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Texts -- 1 Kings 15:10-34 (NET)

Context
15:10 He ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem . His grandmother was Maacah daughter of Abishalom . 15:11 Asa did what the Lord approved like his ancestor David had done . 15:12 He removed the male cultic prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the disgusting idols his ancestors had made . 15:13 He also removed Maacah his grandmother from her position as queen because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole . Asa cut down her Asherah pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley . 15:14 The high places were not eliminated , yet Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord throughout his lifetime . 15:15 He brought the holy items that he and his father had made into the Lord’s temple , including the silver , gold , and other articles . 15:16 Now Asa and King Baasha of Israel were continually at war with each other . 15:17 King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah and established Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the land of King Asa of Judah . 15:18 Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and handed it to his servants . He then told them to deliver it to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon , the son of Hezion , king of Syria , ruler in Damascus , along with this message : 15:19 “I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made. See , I have sent you silver and gold as a present . Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel , so he will retreat from my land.” 15:20 Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel . They conquered Ijon , Dan , Abel Beth Maacah , and all the territory of Naphtali , including the region of Kinnereth . 15:21 When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying Ramah and settled down in Tirzah . 15:22 King Asa ordered all the men of Judah (no exemptions were granted) to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah . King Asa used the materials to build up Geba (in Benjamin ) and Mizpah . 15:23 The rest of the events of Asa’s reign, including all his successes and accomplishments , as well as a record of the cities he built , are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah . Yet when he was very old he developed a foot disease . 15:24 Asa passed away and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor David . His son Jehoshaphat replaced him as king .
Nadab’s Reign over Israel
15:25 In the second year of Asa’s reign over Judah , Jeroboam’s son Nadab became the king of Israel ; he ruled Israel for two years . 15:26 He did evil in the sight of the Lord . He followed in his father’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to sin . 15:27 Baasha son of Ahijah , from the tribe of Issachar , conspired against Nadab and assassinated him in Gibbethon , which was in Philistine territory. This happened while Nadab and all the Israelite army were besieging Gibbethon . 15:28 Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah and replaced him as king. 15:29 When he became king , he executed Jeroboam’s entire family . He wiped out everyone who breathed , just as the Lord had predicted through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite . 15:30 This happened because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit . These sins angered the Lord God of Israel . 15:31 The rest of the events of Nadab’s reign, including all his accomplishments , are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel . 15:32 Asa and King Nadab of Israel were continually at war with each other.
Baasha’s Reign over Israel
15:33 In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah , Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel in Tirzah ; he ruled for twenty-four years . 15:34 He did evil in the sight of the Lord ; he followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to sin .

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • TEMPLE, A1

    [isbe] TEMPLE, A1 - tem'-p'l (hekhal, "palace"; sometimes, as in 1 Ki 6:3,5, etc.; Ezek 41:1,15 ff, used for "the holy place" only; bayith, "house," thus always in the Revised Version (British and American); hieron, naos): A. STRUC...

  • Rulers

    [nave] RULERS Appointed and removed by God. See: Government, God in. Chastised, Dan. 4. See: Nation. Monarchical, See: Kings. Patriarchal, Gen. 27:29, 37. Instances of Nimrod, Gen. 10:8-10. Abraham, Gen. 14:13-24; 17:6; 21:2...

  • Ramah

    [isbe] RAMAH - ra'-ma (ha-ramah, without the definite article only in Neh 11:33; Jer 31:15): The name denotes height, from root rum, "to be high," and the towns to which it applied seem all to have stood on elevated sites. (1) Code...
    [nave] RAMAH 1. Called Rama, Matt. 2:18. A city allotted to Benjamin, Josh. 18:25; Judg. 19:13. Attempted fortification of, by King Baasha; destruction of, by Asa, 1 Kin. 15:17-22; 2 Chr. 16:1-6. People of, return from the Babyl...

  • Rama

    [ebd] (Matt. 2:18), the Greek form of Ramah. (1.) A city first mentioned in Josh. 18:25, near Gibeah of Benjamin. It was fortified by Baasha, king of Israel (1 Kings 15:17-22; 2 Chr. 16:1-6). Asa, king of Judah, employed Benhadad ...

  • PALESTINE, 2

    [isbe] PALESTINE, 2 - III. Palestine in the Historic Books of the Old Testament. 1. Book of Joshua: Joshua is the great geographical book of the Old Testament; and the large majority of the 600 names of places, rivers and mountains...

  • Naphtali, Tribe of

    [ebd] On this tribe Jacob pronounced the patriarchal blessing, "Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words" (Gen. 49:21). It was intended thus to set forth under poetic imagery the future character and history of the tri...

