Text -- 2 Chronicles 15:19--16:10 (NET)

Asa’s Failures

15:19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign. 16:1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah, and he established Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the land of King Asa of Judah. 16:2 Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and sent it to King Ben Hadad of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message: 16:3 “I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made. See, I have sent you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.” 16:4 Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 16:5 When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying Ramah and abandoned the project. 16:6 King Asa ordered all the men of Judah to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah. He used the materials to build up Geba and Mizpah. 16:7 At that time Hanani the prophet visited King Asa of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 16:8 Did not the Cushites and Libyans have a huge army with chariots and a very large number of horsemen? But when you relied on the Lord, he handed them over to you! 16:9 Certainly the Lord watches the whole earth carefully and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him. You have acted foolishly in this matter; from now on you will have war. 16:10 Asa was so angry at the prophet, he put him in jail. Asa also oppressed some of the people at that time.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: 2Ch 16:1

Or, of the kingdom of Asa, that is, of the kingdom of Judah, which was now Asa's kingdom; or from the time of the division of the two kingdoms. Rehoboam reigned seventeen years, Abijah three years, Asa had now reigned fifteen years, all which put together, make up the thirty five years mentioned 2Ch 15:19, and in the next year Baasha wars against him; and the ground of the war was the defection of many of his subjects to Asa, 2Ch 15:9.

Wesley: 2Ch 16:7

And so reserved to be a scourge to thy kingdom and posterity: whereas if he had joined with Baasha against thee, thou shouldst have overthrown them both, and prevented all that mischief which that monarch will do to thy family.

Wesley: 2Ch 16:8

Either, the Lybians in Africa; or another people, possibly descended from them, but now seated in some part of Arabia.

Wesley: 2Ch 16:9

It is a foolish thing to lean on a broken reed, when we have the rock of ages to rely upon.

Wesley: 2Ch 16:9

Upright and sincere, as thine is not. He was sincere in the general course of his life, but some particulars, whereof this is one, his heart did not perfectly cleave to God.

JFB: 2Ch 16:1-6

Baasha had died several years before this date (1Ki 15:33), and the best biblical critics are agreed in considering this date to be calculated from the separation of the kingdoms, and coincident with the sixteenth year of Asa's reign. This mode of reckoning was, in all likelihood, generally followed in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel, the public annals of the time (2Ch 16:11), the source from which the inspired historian drew his account.

JFB: 2Ch 16:1-6

That is, fortified it. The blessing of God which manifestly rested at this time on the kingdom of Judah, the signal victory of Asa, the freedom and purity of religious worship, and the fame of the late national covenant, were regarded with great interest throughout Israel, and attracted a constantly increasing number of emigrants to Judah. Baasha, alarmed at this movement, determined to stem the tide; and as the high road to and from Jerusalem passed by Ramah, he made that frontier town, about six miles north of Asa's capital, a military station, where the vigilance of his sentinels would effectually prevent all passage across the boundary of the kingdom (see on 1Ki 15:16-22; also Jer 41:9).

JFB: 2Ch 16:4

"The meadow of waters," supposed to have been situated on the marshy plain near the uppermost lake of the Jordan. The other two towns were also in the northern district of Palestine. These unexpected hostilities of his Syrian ally interrupted Baasha's fortifications at Ramah, and his death, happening soon after, prevented his resuming them.

JFB: 2Ch 16:7-10

His object was to show the king his error in forming his recent league with Ben-hadad. The prophet represented the appropriation of the temple treasures to purchase the services of the Syrian mercenaries, as indicating a distrust in God most blameable with the king's experience. He added, that in consequence of this want of faith, Asa had lost the opportunity of gaining a victory over the united forces of Baasha and Ben-hadad, more splendid than that obtained over the Ethiopians. Such a victory, by destroying their armies, would have deprived them of all power to molest him in the future; whereas by his foolish and worldly policy, so unworthy of God's vicegerent, to misapply the temple treasures and corrupt the fidelity of an ally of the king of Israel, he had tempted the cupidity of the one, and increased the hostility of the other, and rendered himself liable to renewed troubles (1Ki 15:32). This rebuke was pungent and, from its truth and justness, ought to have penetrated and afflicted the heart of such a man as Asa. But his pride was offended at the freedom taken by the honest reprover of royalty, and in a burst of passionate resentment, he ordered Hanani to be thrown into prison.

JFB: 2Ch 16:10

The form or degree of this oppression is not recorded. The cause of his oppressing them was probably due to the same offense as that of Hanani--a strong expression of their dissatisfaction with his conduct in leaguing with Ben-hadad, or it may have been his maltreatment of the Lord's servant.

Clarke: 2Ch 15:19

The five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa - Archbishop Usher thinks that this should be counted from the separation of the kingdom, and that this fell on the fifteenth year of Asa’ s reign. To settle in every respect these chronologies is a most difficult undertaking; and the difficulty does not belong to the sacred books alone, all other chronological tables of all the nations in the world, are in the same predicament. With those of our own history I have often been puzzled, even while I had access to all the archives of the nation. Probably we should read here the five and twentieth year. See the note on 1Ki 15:16.

Clarke: 2Ch 16:1

The six and thirtieth year - After the division of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; according to Usher. This opinion is followed in our margin; see the note on 1Ki 15:16, where this subject is farther considered

Concerning Baasha’ s building of Ramah, see the note on 1Ki 15:17.

Clarke: 2Ch 16:3

There is a league - Let there be a treaty, offensive and defensive, between me and thee: see on 1Ki 15:22 (note).

Clarke: 2Ch 16:6

Took all Judah - See on 1Ki 15:22 (note).

Clarke: 2Ch 16:7

Escaped out of thine hand - It is difficult to know what is here intended. Perhaps the Divine providence had intended to give Asa a grand victory over the Syrians, who had always been the inveterate enemies of the Jews; but by this unnecessary and very improper alliance between Asa and Ben-hadad, this purpose of the Divine providence was prevented, and thus the Syrians escaped out of his hands.

Clarke: 2Ch 16:9

Therefore - thou shalt have wars - And so he had with Israel during the rest of his reign, 1Ki 15:32.

Clarke: 2Ch 16:10

Asa was wroth with the seer - Instead of humbling himself, and deprecating the displeasure of the Lord, he persecuted his messenger: and having thus laid his impious hands upon the prophet, he appears to have got his heart hardened through the deceitfulness of sin; and then he began to oppress the people, either by unjust imprisonments, or excessive taxations.

Defender: 2Ch 16:1

Ramah was only about five miles from Jerusalem, so a military outpost there from Israel could pose a serious threat to the capital. In order to minimize this threat, Asa felt he should bribe the king of Syria to attack Israel and Ben-hadad did exactly that (2Ch 16:5)."

Defender: 2Ch 16:9

Even though God had chosen Israel as His elect nation, He has always been concerned about all His creation. Even though other nations as a whole have forgotten Him, worshipping various nature gods, there are evidently individuals in such nations whose hearts desire to know Him, and to these, God will somehow reveal Himself: "In every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him" (Act 10:35)."

