24 years later it was still held by them (1 Kings 16:15).

28. Third year of Asa. Nadab began his reign in the second year of Asa (v. 25) and was slain by Baasha in the third year of Asa, after a reign of two years (v. 25). This was possible because Nadab’s reign was reckoned according to a system in which Jeroboam’s last year was also reckoned as Nadab’s first year, and any part of the following regnal year in which Nadab reigned was considered his second year. Seeing he reigned during parts of the two regnal years, he would be said to reign two years (see p. 137; also PK 109).

29. Smote all the house. See on ch. 16:12. Baasha did this for his own security, thus fulfilling Ahijah’s prophecy (ch. 14:7–11).

33. Tirzah. This city, which had been the capital of Jeroboam (ch. 14:17), continued to be the capital of Israel under the house of Baasha, and down to the reign of Omri (ch. 16:23). It was once a royal Canaanite city (Joshua 12:24), and was famous for its beauty, like Jerusalem (S. of Sol. 6:4).

Twenty and four years. That is, 24 years, inclusive (see on v. 28), for he began his reign in the 3d year of Asa and continued upon the throne until Asa’s 26th year (ch. 16:8).

Ellen G. White comments

11  PK 110, 190

16–24PK 113

29, 30  PK 109