Text -- 1 Kings 15:1-23 (NET)

Abijah’s Reign over Judah

15:1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah became king over Judah. 15:2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. 15:3 He followed all the sinful practices of his father before him. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been. 15:4 Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God maintained his dynasty in Jerusalem by giving him a son to succeed him and by protecting Jerusalem. 15:5 He did this because David had done what he approved and had not disregarded any of his commandments his entire lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite. 15:6 Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other throughout Abijah’s lifetime. 15:7 The rest of the events of Abijah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. Abijah and Jeroboam had been at war with each other. 15:8 Abijah passed away and was buried in the city of David. His son Asa replaced him as king.

Asa’s Reign over Judah

15:9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Asa became the king of Judah. 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.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:1

¹ tc The Old Greek also has the phrase “the son of Rehoboam.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:2

¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

² sn Abishalom (also in v. 10) is a variant of the name Absalom (cf. 2 Chr 11:20). The more common form is used by TEV, NLT.

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:3

¹ tn Heb “his heart was not complete with the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:4

¹ tn Heb “gave him a lamp.”

² tc The Old Greek has the plural “his sons.”

³ tn Heb “by raising up his son after him.”

⁴ tn Heb “and by causing Jerusalem to stand firm.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:5

¹ tn The words “he did this” are added for stylistic reasons.

² tn Heb “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”

³ tn Heb “and had not turned aside from all which he commanded him.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:6

¹ tc Most Hebrew mss read “Rehoboam”; a few Hebrew mss and the Syriac read “Abijam” (a variant of Abijah).

² tn Heb “his”; the referent (Abijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:7

¹ tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Abijah, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:8

¹ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.” The Old Greek also has these words: “in the twenty-eighth year of Jeroboam.”

² tn Heb “and they buried him.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:10

¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

² tn Heb “mother,” but Hebrew often uses the terms “father” and “mother” for grandparents and more remote ancestors.

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:11

¹ tn Heb “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”

² tn Heb “father,” but Hebrew often uses the terms “father” and “mother” for grandparents and more remote ancestors.

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:12

¹ tn The word used here, גִלּוּלִים [gillulim], is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as “worthless things” (אֱלִילִים, ’elilim), “vanities” or “empty winds” (הֲבָלִים, havalim).

² tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 24).

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:13

¹ tn Heb “mother,” but Hebrew often uses the terms “father” and “mother” for grandparents and more remote ancestors.

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:14

¹ tn Heb “yet the heart of Asa was complete with the Lord all his days.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:15

¹ tn Heb “and he brought the holy things of his father and his holy things (into) the house of the Lord, silver, gold, and items.” Instead of “his holy things,” a marginal reading (Qere) in the Hebrew text has “the holy things of [the house of the Lord].”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:16

¹ tn Heb “There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:17

¹ tn Heb “and he built up Ramah so as to not permit going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:18

¹ tn Heb “King Asa sent it.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:19

¹ tn Heb “[May there be] a covenant between me and you [as there was] between my father and your father.”

² tn Heb “so he will go up from upon me.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:20

¹ tn Heb “and Ben Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of the armies which belonged to him against the cities of Israel.”

² tn Heb “he struck down.”

³ tn Heb “and all Kinnereth together with all the land of Naphtali.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:21

¹ tn Heb “building.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:22

¹ tn Heb “and King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, there was no one exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its wood which Baasha had built.”

² tn Heb “and King Asa built with them.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 15:23

¹ tn Heb “As for the rest of all the events of Asa, and all his strength and all which he did and the cities which he built, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”

² tn Heb “Yet in the time of his old age he became sick in his feet.”