TSK: 2Ch 15:19

am 3063-3073, bc 941-931

five and thirtieth : 2Ch 16:1; 1Ki 15:16, 1Ki 15:17, 1Ki 15:31, 1Ki 15:33

TSK: 2Ch 16:1

am 3074, bc 930

In the six : See note on 1Ki 15:32. ""From the rending of the ten tribes from Judah, over which Asa was now king.""1Ki 15:16-22

to the intent : 2Ch 11:13-17, 2Ch 15:5, 2Ch 15:9; 1Ki 12:27

TSK: 2Ch 16:2

brought out : 2Ch 28:21; 2Ki 12:18, 2Ki 16:8, 2Ki 18:15

Damascus : Heb. Darmeskek

TSK: 2Ch 16:3

a league : 2Ch 18:3, 2Ch 19:2; Jdg 2:2; Isa 31:1-3; 2Co 6:16

break : Gen 20:9, Gen 20:10; Exo 32:21; Jos 9:19, Jos 9:20; 2Sa 21:2; Psa 15:4; Eze 17:18, Eze 17:19; Rom 1:31, Rom 1:32; 2Ti 3:3

TSK: 2Ch 16:4

hearkened : 1Ti 6:10; 2Pe 2:15

his armies : Heb. armies which were his

Ijon : 1Ki 15:20

Dan : Gen 14:14; Jdg 18:28, Jdg 18:29, Jdg 20:1

Abelmaim : Abel-maim is called Abel-beth-maachah in 1Ki 15:20, and elsewhere, on account of its belonging to the district of Beth-maachah.

the store cities : 2Ch 8:6, 2Ch 17:12; 1Ki 9:19

TSK: 2Ch 16:5

that he left off : 2Ch 16:1

TSK: 2Ch 16:6

they carried : 1Ki 15:22

Geba : Jos 18:24-26, Gaba, 2Ch 21:17; 1Ch 6:60; Isa 10:29; Zec 14:10

Mizpah : Jos 15:38, Jos 18:26; 1Sa 7:6, 1Sa 7:16, 1Sa 10:17, Mizpeh

TSK: 2Ch 16:7

Hanani : 2Ch 19:2, 2Ch 20:34; 1Ki 16:1

Because : Psa 146:3-6; Isa 31:1, Isa 32:2; Jer 17:5, Jer 17:6; Eph 1:12, Eph 1:13

relied on : 2Ch 13:18, 2Ch 32:7, 2Ch 32:8; 2Ki 18:5; 1Ch 5:20

the host : 2Ch 16:3

TSK: 2Ch 16:8

the Ethiopians : 2Ch 12:3, 2Ch 14:9-12

the Lubims : 2Ch 12:3

a huge host : Heb. in abundance

because : 2Ch 16:7; Psa 9:9, Psa 9:10, Psa 37:39, Psa 37:40

TSK: 2Ch 16:9

the eyes : 2Ch 6:20; Job 34:21; Psa 34:15, Psa 113:6; Pro 5:21, Pro 15:3; Jer 16:17, Jer 32:19; Zec 4:10; Heb 4:13; 1Pe 3:12

to show himself : etc. or, strongly to hold with them, etc. whose heart. 2Ch 15:17; 2Ki 20:3; Psa 37:37

Herein : 1Sa 13:13; 2Sa 12:7-12; 1Ch 21:8; Job 34:18, Job 34:19; Jer 5:21; Mat 5:22; Luk 12:20; 1Co 15:36; Gal 3:1

henceforth : 1Ki 15:32

TSK: 2Ch 16:10

wroth : 2Ch 25:16, 2Ch 26:19; 2Sa 12:13, 2Sa 24:10-14; Psa 141:5; Pro 9:7-9

put him : 2Ch 18:26; Jer 20:2, Jer 29:26; Mat 14:3, Mat 14:4; Luk 3:20; Act 16:23, Act 16:24

oppressed : Heb. crushed, Job 20:19 *marg. Isa 51:23; Jer 51:34; Lam 3:34

the same time : 2Sa 11:4, 2Sa 12:31

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Ch 15:19

The five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa - This cannot be reconciled with the chronqlogy of Kings 1Ki 16:8 : and the suggestion in the marg. implies the adoption of a mode of marking time unknown either to himself or any other Scriptural writer. It is supposed that the figures here and in 2Ch 16:1 are corrupt, and that in both verses "twentieth"should replace "thirtieth."The attack of Baasha would then have been made in the last year of Asa’ s reign; and ten years of peace would have followed Asa’ s victory over Zerah.

Barnes: 2Ch 16:1

This passage runs parallel with Kings (see the marginal reference).

Barnes: 2Ch 16:3

Compare the 1Ki 15:19 note.

Barnes: 2Ch 16:4

Abel-maim - or, "Abel-beth-maachah"1Ki 15:20. It was one of the towns most exposed to attack when an invader entered Israel from the north, and was taken from Pekah by Tiglath-pileser 2Ki 15:29.

Store cities - See 1Ki 9:19 note.

Barnes: 2Ch 16:7-10

The rebuke of Hanani and his imprisonment by Asa, omitted by the writer of Kings, are among the most important of the additions to Asa’ s history for which we are indebted to the author of Chronicles.

2Ch 16:7

Escaped out of thine hand - Hanani means, "Hadst thou been faithful, and opposed in arms the joint host of Israel and Syria, instead of bribing the Syrian king to desert to thy side, the entire host would have been delivered into thy hand, as was Zerah’ s. But now it is escaped from thee. Thou hast lost a glorious opportunity."

2Ch 16:9

From henceforth thou shalt have wars - As peace had been the reward of Asa’ s earlier faith 2Ch 14:5; 2Ch 15:5, so his want of faith was now to be punished by a period of war and disturbance.

2Ch 16:10

In a prison house - Or, "in the stocks."Compare 1Ki 22:26-27.

Poole: 2Ch 15:19

For though there were continual skirmishes between Asa and Baasha and their people all their days , 1Ki 15:16 , yet it did not break forth into an open war till Asa’ s thirty-fifth year, i.e. till that was ended. But how this thirty-fifth year is to be computed, See Poole "2Ch 16:1" .

Poole: 2Ch 16:1

Of the reign of Asa ; or, of the kingdom of Asa , i.e. of the kingdom of Judah, which was now Asa’ s kingdom; or from the time of the division of the two kingdoms. Rehoboam reigned seventeen years, 2Ch 12:13 ; Abijah three years, 2Ch 13:2 ; Asa had now reigned fifteen years, 2Ch 15:10 ; all which, put together, make up the thirty-five years mentioned 2Ch 15:19 . And in the next year Baasha wars against him; and the ground of war was the defection of many of his subjects to Asa, 2Ch 15:9 , whom Asa endeavours to engage, together with his own subjects, by an oath and a covenant, to be true and faithful to God, and consequently to himself; which was done in his fifteenth year, 2Ch 15:9,10 ; and therefore in his sixteenth year, called here the thirty-sixth year of his kingdom, he commenceth an open war against him. If it be objected, That the reign or kingdom of Asa is otherwise understood of the time of Asa’ s personal reign, (as I may call it,)2Ch 15:10 ; the answer is obvious, That there are many instances in Scripture (some of which have been formerly given, and others will be given in their proper places) where the same word or phrase is taken differently, and that in the very same chapter and history. And particularly this variety is elsewhere used, both by sacred and profane writers, in the computation of the years of princes, which are sometimes reckoned from the beginning of their reign, and sometimes from other remarkable times and occurrences. Titus Nebuchadnezzar’ s years are sometimes computed from the beginning of his reign, as 2Ki 25:8 Jer 52:12,29,30 , and sometimes from his complete conquest of Syria and Egypt, &c., as that passage, Dan 2:1 , In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar , is by the general stream of interpreters understood. Thus Ahaziah’ s years, which doubtless were usually computed from the time of his birth, are computed from another head, 2Ch 22:2 , See Poole "2Ch 22:2" . And the like differences are observed in computing the years of some of the Syrian monarchs and Roman emperors; and particularly of Augustus, the years of whose reign are variously accounted by the Roman historians; sometimes from his first consulship, sometimes from the time of the triumvirate, and sometimes from that famous victory at Actium, where he utterly overthrew his competitor, and made himself sole and unquestionable emperor. And therefore it is not strange if it be so here. And that it must necessarily be thus understood, appears from hence, that it cannot be the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa in his own person, because Baasha began to reign in Asa’ s third year, 1Ki 15:28 , and reigned only twenty-four years, and consequently died in Asa’ s twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh year, as it is said he did, 1Ki 15:8 . That he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah that he might keep his subjects from revolting to Asa, as he perceived they began to do, 2Ch 15:9 , and keep Asa’ s subjects from coming into his dominions to seduce his people from their obedience to him.

Poole: 2Ch 16:2

This verse, and 2Ch 16:3-6 , are explained 1Ki 15:18 , &c.

Poole: 2Ch 16:7

And so reserved to be a scourge to thy kingdom and posterity hereafter; whereas if he had joined with Baasha against thee, thou shouldst have overthrown them both, and prevented all that mischief which that monarch will do one day to thy family.

Poole: 2Ch 16:8

The Lubims either the Libyans in Africa; or another people, possibly descended from them, but now seated in some part of Arabia.

