The First Book of the Kings, commonly called the Third Book of the Kings
1 Kings 15
Chapter XV · Vol. II, pp. 747–749
1 Abijam's wicked reign. 7 Asa succeedeth him. 9 Asa's good reign. 16 The war between Baasha and Asa causeth him to make a league with Benhadad. 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.
2 Threeb years reigned he in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.1
b 2 Ch.13.2; 11.20-22; 15.16. ver.10,13.
1 This statement may be reconciled with that in 2 Ch. 13. 1, 2, by reference to a fact of very common occurrence, viz. the same person being called by different persons, or at different times of life, by different names, of which a striking instance occurs in the case of Abijam, ver. 1. Comp. 2 Ch. 13. 20, 21. Mat. 1. 7. Or, according to the analogy of ver. 3, Abishalom may have been grandfather, and Uriel father of Maachah.—C.
3 And he cwalked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was dnot perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.
c 2 Ch.12.1,2,5,14. ch.14.22.
4 Nevertheless, efor David's sake, did the LORD his God give him a lamp2 in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem;
e ch.11.12,32,36. 2 Sa.7.12-16. Ps.132.12,17.
2 Or, candle.
5 Because David fdid that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, gsave only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.3
f ch.11.6,33,34; 14.8. Ac.13.22,36. Ps.119.6. Lu.1.6. Re.2.10. 2 Ti.4.7.
g 2 Sa.11.4; 12.9. Ps.li. xxviii.
3 'Turned not aside' deliberately from any known and commanded duty save in this case. 'Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others;' and this was David's only aggravated offence. In other sins he fell, in this he 'turned aside.'—C.
6 And there was war between hRehoboam4 and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
h Abijam, the son of Rehoboam.
4 Some translations and MSS. read Abijam. But instead of gratuitously pronouncing it the mistake of a transcriber, may we not as well conclude that Abijam was also called Rehoboam, but that the name was generally dropped for sake of distinction?—C.
7 Now ithe rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
i 2 Ch.13.2-22. ch.14.29,30; 11.41.
8 And kAbijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
k 2 Ch.14.1. ch.14.31; 2.10; 11.43.
9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem: and his lmother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
l That is, grandmother's, ver.2,13. 2 Ch.12.20,21.
11 And Asa did that which was mright in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.
m 2 Ch.6.7; 16.7,10,12. ver.5.
12 And he took away the nsodomites out of the land,5 and oremoved all the idols that phis fathers had made.
n ch.14.24; 22.46. Ro.1.26,27.
5 Either by banishment or death, as the law of God directed, Le.28.13.—C.
p ver.3; ch.14.23; 11.7. Eze.20.18.
13 And also qMaachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa rdestroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
q 2 Ch.15.16. De.33.9. Zec.13.3. ver.2,10.
r De.7.5. Ex.32.20. 2 Ch.15.16. 2 Ki.23.12.
14 But the shigh places were not removed:6 nevertheless Asa's heart was tperfect with the LORD all his days.
s ch.22.43. 2 Ki.12.3; 14.4; 15.4,35, with 2 Ch.14.3. Le.26.30. De.12.13,14.
6 The reason of this neglect or shortcoming is not mentioned, perhaps from some superstitious veneration the good king retained for them, or his inability to attain such a complete reform without popular commotion.—C.
A.M. 3053. B.C. 951.
t ch.11.4.
15 And he ubrought7 in the things8 which his father had dedicated, and the things which himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver, and gold, and vessels.9
u 1 Ch.26.28. ch.7.51. 2 Ch.13.15; 14.13; 15.18.
7 B.C. 951.
8 Heb. holy things.
9 From the character of Abijam, we would scarcely expect him to dedicate anything to God. But irreligious men are often liberal to religious institutions, and the statement, ver. 3, that his 'heart was not perfect with the Lord as the heart of his father David,' intimates that, in the midst of his sins, he still had some yearnings after religion.—C.
16 Andx there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
x ch.14.30; ver.6,32, with 2 Ch.14.1, i.e. after.
17 And yBaasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built zRamah,1 that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
z Jos.18.25. Je.31.15. 1 Sa.7.17.
1 B.C. 939.——[Ramah, as its name implies, stood on 'a hill' in the territory of Benjamin, five miles north of Jerusalem. It lay on the borders of the rival kingdoms of Judah. It was a strong position, and commanded the great road from the north to Jerusalem. The king of Judah was naturally alarmed at the erection of a fortress in such close proximity to his capital, so he stopped the work by bribing the Syrians to invade northern Palestine, and then carried off all the building materials.—P.]