  • Nadab

    [ebd] liberal, generous. (1.) The eldest of Aaron's four sons (Ex. 6:23; Num. 3:2). He with his brothers and their father were consecrated as priests of Jehovah (Ex. 28:1). He afterwards perished with Abihu for the sin of offering...
    [isbe] NADAB - na'-dab (nadhabh, "noble"; Nadab): (1) Aaron's first-born son (Ex 6:23; Nu 3:2; 26:60; 1 Ch 6:3 (Hebrew 5:29); 24:1). He was permitted with Moses, Aaron, the 70 elders, and his brother Abihu to ascend Mt. Sinai and b...
    [smith] (liberal). The eldest son of Aaron and Elisheba. Exod 8 13 Numb 3:2. (B.C. 1490.) He, his father and brother, and seventy old men of Israel were led out from the midst of the assembled people, (Exodus 24:1) and were commende...
    [nave] NADAB 1. Son of Aaron, Ex. 6:23. Called to Mount Sinai with Moses and Aaron to worship, Ex. 24:1, 9, 10. Set apart to priesthood, Ex. 28:1, 4, 40-43. Offers strange fire to God, and is destroyed, Lev. 10:1, 2; Num. 3:4; 2...

  • Kings, The Books of

    [ebd] The two books of Kings formed originally but one book in the Hebrew Scriptures. The present division into two books was first made by the LXX., which now, with the Vulgate, numbers them as the third and fourth books of Kings...

  • Kedron

    [ebd] the valley, now quite narrow, between the Mount of Olives and Mount Moriah. The upper part of it is called the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The LXX., in 1 Kings 15:13, translate "of the cedar." The word means "black," and may refe...

  • JUDAH, TERRITORY OF

    [isbe] JUDAH, TERRITORY OF - (yehudhah): I. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA 1. The Natural Boundaries 2. The Natural Divisions of Judah (1) The Maritime Plain (2) The Shephelah (3) The Hill Country of Judah II. THE TRIBE OF JUDAH AND ITS TERRITO...

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • Idol

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. aven, "nothingness;" "vanity" (Isa. 66:3; 41:29; Deut. 32:21; 1 Kings 16:13; Ps. 31:6; Jer. 8:19, etc.). (2.) 'Elil, "a thing of naught" (Ps. 97:7; Isa. 19:3); a word of contempt, used of the gods of Noph (Ezek. 30...

  • Father

    [ebd] a name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11; Matt. 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judg. 17:10; 18:19; 1 Sam. 10:12; 2 Kings 2:12; Matt. 23:9, etc.). (3) ...

  • Cinnereth

    [ebd] a harp, one of the "fenced cities" of Naphtali (Josh. 19:35; comp. Deut. 3:17). It also denotes, apparently, a district which may have taken its name from the adjacent city or lake of Gennesaret, anciently called "the sea of...

  • Chronology

    [ebd] is the arrangement of facts and events in the order of time. The writers of the Bible themselves do not adopt any standard era according to which they date events. Sometimes the years are reckoned, e.g., from the time of the...

  • Chinnereth

    [ebd] lyre, the singular form of the word (Deut. 3:17; Josh. 19:35), which is also used in the plural form, Chinneroth, the name of a fenced city which stood near the shore of the lake of Galilee, a little to the south of Tiberias...

  • Baasha

    [ebd] bravery, the third king of the separate kingdom of Israel, and founder of its second dynasty (1 Kings 15; 16; 2 Chr. 16:1-6). He was the son of Ahijah of the tribe of Issachar. The city of Tirzah he made the capital of his k...
    [isbe] BAASHA - ba'-a-sha ba`sha', "boldness"): King of Israel. Baasha, son of Ahijah, and of common birth (1 Ki 16:2), usurped the throne of Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, killed Nadab and exterminated the house of Jeroboam. He carri...
    [smith] (wicked), B.C. 953-931, third sovereign of the separate kingdom of Israel, and the founder of its second dynasty. He was son of Ahijah of the tribe of Issachar and conspired against King Nadab, (1 Kings 15:27) and killed h...
    [nave] BAASHA, king of Israel, 1 Kin. 15:16-22, 27-34; 16:1-7; 21:22; 2 Kin. 9:9; 2 Chr. 16:1-6; Jer. 41:9.

  • Asa

    [ebd] physician, son of Abijah and grandson of Rehoboam, was the third king of Judah. He was zealous in maintaining the true worship of God, and in rooting all idolatry, with its accompanying immoralities, out of the land (1 Kings...
    [isbe] ASA - a'-sa ('aca', "healer"; Asa): (1) A king of Judah, the third one after the separation of Judah and Israel. He was the son of Abijah and grandson of Rehoboam. Maacah, his mother, or rather grandmother, was daughter of A...
    [nave] ASA 1. King of Judah, 1 Kin. 15:8-24; 1 Chr. 3:10; 2 Chr. 14; 15; 16; Matt. 1:7. 2. A Levite, 1 Chr. 9:16.