Poole: 2Ch 16:9

Whose heart is perfect i.e. upright and sincere, as thine is not.

Object. The heart of Asa is said to be perfect all his days , 2Ch 15:17 .

Answ He was perfect and sincere in the things there spoken of, in the establishment of the outward worship of God; but not in the inward worship of God, trusting, and fearing, and loving him with all his heart, of which he here speaks. Or thus, He was perfect or sincere in the general course of his life, though in some particulars, whereof this is one, his heart did not perfectly cleave to God, as it should have done.

Thou shalt have wars with Baasha 2Ch 16:4 .

Poole: 2Ch 16:10

In a prison-house or, in the house of the stocks ; in which the feet, or, as some of the Hebrews say, the necks of the prisoners were locked up. See Jer 20:2 29:26 .

Haydock: 2Ch 15:19

Year. Usher dates from the separation of the two kingdoms; and this year corresponds with the 15th of Asa, ver. 10. See 3 Kings xv. 16. (Calmet) (Torniel, the year of the world 3094.)

Haydock: 2Ch 16:1

Six and thirtieth year of his kingdom. That is, of the kingdom of Juda, taking the date of it from the beginning of the reign of Roboam. Ch. ---

It was the 16th of Asa. We read that Raasa died in the 26th year of Asa, 3 K. xvi. 8. How then could he fight with him in the 36th? T. ---

Rama was on an eminence, and commanded the pass below. Baasa wished to cut off all communication with the kingdom of Juda, as he knew many of his subjects had emigrated for the sake of the true religion, C. xv. 9. C. ---

He had taken the city from the tribe of Benjamin. T.

Haydock: 2Ch 16:3

There is, Hebrew is indeterminate: "a league," &c. Sept. "Make a league....behold I have sent thee gold and silver. Come and drive away from me Baasa, king," &c. ---

That. Prot. "go, break thy league." H. ---

Asa induces the king of Damascus to act perfidiously. C. ---

Otherwise it is not unlawful to make use of the arms of infidels, unless where God has forbidden it. Grotius, Jur. ii. 15, 9. Masius in Jos. ix. 15. ---

David had recourse to Achis, and the Machabees to the Romans. C. ---

Some kings are blamed for making leagues with the princes of Israel, because they had been warned to the contrary; and Asa was severely reprehended, as he had already received such assurances of the divine protection, (chap. xiv. 12., and xv. 7.) that nothing but pusillanimity could have induced him (H.) to give away the sacred treasures, in order to obtain this aid of the Syrian king, v. 7.

Haydock: 2Ch 16:4

Nephthali. This seem preferable to the Hebrew reading, 3 K. xv. 20. C. ---

Prot. "all the store-cities." Sept. "all the environs." H. ---

Arabic, "all the arsenals of the cities of Nephthali."

Haydock: 2Ch 16:7

Syria. It seems more natural to read Israel. C. ---

But we must remember that Benadad was an ally of Israel; and if he had not been bribed, he would have come to the assistance of Baasa, (H.) and thus both might have fallen a prey to Asa, as the much greater forces of Zara had done. T.

Haydock: 2Ch 16:9

Behold. Prot. "run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him." Sept. "to shew power in every heart full, or perfect, in his regard." H. ---

Asa fell on this occasion through human frailty, but rose again by repentance. ---

Thee, as they were till the death of Baasa, 3 K. xv. 32.

Haydock: 2Ch 16:10

Prison. Literally, "in bonds," ( nervum ) made of leather thongs or nerves, (H.) or of iron, to confine either the neck or the feet. Isidor. orig. 5. ultra ---

Heb. "the house of disturbance." Sept., &c. "prison." Some explain it (C.) of the stocks to enclose the neck. Vatable ---

Time, either because they expressed the same sentiments as the prophet, (C.) or because they disapproved of his imprisonment. T. ---

Sept. "Asa made havoc among the people," &c. H.

Gill: 2Ch 15:19

And there was no more war unto the thirty fifth year of the reign of Asa. That is, from the Ethiopian war to that time; after that there was no war with any foreign enemy; there were animosities and discords, bickerings and hostilities of some sort continually between Asa and Baasha king of Israel, as long as he lived, see 1Ki 15:16.

Gill: 2Ch 16:1-6

In the thirty and sixth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah,.... How this is to be reconciled with the reign of Baasha, which was but twenty four years, and was begun in the third of Asa, and therefore must have been dead nearly ten years before this year of Asa's reign; see Gill on 1Ki 15:17 where, and in the following verses, are the same things related as here, to the end of the sixth verse; the explanation of which the reader is referred to.

Gill: 2Ch 16:7

And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah,.... Being sent by the Lord to reprove him:

and said unto him, because thou hast relied on the king of Syria; on the covenant he made with him, on the promises the Syrian king made to him upon receiving his money, and so trusted to an arm of flesh, and even an Heathen king:

and not relied on the Lord thy God; his promises, power, and providence, which he had reason to believe would have been engaged on his behalf, had he placed his confidence in him as he ought to have done: the Targum is,"and not relied on the Word of the Lord thy God:"

therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand; which otherwise would have fallen into it, had he left him to continue in league with the king of Israel, and not solicited him to break it; for then he would have come with him against Asa, and the Lord would have delivered him to him.

Gill: 2Ch 16:8

Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen?.... They were no less than 1,000,000 men, and three hundred chariots, 2Ch 14:9, the Lubim were the Libyans, a people near Egypt, that dwelt in Africa; according to an Arabic writer ^l, they were the Nubians:

yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand; and with equal ease could and would have delivered the Syrian army unto him, had he as then trusted in the Lord.

Gill: 2Ch 16:9

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth,.... The eyes of his omniscience are everywhere, and the eyes of his mercy and goodness, of his care and providence, are here and there, and in every place throughout the whole world at once, see Zec 4:10,

to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him; or, as in the margin, "strongly to hold" with such, to be on their side, take their part, strengthen them, support and supply them, and to protect and defend them who are sincere and upright in heart; whose graces are sincere and unfeigned, though not complete, nor they free from sin, and who, with the heart, sincerely believe in God, in which Asa at this time failed, though otherwise his heart is said to be perfect, 1Ki 15:4, it was so in the general bent of it, and especially with respect to the worship of God, though there was something lacking in his faith at this time, as there often is in the best of men:

herein thou hast done foolishly; to trust in man, and not in the Lord, to part with his money, and lose the opportunity of having the whole Syrian army fall into his hands:

therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars; which, though we read not of, was doubtless his case; some interpret it of his posterity.

Gill: 2Ch 16:10

Then Asa was wroth with the seer,.... For this faithful reproof of him, which was another instance of his sin and folly:

and put him in a prison house; in a very strait place, in which he could not turn himself, what we call "little ease"; some say it was the stocks, others a pillory he put him into:

for he was in a rage with him because of this thing; his passion rose very high, and to which he gave way, and was his infirmity:

and Asa oppressed some of the people the same time; by fines and imprisonments, such as perhaps expressed their disapprobation of his league with the king of Syria, and of his ill usage of the prophet.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Ch 16:1

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: 2Ch 16:3

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: 2Ch 16:4

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 “They struck down.”

³ sn In the parallel passage in 1 Kgs 15:20, this city’s name appears as Abel Beth Maacah. These appear to be variant names for the same place.

NET Notes: 2Ch 16:5

¹ tn Heb “building.”

² tn Heb “and he caused his work to cease.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 16:6

¹ tn Heb “and King Asa took all Judah and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its wood which Baasha had built.”

² tn Heb “and he built with them.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 16:7

¹ tn Heb “the seer.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 16:9

¹ tn Or “for.”

² tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord move quickly through all the earth.”

³ tn Heb “to strengthen himself with their heart, [the one] complete toward him.”

NET Notes: 2Ch 16:10

¹ tn Heb “and Asa was angry at the seer, and he put him [in] the house of stocks, because of his rage with him over this.”

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 16:1

In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa ^{( a )} Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built ^{( b )} Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

^{( a )} Who reigned after Nadab the son of Jeroboam.