18 Then aAsa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent2 them to bBen-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
19 There is a cleague between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold;3 come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
20 So dBen-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote eIjon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
d 2 Ch.16.4. 2 Ki.15.29. 1 Ti.6.10.
e 2 Ki.15.29. Ju.18.27-31. ch.12.29. 2 Sa.20.15. Jos.11.2; 19.32-39.
21 And it came to pass, fwhen Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building of Ramah, and dwelt in gTirzah.
22 Then hking Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah, (none was exempted:) and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them iGeba4 of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
h 2 Ch.16.6.
i Jos.21.17; 18.23,26. 1 Sa.7.5,7,16. Je.40.6,8.
4 Geba lay about two miles east of Ramah, and Mizpeh four miles south-west.—P.
23 The krest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless lin the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.5
k 2 Ch.xiv.-xvi. ch.11.41-43; 14.29-31; ver.7,8.
l 2 Ch.16.12,13. Ec.12.1,2. Ps.90.10. He.12.6-10. Re.3.19.
5 The precise nature of the disease we cannot tell; but while it reminds us that kings are not exempt from the common lot of humanity, it reminds us by a high example to 'remember our Creator in the days of our youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, in which we shall say, we have no pleasure in them.'—C.
24 And Asa slept with his fathers,6 and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and mJehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.
6 B.C. 914.
m 2 Ch.16.14; 17.1. 1 Ch.3.10. Joel 3.12. Mat.1.8. ch.22.41-43.
25 And Nadab the son of Jeroboam 7began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.
7 B.C. 954.
26 And he ndid evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
n ch.12.30-33; 13.33; 14.16; 16.2,9,26.
27 And Baasha the son of oAhijah, of the house of Issachar, pconspired against him: and Baasha smote him at qGibbethon,8 which belonged to the Philistines; (for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon;)
A.M. 3050. B.C. 954.
o Not ch.11.29; 14.2.
p ch.16.9. 2 Ki.12.20; 15.10,25,30.
q Jos.19.44; 21.23. ch.16.15,17.
8 It belonged to the tribe of Dan, and was given by that tribe to the Levites, Jos. 19. 24; 21. 33. The latter seem to have been dispossessed of the towns they held in the ten tribes, which may have afforded the Philistines an opportunity of getting Gibbethon into their own hands.—I.
29 And it came to pass, when he reigned, that she smote all the house of Jeroboam;1 he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:2
s ch.14.10,11,14,16; 12.26-33; 13.33.
1 He doubtless left the dead bodies of Jeroboam's family unburied, as Ahijah had foretold, ch. 14. 9-14. Baasha soon showed that his motive in this massacre was his own malice and ambition, and that in gratifying his thirst for blood he might secure his usurped authority; for though he roots out the sinners, he cleaves to their sins. Thus ungodly men are 'the rod of God's anger,' even when ripening themselves for his judgment I.
2 This tragic fulfilment of prophecy took place only about two years after the prophecy itself was uttered, thus confirming the interpretation given of ch. 14. 14.—P.
30 Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
31 Nowt the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?3
t ch.14.19; 16.5,14,20,27; 11.41.
3 Nadab was made king, or regent, during his father's life, and both father and son died in the same year. When it is said that the acts of Nadab are written in the 'book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel,' it is plain that the present canonical book cannot be meant, for the name of Nadab is not even mentioned in it.—P.
Notes
[Ver. 2. Abishalom is a lengthened form of Absalom, and the person alluded to is most probably the well-known son of king David. His daughter Thamar appears to have married Uriel of Gibeah, and bare him Maachah, who was the mother of Abijam. This illustrious descent will account for the mention of the grandfather rather than the father. P.]
Ver. 20. [Ijon lay in a beautiful plain on the northern border of Naphtali, between the ranges of Lebanon and Anti-lebanon. Abel-beth-maachah was a few miles south of it. The invaders marched southward down the valley of the Upper Jordan as far as the Sea of Galilee, the region round which was called Cinneroth. Then they probably turned back across the mountains of Naphtali. P.]
Reflections.—How few great men, especially kings, have any real piety! And what a plague to their subjects is their want of it! Parents' ill example is very pernicious to their children: and it is a double reproach on those who degenerate from the piety of their ancestors. Sin often shortens men's days, and hastens them to an untimely end. But what a remarkable blessing to nations and families are God's true children! Even after their death God often pities, from regard to them, and to his promises made to them. It is a mercy when God shortens the reign of wicked rulers to make way for better, and who will begin reformation at themselves and their court. Many defects are in the best; much imperfection in their works of reformation; and great proneness to rely upon an arm of flesh in the time of trouble. But God generally imbitters to his people the success of their own sinful projects. How wretched are nations when one wicked prince still follows another! when successors murder their wicked sovereigns, but continue cleaving to their ruinous wickedness!