  • ALLIANCE

    [isbe] ALLIANCE - a-li'-ans. 1. In the Patriarchal Stories: Frequent references are made to alliances between the patriarchs and foreigners. Abraham is reported to have had "confederates" among the chiefs of the Canaanites (Gen 14:...

  • AHIAH, OR AHIJAH

    [smith] (friend of Jehovah). Son of Ahitub, grandson of Phinehas and great-grandson of Eli, succeeded his father as high priest in the reign of Saul. (1 Samuel 14:3,18) Ahiah is probably the same person as Ahimelech the son of Ah...

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • When Israel entered the land the people were to destroy all the places and objects used in the pagan worship of the Canaanites (vv. 2-4). Pagan peoples generally have felt that worshipping on elevated sites brings them into c...
  • I. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-11A. Solomon's succession to David's throne 1:1-2:121. David's declining health 1:1-42. Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne 1:5-533. David's charge to Solomon 2:1-94. David's death 2:10-12B. ...
  • Hadad hated Solomon because of Joab's severe treatment of the Edomites. He may have been a relation of Solomon's by marriage. Pharaoh Siamun apparently gave his daughter to Solomon in marriage and his sister-in-law to Hadad (...
  • The second major part of the Book of Kings records the histories of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.123During this era of 209 years (931-722 B.C.) the two kingdoms experienced differing relati...
  • During its history the Northern Kingdom had three capitals: first Shechem (v. 25), then Tirzah (14:17; 15:33), and finally Samaria (16:23-24). Perhaps the king strengthened Penuel in west-central Gilead as a Transjordanian pr...
  • Whereas the prophecy of the young prophet from Judah dealt with Jeroboam's religious cult, this one predicted the fate of his descendants.Jeroboam probably sent his wife to see Ahijah because that prophet had previously given...
  • The writer wrote that the reigns of 18 of Israel's 20 kings stood recorded in "The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel"(all except those of Tibni and Hoshea). This document is different from the canonical books of 1 and 2 Chron...
  • Asa came to power close to the end of Jeroboam's reign over Israel in 910 B.C. Asa reigned from 911-870 B.C., 41 years, an unusually long reign that probably began when he was quite young (cf. 15:2). It was his grandmother (N...
  • Antagonism continued between Israel and Judah in Asa's day. Ramah was a border town just north of Judah. Many Israelites were leaving Israel to live in Judah, an indication of God's blessing on the Southern Kingdom (cf. 2 Chr...
  • Asa experienced some personal discipline for his trust in the flesh (v. 23; 2 Chron. 16:12). It may have been because of his ill health that Asa's son, Jehoshaphat, became coregent with him late in his reign (873-870 B.C.).16...
  • Nadab ruled Israel from 910-909 B.C. Evidently Baasha assassinated him during a battle with the Philistines. Gibbethon stood three miles west of Solomon's stronghold city of Gezer near the border where Israel, Philistia, and ...
  • Zimri's seven-day reign in 885 B.C. was the shortest in the history of the Northern Kingdom.Omri was commander-in-chief of Israel's army. He outranked Zimri. When word of Zimri's assassination of Elah reached the soldiers at ...
  • Naaman (Aram. gracious) was commander of the Aramean army under Ben-Hadad II (cf. 1 Kings 15:18, 20). Leprosy in the ancient world degenerated the bodies of its victims and eventually proved fatal. At this time no one could c...
  • Hezekiah began reigning as his father Ahaz's vice-regent in 729 B.C. and ruled as such for 14 years. In 715 B.C. he began his sole rule over Judah that lasted until 697 B.C. (18 years). He then reigned with his son Manasseh w...
  • 13:18 Jeremiah was to tell the king and the queen mother of Judah to humble themselves because the Lord had removed their authority or would remove it soon. Pride was a besetting sin of royalty. The individuals in view are pr...
  • 41:4-5 Two days after Gedaliah's murder, before the news of it had spread, 80 religious pilgrims came down from the old towns of Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria in northern Israel on their way to Jerusalem. Their dress and other...
  • Jeremiah wrote almost as much about Babylon's future as he did about the futures of all the other nations in his other oracles combined. The length of this oracle reflects the great importance of Babylon in his ministry as we...
  • 5:10 Normally we would identify the queen as Belshazzar's wife. However, there are a number of reasons to prefer the view that she was really the queen mother or perhaps even the surviving wife of Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar's...
  • The following section is a general indictment of the people of Israel for their idolatry.4:11 The practice of idolatry (spiritual harlotry), with its emphasis on drinking wine, had turned the heart of the Israelites from Yahw...

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