^{( b )} He fortified it with walls and ditches: it was a city in Benjamin near Gibeon.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 16:3

[There is] a league between me and thee, as [there was] between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, ^{( c )} break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

^{( c )} He thought to repulse his adversary by an unlawful means, that is, by seeking help from infidels, as they who seek the help of Turks, thinking by it to make themselves stronger.

Geneva Bible: 2Ch 16:10

Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for [he was] ^{( d )} in a rage with him because of this [thing]. And Asa oppressed [some] of the people the same time.

^{( d )} Thus instead of turning to God in repentance, he disdained the admonition of the prophet, and punished him, as the wicked do when they are told of their faults.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Ch 15:1-19

1 Asa, with Judah and many of Israel, moved by the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, make a solemn covenant with God.

16 He puts down Maachah his mother for her idolatry.

18 He brings dedicated things into the house of God, and enjoys a long peace.

TSK Synopsis: 2Ch 16:1-14

1 Asa, by the aid of the Syrians, diverts Baasha from building Ramah.

7 Being reproved thereof by Hanani, he puts him in prison.

11 Among his other acts in his disease he seeks not to God, but to the physicians.

13 His death and burial.

MHCC: 2Ch 15:1-19

The work of complete reformation appeared so difficult, that Asa had not courage to attempt it, till assured of Divine assistance and acceptance. He and his people offered sacrifices to God; thanksgiving for the favours they had received, and supplication for further favours. Prayers and praises are now our spiritual sacrifices. The people, of their own will, covenanted to seek the Lord, each for himself, with earnestness. What is religion but seeking God, inquiring after him, applying to him upon all occasions? We make nothing of our religion, if we do not make heart-work of it; God will have all the heart, or none. Our devotedness to God our Saviour, should be avowed and shown in the most solemn and public manner. What is done in hypocrisy is a mere drudgery.

MHCC: 2Ch 16:1-14

A plain and faithful reproof was given to Asa by a prophet of the Lord, for making a league with Syria. God is displeased when he is distrusted, and when an arm of flesh is relied on, more than his power and goodness. It is foolish to lean on a broken reed, when we have the Rock of ages to rely upon. To convince Asa of his folly, the prophet shows that he, of all men, had no reason to distrust God, who had found him such a powerful Helper. The many experiences we have had of the goodness of God to us, aggravate our distrust of him. But see how deceitful our hearts are! we trust in God when we have nothing else to trust to, when need drives us to him; but when we have other things to stay on, we are apt to depend too much on them. Observe Asa's displeasure at this reproof. What is man, when God leaves him to himself! He that abused his power for persecuting God's prophet, was left to himself, to abuse it further for crushing his own subjects. Two years before he died, Asa was diseased in his feet. Making use of physicians was his duty; but trusting to them, and expecting that from them which was to be had from God only, were his sin and folly. In all conflicts and sufferings we need especially to look to our own hearts, that they may be perfect towards God, by faith, patience, and obedience.

Matthew Henry: 2Ch 15:8-19

We are here told what good effect the foregoing sermon had upon Asa.

I. He grew more bold for God than he had been. His victory would inspire him with some new degrees of resolution, but this message from God with much more. Now he took courage. he saw how necessary a further reformation was, and what assurance he had of God's presence with him in it; and this made him daring, and helped him over the difficulties which had before deterred him and driven him off from the undertaking. Now he ventured to destroy all the abominable idols (and all idolatries are abominable, 1Pe 4:3) as far as ever his power went. Away with them all. He also renewed the altar of the Lord, which, it seems, had gone out of repair, though it was not above thirty-five years since Solomon's head was laid, who erected it. So soon did these ceremonial institutions begin to wax old, as things which, in the fulness of time, must vanish away, Heb 8:13.

II. He extended his influence further than before, 2Ch 15:9. He summoned a solemn assembly, and particularly brought the strangers to it, who had come over to him from the ten tribes. 1. Their coming was a great encouragement to him; for the reason of their coming was because they saw that the Lord his God was with him. It is good to be with those that have God with them, to come into relation to, and contract acquaintance and friendship with, those that live in the fear and favour of God. We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you, Zec 8:23. 2. The cognizance he took of them, and the invitation he gave them to the general assembly, were a great encouragement to them. All strangers are to be helped, but those that cast themselves upon God's good providence, purely to keep a good conscience, are worthy of double honour. Asa gave orders for the gathering of them together (2Ch 15:9), yet it is said (2Ch 15:10) that they gathered themselves together, made it their own act, so forward were they to obey the king's orders. This meeting was held in the third month, probably at the feast of Pentecost, which was in that month.

III. He and his people offered sacrifices to God, as his share of the spoil they had got, 2Ch 15:11. Their offering here was nothing to Solomon's (2Ch 7:5), which was owing to the diminution either of their zeal or of their wealth, or of both. These sacrifices were intended by way of thanksgiving for the favours they had received, and supplication for further favours. Prayers and praises are now our spiritual sacrifices. And, as he took care that the altar should have its gift, so he took care that the temple should have its gold: He brought into the house of God all the dedicated things, 2Ch 15:18. It is honesty to render to God the things that are his. What has been long designed for him, and long laid by for him, as it should seem these dedicated things had been, should at length be laid out for him. Will a man rob God, or make slow payment to him, who is always ready to do us good?

IV. They entered into covenant with God, repenting that they had violated their engagements to him and resolving to do better for the future. It is proper for penitents, for converts, to renew their covenants. It should seem, the motion came not from Asa, but from the people themselves. Let every man be a volunteer that covenants with God. Thy people shall be willing, Psa 110:3. Observe,

1. What was the matter of this covenant. Nothing but what they were before obliged to; and, though no vow or promise of theirs could lay any higher obligation upon them than they were already under from the divine precept, yet it would help to increase their sense of the obligation, to arm them against temptations, and would be a testimony to the equity and goodness of the precept. And, by joining all together in this covenant, they strengthened the hands one of another. Two things they engaged themselves to: - (1.) That they would diligently seek God themselves, seek his precepts, seek his favour. What is religion but seeking God, enquiring after him, applying to him, upon all occasions? We shall not enjoy him till we come to heaven; while we are here we must continue seeking. They would seek God as the God of their fathers, in the way that their fathers sought him and in dependence upon the promise made to their fathers; and they would do it with all their heart and with all their soul, for those only seek God acceptably and successfully that are inward with him, intent upon him, and entire for him, in their seeking him. We make nothing of our religion if we do not make heart-work of it. God will have all the heart or none; and, when a jewel of such inestimable value as the divine favour is to be found, it is worth while to seek it with all our soul. (2.) That they would, to the utmost of their power, oblige others to seek him, 2Ch 15:13. They agreed that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel (that is, would either worship other gods or refuse to join with them in the worship of the true God, that was either an obstinate idolater or an obstinate atheist) he should be put to death. This was no new law of their own making, but an order to put in execution that law of God to this purport, Deu 17:2, etc. If this law had been duly executed, there would not have been so many abominable idols found in Judah and Benjamin, 2Ch 15:8. Whether men may now, under the gospel, be compelled by such methods as these to seek the Lord is justly questioned; for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, and yet mighty.

2. In what manner they made this covenant. (1.) With great cheerfulness, and all possible expressions of joy: The swore unto the Lord; not secretly, as if they were either ashamed of what they did or afraid of binding themselves too fast to him, but with a loud voice, to express their own zeal and to animate one another; and they all rejoiced at the oath, 2Ch 15:14, 2Ch 15:15. They did not swear to God with reluctancy (as the poor debtor confesses a judgment to his creditor), but with all the pleasure and satisfaction imaginable, as the bridegroom plights his troth to the bride in the marriage covenant. Every honest Israelite was pleased with his own engagements to God, and they were all pleased with one another's. They rejoiced in it as a hopeful expedient to prevent their apostasy from God and a happy indication of God's presence with them. Note, The times of renewing our covenant with God should be times of rejoicing, and national reformation cannot but give general satisfaction to all that are good. It is an honour and happiness to be in bonds to God. (2.) They did it with great sincerity, zeal and resolution: They swore to God with all their hearts, and sought him with their whole desire. The Israelites were now in an extraordinarily good frame. O that there had always been such a heart in them! This comes in as the reason why they rejoiced so much in what they did: it was because they were hearty in it. Note, Those only experience the pleasure and comfort of religion that are sincere and upright in it. What is done in hypocrisy is a mere drudgery. But, if God has the heart, we have the joy.

V. We are told what was the effect of this their solemn covenanting with God. 1. God did well for them: He was found of them, and gave them rest round about (2Ch 15:15), so that there was no war for a long time after (2Ch 15:19), no open general war, though there were constant bickerings between Judah and Israel upon the frontiers, 1Ki 15:16. National piety procures national blessings. 2. They did, on the whole, well for him. They carried on the reformation so far that Maachah the queen-mother was deposed for idolatry and her idol destroyed, 2Ch 15:16. This was bravely done of Asa, that he would not connive at idolatry in those that were nearest to him, like Levi, that said to his father and mother, I have not seen him, Deu 33:9. Asa knows he must honour God more than his grandmother, and dares not leave an idol in an apartment of his palace while he is destroying idols in the cities of his kingdom. We may suppose this Maachah was so far convinced of her sin that she was willing to subscribe the association mentioned (2Ch 15:12, 2Ch 15:13), binding herself to seek the Lord, and therefore was not put to death as those were that refused to sign it, great as well as small, women as well as men: probably it was with an eye to her that women were specified. But because she had been an idolater Asa thought fit to divest her of the dignity and authority she had, and probably he banished her the court and confined her to privacy, lest she should influence and infect others. But the reformation was not complete; the high places were not all taken away, though many of them were, 2Ch 14:3, 2Ch 14:5. Those in the cities were removed, but not those in the cities of Judah, but not those in the cities of Israel which were reduced to the house of David; or those that were used in the service of false gods, but not those that were used in the service of the God of Israel. These he connived at, and yet his heart was perfect. There may be defects in some particular duties where yet the heart, in the man, is upright with God. Sincerity is something less than sinless perfection.

Matthew Henry: 2Ch 16:1-6

How to reconcile the date of this event with the history of the kings I am quite at a loss. Baasha died in the twenty-sixth year of Asa, 1Ki 16:8. How then could this be done in his thirty-sixth year, when Baasha's family was quite cut off, and Omri was upon the throne? It is generally said to be meant of the thirty-sixth year of the kingdom of Asa, namely, that of Judah, beginning from the first of Rehoboam, and so it coincides with the sixteenth of Asa's reign; but then 2Ch 15:19 must be so understood; and how could it be spoken of as a great thing that there was no more war till the fifteenth year of Asa, when that passage immediately before was in his fifteenth year? (2Ch 15:10), and after this miscarriage of his, here recorded, he had wars, 2Ch 16:9. Josephus places it in his twenty-sixth year, and then we must suppose a mistake in the transcriber here and 2Ch 15:19, the admission of which renders the computation easy. This passage we had before (1Ki 15:17, etc.) and Asa was in several ways faulty in it. 1. He did not do well to make a league with Benhadad, a heathen king, and to value himself so much upon it as he seems to have done, 2Ch 16:3. Had he relied more upon his covenant, and his father's, with God, he would not have boasted so much of his league, and his father's, with the royal family of Syria. 2. If he had had a due regard to the honour of Israel in general, he would have found some other expedient to give Baasha a diversion than by calling in a foreign force, and inviting into the country a common enemy, who, in process of time, might be a plague to Judah too. 3. It was doubtless a sin in Benhadad to break his league with Baasha upon no provocation, but merely through the influence of a bribe; and, if so, certainly it was a sin in Asa to move him to it, especially to hire him to do it. The public faith of kings and kingdoms must not be made so cheap a thing. 4. To take silver and gold out of the house of the Lord for this purpose was a great aggravation of the sin, 2Ch 16:2. Must the temple be plundered to serve his carnal politics? He had better have brought gifts and offerings with prayers and supplications, to the house of the Lord, that he might have engaged God on his side and made him his friend; then he would not have needed to be at this expense to make Benhadad his friend. 5. It was well if Asa had not to answer for all the mischief that the army of Benhadad did unjustly to the cities of Israel, all the blood they shed and all the spoil they made, 2Ch 16:4. Perhaps Asa intended not that they should carry the matter so far. But those that draw others to sin know not what they do, nor where it will end. The beginning of sin is as the letting forth of water. However the project succeeded. Benhadad gave Baasha a powerful diversion, obliged him to leave off building Ramah and betake himself to the defence of his own country northward, which gave Asa an opportunity, not only to demolish his fortifications, but to seize the materials and convert them to his own use.

Matthew Henry: 2Ch 16:7-14

Here is, I. A plain and faithful reproof given to Asa by a prophet of the Lord, for making this league with Baasha. The reprover was Hanani the seer, the father of Jehu, another prophet, whom we read of 1Ki 16:1; 2Ch 19:2. We observed several things amiss in Asa's treaty with Benhadad. But that which the prophet here charges upon him as the greatest fault he was guilty of in that matter is his relying on the king of Syria and not on the Lord his God, 2Ch 16:7. He thought that, though God was on his side, this would not stand him in stead unless he had Benhadad on his side, that God either could not or would not help him, but he must take this indirect course to help himself. Note, God is much displeased when he is distrusted and when an arm of flesh is relied on more than his power and goodness. By putting our confidence in God we give honour to him, and therefore he thinks himself affronted if we give that honour to another. He plainly tells the king that herein he had done foolishly, 2Ch 16:9. It is a foolish thing to lean on a broken reed, when we have the rock of ages to rely upon. To convince him of his folly he shows him,

1. That he acted against his experience, 2Ch 16:8. He, of all men, had no reason to distrust God, who had found him such a present powerful helper, by whom he had been made to triumph over a threatening enemy, as his father before him, because he relied upon the Lord his God, 2Ch 13:18; 2Ch 14:11. " What! "said the prophet, "Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge host, enough to swallow up a kingdom? And yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thy hand; and was not he sufficient to help thee against Baasha?"Note, The many experiences we have had of the goodness of God to us aggravate our distrust of him. Has he not helped us in six troubles? And have we any reason to suspect him in the seventh? But see how deceitful our hearts are! We trust in God when we have nothing else to trust to, when need drives us to him; but, when we have other things to stay on, we are apt to stay too much on them and to lean on our own understanding as long as that has any thing to offer; but a believing confidence will be in God only, when a smiling world courts it most.

2. That he acted against his knowledge of God and his providence, 2Ch 16:9. Asa could not be ignorant that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the earth, strongly to hold with those (so it may be read) whose heart is perfect towards him; that is, (1.) That God governs the world in infinite wisdom, and the creatures, and all their actions, are continually under his eye. The eye of Providence is quick-sighted - it runs; it is intent - it runs to and fro; it reaches far - through the whole earth, no corner of which is from under it, not the most dark or distant; and his eye directs his hand, and the arm of his power; for he shows himself strong. Does Satan walk to and fro in the earth? Providence runs to and fro, is never out of the way, never to seek, never at a loss. (2.) That God governs the world for the good of his people, does all in pursuance of the counsels of his love concerning their salvation, all for Jacob his servant's sake, and Israel his elect, Isa 45:4. Christ is head over all things to his church, Eph 1:22. (3.) That those whose hearts are upright with him may be sure of his protection and have all the reason in the world to depend upon it. He is able to protect them in the way of their duty (for wisdom and might are his), and he actually intends their protection. A practical disbelief of this is at the bottom of all our departures from God and double-dealing with him. Asa could not trust God and therefore made court to Benhadad.

3. That he acted against his interest. (1.) He had lost an opportunity of checking the growing greatness of the king of Syria, (2Ch 16:7): His host has escaped out of thy hand, which otherwise would have joined with Baasha's and fallen with it. (2.) He had incurred God's displeasure and henceforth must expect no peace, but the constant alarms of war, 2Ch 16:9. Those that cannot find in their hearts to trust God forfeit his protection and throw themselves out of it.

II. Asa's displeasure at this reproof. Though it came from God by one that was known to be his messenger, though the reproof was just and the reasoning fair, and all intended for his good, yet he was wroth with the seer for telling him of his folly; nay, he was in a rage with him, 2Ch 16:10. Is this Asa? Is this he whose heart was perfect with the Lord all his days? Well, let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. A wise man, and yet in a rage! An Israelite, and yet in a rage with a prophet! A good man, and yet impatient of reproof, and that cannot bear to be told of his faults! Lord, what is man, when God leaves him to himself? Those that idolize their own conduct cannot bear contradiction; and those that indulge a peevish passionate temper may be transported by it into impieties as well as into indecencies, and will, some time or other, fly in the face of God himself. See what gall and wormwood this root of bitterness bore. 1. In his rage he committed the prophet to the jail, put him in a prison-house, as a malefactor, in the stocks (so some read it,) or into little-ease. God's prophets meet with many that cannot bear reproof, but take it much amiss, yet they must do their duty. 2. Having proceeded thus far, he oppressed some of the people, probably such as owned the prophet in his sufferings, or were known to be his particular friends. He that abused his power for the persecuting of God's prophet was left to himself further to abuse it for the crushing of his own subjects, whereby he weakened himself and lost his interest. Most persecutors have been tyrants.

III. His sickness. Two years before he died he was diseased in his feet (2Ch 16:12), afflicted with the gout in a high degree. He had put the prophet in the stocks, and now God put him in the stocks; so his punishment answered his sin. His disease was exceedingly great; it came to the height (so some); it flew up to his head (so others), and then it was mortal. This was his affliction; but his sin was that in his disease, instead of seeking to the Lord for relief, he sought to the physicians. His making use of physicians was his duty; but trusting to them, and expecting that from them which was to be had from God only, were his sin and folly. The help of creatures must always be used with an eye to the Creator, and in dependence upon him, who makes every creature that to us which it is, and without whom the most skilful and faithful are physicians of no value. Some think that these physicians were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, and were a sort of conjurers, to whom he applied as if there were not a God in Israel.

IV. His death and burial. His funeral had something of extraordinary solemnity in it, 2Ch 16:14. They made a very magnificent burying for him. I am loth to think (as some do) that he himself ordered this funeral pomp, and that it was an instance of his vanity, that he would be buried like the Gentiles, and not after the way of the Jews. It is said indeed, He digged the sepulchre for himself, as one mindful of his grave; but I am willing to believe that this funeral pomp was rather an expression of the great respect his people retained for him, notwithstanding the failings and infirmities of his latter days. It was agreed to do him honour at his death. Note, The eminent piety and usefulness of good men ought to be remembered to their praise, though they have had their blemishes. Let their faults be buried in their graves, while their services are remembered over their graves. He that said, There is not a just man that doeth good and sinneth not, yet said also, The memory of the just is blessed; and let it be so.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 15:19

2Ch 15:19 is different from 1Ki 15:16. In the latter passage it is said: war was between Asa and Baasha the king of Israel כּל־ימיהם , i.e., so long as both reigned contemporaneously; while in the Chronicle it is said: war was not until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign. This discrepancy is partly got rid of by taking מלחמה in the book of Kings to denote the latent hostility or inimical attitude of the two kingdoms towards each other, and in the Chronicle to denote a war openly declared. The date, until the thirty-fifth year, causes a greater difficulty; but this has been explained in 2Ch 16:1 by the supposition that in the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign war broke out between Asa and Baasha, when the meaning of our 16th verse would be: It did not come to war with Baasha until the thirty-sixth year of Asa's rule. For further remarks on this, see on 2Ch 16:1.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 16:1-5

War with Baasha, and the weakness of Asa's faith. The end of his reign. - 2Ch 16:1-6. Baasha's invasion of Judah, and Asa's prayer for help to the king of Syria. The statement, "In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha the king of Israel came up against Judah,"is inaccurate, or rather cannot possibly be correct; for, according to 1Ki 16:8, 1Ki 16:10, Baasha died in the twenty-sixth year of Asa's reign, and his successor Elah was murdered by Zimri in the second year of his reign, i.e., in the twenty-seventh year of Asa. The older commentators, for the most part, accepted the conjecture that the thirty-fifth year (in 2Ch 15:19) is to be reckoned from the commencement of the kingdom of Judah; and consequently, since Asa became king in the twentieth year of the kingdom of Judah, that Baasha's invasion occurred in the sixteenth year of his reign, and that the land had enjoyed peace till his fifteenth year; cf. Ramb. ad h. l.; des Vignoles, Chronol. i. p. 299. This is in substance correct; but the statement, "in the thirty-sixth year of Asa's kingship,"cannot re reconciled with it. For even if we suppose that the author of the Chronicle derived his information from an authority which reckoned from the rise of the kingdom of Judah, yet it could not have been said on that authority, אסא למלכוּת . This only the author of the Chronicle can have written; but then he cannot also have taken over the statement, "in the thirty-sixth year,"unaltered from his authority into his book. There remains therefore no alternative but to regard the text as erroneous - the letters ל (30) and י (10), which are somewhat similar in the ancient Hebrew characters, having been interchanged by a copyist; and hence the numbers 35 and 36 have arisen out of the original 15 and 16. By this alteration all difficulties are removed, and all the statements of the Chronicle as to Asa's reign are harmonized. During the first ten years there was peace (2Ch 14:1); thereafter, in the eleventh year, the inroad of the Cushites; and after the victory over them there was the continuation of the Cultus reform, and rest until the fifteenth year, in which the renewal of the covenant took place (2Ch 15:19, cf. with 2Ch 15:10); and in the sixteenth year the war with Baasha arose.

(Note: Movers, S. 255ff., and Then. on 1 Kings 15, launch out into arbitrary hypotheses, founded in both cases upon the erroneous presumption that the author of the Chronicle copied our canonical books of Kings - they being his authority-partly misunderstanding and partly altering them.)

The account of this war in 2Ch 16:1-6 agrees with that in 1Ki 15:17-22 almost literally, and has been commented upon in the remarks on 1 Kings 15. In 2Ch 16:2 the author of the Chronicle has mentioned only the main things. Abel-maim, i.e., Abel in the Water (2Ch 16:4), is only another name for Abel-Beth-Maachah (Kings); see on 2Sa 20:14. In the same verse נפתּלי ערי כּל־מסכּנות ואת is surprising, "and all magazines (or stores) of the cities of Naphtali,"instead of נפתּלי כּל־ארץ על כּל־כּנּרות את , "all Kinneroth, together with all the land of Naphtali"(Kings). Then. and Berth. think ערי מסכנות has arisen out of ארץ and כנרות by a misconception of the reading; while Gesen., Dietr. in Lex. sub voce כּנּרות , conjecture that in 1Ki 15:20 מסכּנות should be read instead of כּנּרות . Should the difference actually be the result only of a misconception, then the latter conjecture would have much more in its favour than the first. But it is a more probable solution of the difficulty that the text of the Chronicle is a translation of the unusual and, especially on account of the כּל־ארץ נ על , scarcely intelligible כּל־כּנּרות . כּנּרות is the designation of the very fertile district on the west side of the Sea of Kinnereth, i.e., Gennesaret, after which a city also was called כּנּרת (see on Jos 19:35), and which, on account of its fertility, might be called the granary of the tribal domain of Naphtali. But the smiting of a district can only be a devastation of it, - a plundering and destruction of its produce, both in stores and elsewhere. With this idea the author of the Chronicle, instead of the district Kinnereth, the name of which had perhaps become obsolete in his time, speaks of the מסכּנות , the magazines or stores, of the cities of Naphtali. In 2Ch 16:5, too, we cannot hold the addition את־מלאכתּו ויּשׁבּת , "he caused his work to rest,"as Berth. does, for an interpretation of the original reading, בּתרצה ויּשׁב (Kings), it having become illegible: it is rather a free rendering of the thought that Baasha abandoned his attempt upon Judah.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 16:6

In regard to the building of Mizpah, it is casually remarked in Jer 41:9 that Asa had there built a cistern.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 16:7-8

The rebuke of the prophet Hanani, and Asa's crime . - 2Ch 16:7. The prophet Hanani is met with only here. Jehu, the son of Hanani, who announced to Baasha the ruin of his house (1Ki 16:1), and who reappears under Jehoshaphat (2Ch 19:2), was without doubt his son. Hanani said to King Asa, "Because thou hast relied on the king of Aram, and not upon Jahve thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Aram escaped out of thy hand."Berth. has correctly given the meaning thus: "that Asa, if he had relied upon God, would have conquered not only the host of Baasha, but also the host of the king of Damascus, if he had, as was to be feared, in accordance with his league with Baasha (2Ch 16:3), in common with Israel, made an attack upon the kingdom of Judah."To confirm this statement, the prophet points to the victory over the great army of the Cushites, which Asa had won by his trust in God the Lord. With the Cushites Hanani names also פּרשׁים , Libyans (cf. 2Ch 12:3), and besides רכב , the war-chariots, also פּרשׁים osla ,sto , horsemen, in order to portray the enemy rhetorically, while in the historical narrative only the immense number of warriors and the multitude of the chariots is spoken of.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 16:9

"For Jahve, His eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong with those whose heart is devoted to Him;"i.e., for Jahve, who looks forth over all the earth, uses every opportunity wonderfully to succour those who are piously devoted to Him. עם התחזק , to help mightily, as in 1Ch 11:10. אליו שׁלם עם־לבבם is a relative sentence without the relative אשׁר with עם ; cf. 1Ch 15:12. "Thou hast done foolishly, therefore," scil. because thou hast set thy trust upon men instead of upon Jahve, "for from henceforth there shall be wars to thee"(thou shalt have war). In these words the prophet does not announce to Asa definite wars, but only expresses the general idea that Asa by his godless policy would bring only wars ( מלחמות in indefinite universality), not peace, to the kingdom. History confirms the truth of this announcement, although we have no record of any other wars which broke out under Asa.

Keil-Delitzsch: 2Ch 16:10

This sharp speech so angered the king, that he caused the seer to be set in the stock-house. המּהשפכת בּית , properly, house of stocks. מהפּכת , twisting, is an instrument of torture, a stock, by which the body was forced into an unnatural twisted position, the victim perhaps being bent double, with the hands and feet fastened together: cf. Jer 20:2; Jer 29:26; and Act 16:24, ἔβαλεν εἰς τὴν φυλακὴ̀ν καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἠσφαλίσατο αὐτῶν εἰς τὸ ξύλον . "For in wrath against him ( scil. he did it) because of this thing, and Asa crushed some of the people at this time."Clearly Hanani's speech, and still more Asa's harsh treatment of the seer, caused great discontent among the people, at least in the upper classes, so that the king felt himself compelled to use force against them. רצץ , to break or crush, is frequently used along with עשׁק (Deu 28:33; 1Sa 12:3, etc.), and signifies to suppress with violence. Asa had indeed well deserved the censure, Thou hast dealt foolishly. His folly consisted in this, that in order to get help against Baasha's attack, he had had recourse to a means which must become dangerous to him and to his kingdom; for it was not difficult to foresee that the Syrian king Benhadad would turn the superiority to Israel which he had gained against Judah itself. But in order to estimate rightly Asa's conduct, we must consider that it was perhaps an easier thing, in human estimation, to conquer the innumerable multitudes of the Ethiopian hordes than the united forces of the kings of Israel and Syria; and that, notwithstanding the victory over the Ethiopians, yet Asa's army may have been very considerably weakened by that war. But these circumstances are not sufficient to justify Asa. Since he had so manifestly had the help of the Lord in the war against the Cushites, it was at bottom mainly weakness of faith, or want of full trust in the omnipotence of the Lord, which caused him to seek the help of the enemy of God's people, the king of Syria, instead of that of the Almighty God, and to make flesh his arm; and for this he was justly censured by the prophet.

Constable: 2Ch 10:1--36:23

IV. THE REIGNS OF SOLOMON'S SUCCESSORS chs. 10--36

"With the close of Solomon's reign we embark upon a new phase in Chr.'s account of Israel's history. That account can be broadly divided . . . into the pre-Davidic era, the time of David and Solomon, and the period of the divided monarchy up until the Babylonian exile."²⁴

". . . the Chronicler never regarded the northern monarchy as anything but illegitimate and a rebellion against God's chosen dynasty. As far as he was concerned, all Israel had one and only one ruling family."²⁵

The writer continued his sermon by evaluating each of Solomon's successors with the same yardstick he had used on Solomon, namely, the example of David. His intent appears to have been to show that none of David's descendants measured up to him much less surpassed him. Consequently the promised Son of David was yet to appear. The relationship of each king to temple worship showed his heart commitment to God. Consequently there is much in what follows that deals with the kings' relationship to the temple and temple worship.

Constable: 2Ch 14:2--17:1

C. Asa 14:2-16:14

Chronicles gives much more attention to Asa than Kings does. That is because Asa's experiences illustrated the points the Chronicler wanted to drive home to his readers.

We have already seen in Rehoboam's history that obedience brought blessing from God, but disobedience brought discipline (chs. 11-12). The Chronicler used this retributive motif frequently. We see it clearly here in Asa's history.³⁴ In chapters 14-15 we see Asa obeying and blessed. In chapter 16 he was disobedient, and God disciplined him.

Constable: 2Ch 15:1-19

2. Asa's reform ch. 15

The Chronicler featured Azariah's sermon (vv. 1-7), Asa's reformation (vv. 8-15), and Maacah's removal (vv. 16-19) during the middle part of Asa's reign.

A message from the prophet Azariah was the spark that ignited revival in Asa's day.³⁶ Asa responded to Azariah's challenge by rededicating the temple, himself, and his people to the Mosaic Covenant. He even executed those who refused to submit to that covenant (Exod. 22:20; Deut. 13:6-9). His removal of the powerful dowager queen (v. 16) shows that he put spiritual purity above family loyalty.³⁷ Unfortunately Asa's revival did not result in the removal of the high places in Israel (v. 17) even though Asa destroyed them in Judah (cf. 14:3). Asa's heart was not sinless but it was blameless all his days (v. 17). Zeal for the house and worship of the Lord marked him as a true son of David.

The writer counted Simeon among the northern tribes because many of the Simeonites, although some lived within the tribe of Judah, allied with their northern brothers in their religion (cf. 34:6).³⁸ Many Simeonites had apparently moved north into Israel.

Constable: 2Ch 16:1-14

3. Asa's failure ch. 16

Three parts also mark this record of the later period of Asa's reign: his war with Baasha (vv. 1-6), Hanani's sermon (vv. 7-10), and the conclusion of his reign (vv. 11-14).

Asa's heart was right in that he consistently loved God. Nevertheless, like David, his obedience lapsed. He trusted in a foreign alliance and later in physicians more than in Yahweh. This resulted in defeat and death.

"Asa, then, has done a complete volte-face from his earlier faithfulness. It is as if we meet two altogether different Asas. He appeared first in the strength of God-reliance, now in the weakness of self-reliance."³⁹

Rather than confessing his guilt Asa became angry and oppressed his own kingdom. It may have looked for a while as if Asa was the Son of David who would perfectly trust and obey God. Unfortunately he did not remain faithful.

"Just as the Chronicler inserted Azariah's sermon in 15:2-7 to interpret to his readers the positive period of Asa's reign, so here he draws out the lessons to be learned from his falling away."⁴⁰

"There are some occasions in the Bible when a person's handling of some small matter is taken as an indication of his capacity to handle a large one (e.g. Matt. 25:21, 23; Jer. 12:5). Asa, however, having passed the sternest of tests first (by withstanding Zerah), fails a comparatively trivial one."⁴¹

Verse 9 is especially noteworthy (cf. Zech. 4:10). No problem can arise for God's people of which He is not aware and out of which He cannot deliver them if they commit themselves to Him fully (cf. Rom. 8:32).

Asa was one of Judah's best kings, but he failed as did all the rest.

Guzik: 2Ch 15:1-19

2 Chronicles 15 - Revival and Reform in Judah

A. Azariah brings a warning from God.

1. (1-2) Asa is exhorted to seek God.

Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you."

a. Azariah the son of Oded: This was one of the lesser-known prophets in the early years of the Kingdom of Judah. He came and bravely spoke a word to a king who was flushed with success after the great victory over the Ethiopians.

b. The LORD is with you while you are with Him: King Asa and the Kingdom of Judah had just enjoyed a significant victory over a mighty army. It would be easy to think that they had a permanent claim to God's favor and blessing. Speaking through the prophet Azariah, God wanted Asa to know the importance of abiding in the LORD.

c. If you seek Him, He will be found by you: This is an important principle repeated many times in the Bible. The idea is that when we draw near to God, He reveals Himself to us. God does not hide Himself from the seeking heart.

· You will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29)

· And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

· Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7)

i. The converse is also true: if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. Ultimately, God gives us what we want from Him. If He gives the heart that seeks Him more, and He also gives the heart that rejects Him what it desires.

ii. "He revealed an inclusive philosophy of life under the control of God. . . . The principle is of perpetual application. It represents God as unchanging. All apparent changes on His part are really changes in the attitude of men toward Him. Man with God, finds God with him. Man forsaking God, finds that he is forsaken of God." (Morgan)

2. (3-7) The exhortation in light of the past disobedience of Israel.

"For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; but when in their trouble they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!"

a. Without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law: The Prophet Azariah describes the bad state of Israel in their overconfidence and distance from God. They had rejected God, those who teach them the Word of God, and the law itself.

i. Without a teaching priest reminds us that the priesthood and the Levites did much more than administer the sacrificial system. They were to be scattered throughout the tribes of Israel to teach the Word of God to the people.

ii. "The priests' teaching role was vital to the moral and spiritual quality of national life (cf. e.g. Leviticus 10:11; Deuteronomy 33:10; Malachi 2:7; 2 Chronicles 17:7-9), but when it was neglected, the truth about God declined and the fabric of covenant society was undermined." (Selman)

iii. "His words about the 'long time' when 'Israel was without the true God' probably refer to the lawless, and often faithless, days of the Judges (Judges 21:25)." (Payne)

b. But when in their trouble they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them: The Chronicler used this message from the Prophet Azariah to remind the people of Israel in his own day (Ezra's days of the return from exile) that even when the people of God were set low because of their disobedience, God would restore them when they turned to the LORD God of Israel.

c. Be strong . . . for your work shall be rewarded: In spite of the great trouble that God had visited on His previously disobedient people, King Asa should be encouraged at God's heart for forgiveness and restoration.

i. "This prophecy is unusual in that it is an exposition of earlier parts of the Old Testament though as an example of the speeches in Chronicles it is not untypical. Its style is sermonic, but its prophetic character comes through in the immediacy of its final imperative." (Selman)

B. The reforms of King Asa.

1. (8-9) King Asa cleanses the land and gathers the nation together for worship.

And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the LORD that was before the vestibule of the LORD. Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

a. He took courage, and removed the abominable idols: This was the good and godly response. Instead of becoming fatalistic or passive, King Asa took action based on the open heart of God to restore and forgive.

i. Some believe that the forgiving nature of God gives one a reason to sin, based on the idea that we can sin now and simply ask forgiveness later. Asa's reaction to the word of the prophet shows the correct response to the forgiving nature of God - to respond with a greater love and a greater passion for obedience.

ii. We should notice that this took courage for King Asa to do. He had to combat against:

· The entrenched interests in favor of idolatry

· The unseen spiritual forces in favor of idolatry

· The example of his predecessors and neighbor tribes to the north in favor of idolatry

· His own fleshly inclinations in favor of idolatry and compromise

· The lethargy of compromise and indifference that supports idolatry

iii. Many well meaning reformers accomplish little because they lack the courage to really stand for their godly convictions.

iv. "What is important is that it touched the entire nation, including the queen mother (15:16), all Judah (14:5), and even the north (15:8-9)." (Selman)

b. And he restored the altar of the LORD: King Asa did more than remove the wrong; he also restored the right. This is an important part of any reform, and any time of renewal must be more than speaking out against the wrong. It must also take positive steps towards the good.

c. They came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him: King Asa's bold obedience to God earned the respect of the godly remnant among the apostate northern tribes that made up the Kingdom of Israel. They wanted to be part of a committed return to God.

i. The Chronicler recorded these events - not included in the history of King Asa found in 1 Kings - as an encouragement to the returned exiles in his own day. They could believe that if they obeyed God courageously as King Asa did, that God would also gather a faithful remnant to their small number. They could see that courageously obedient believers attract others.

ii. "Chronicles constantly highlights the opportunities for reunification (cf. 2 Chronicles 11:13-17; 30:11; 34:6), which always arose in the context of worship rather than a result of military force (cf. 2 Chronicles 11:1-4; 13:8, 13:13-14)." (Selman)

2. (10-15) A public covenant made at Jerusalem.

So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. And they offered to the LORD at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the spoil they had brought. Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. Then they took an oath before the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams' horns. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around.

a. They offered to the LORD at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the spoil they had brought: They rightly recognized that their victory came from God, so they gave back to Him from the spoil of the victory over the Ethiopians (2 Chronicles 14:12-15).

i. When we recognize that what we have comes from God, it is much easier to give to Him out of what He has given us. A lack of generosity is often rooted in refusing to recognize that God is the ultimate provider and every good and perfect gift comes from Him (James 1:17).

ii. "Such assemblies are typical of a number of kings in Chronicles, including David (1 Chronicles 13:2-5; 15:3; 28:8; 29:1ff), Solomon (2 Chronicles 1:3; 5:6), Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:5, etc.), and especially Hezekiah (e.g. 2 Chronicles 29:23; 29:28; 30:2; 30:25)." (Selman)

b. They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul: After sacrifice, they committed the matter to a covenant between them and God. This was after the pattern of the covenant the people of Israel originally made with God at Sinai (Exodus 24:7-8).

i. This covenant was deliberately connected with these past covenants (to seek the LORD God of their fathers). This was their way of saying, "LORD God, we want the same relationship with You that our great forefathers enjoyed. We want to be bound to You with the same kind of covenant."

ii. This covenant was supported by the threat of punishment (whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel was to be put to death) and with a public oath (they took an oath before the LORD with a loud voice). This combination of a public oath and a promised punishment made the whole community accountable to keep this promise they made. This was a demonstration of the fact that it was a covenant made with all their heart and with all their soul. It was not a half-hearted or half-way covenant that no one could be held accountable to.

iii. "Do not think too much of entering into and keeping a covenant with God; but remember that the Lord Jesus, on our behalf, has entered into covenant relation with the Father, and the Father with us in Him. This is the new covenant." (Meyer)

iv. "Should be put to death, by virtue of all those laws which command that such persons should be cut off, and in pursuance of that law, Deuteronomy 17:2." (Poole)

c. All Judah rejoiced at the oath: The seriousness of the covenant became a source of joy for the people. There was a sincere and true joy in being fully committed to God and accountable for that commitment in the community.

d. And He was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around: Through the Prophet Azariah, God had promised Asa in 2 Chronicles 15:2: If you seek Him, He will be found by you. This was the fulfillment of that promise. Not only the king himself, but the nation as a whole found they LORD when they sought Him this way.

· They sought Him together, having gathered together at Jerusalem.

· They sought Him through sacrifice, trusting in God's promise of atonement through the blood of an innocent victim.

· They sought Him through covenant, made with a view to God's working with His people in the past (to seek the LORD God of their fathers).

· They sought Him completely, with all their heart and with all their soul.

· They sought Him in an accountable way, promising punishment upon themselves if they were to forsake this covenant.

· They sought Him publicly, having taken a public oath together.

· They sought Him joyfully, rejoicing in the oath they had taken.

i. Their reward for seeking God in this way was both that they found the LORD, and when they found Him, He gave them rest all around. Some fear to seek the LORD this diligently because they are afraid that should they really find God, it would be more of a burden than a blessing to them. The Chronicler wanted us to know that when we seek God in this radical way and find Him, the reward is rest all around.

3. (16-19) The extension of the reform into the king's own household.

Also he removed Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron. But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils. And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

a. Also he removed Maachah the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah: This demonstrates the thoroughness of Asa's reforms. He was able to act righteously even when his family was wrong, in particular his own grandmother. "It is in a man's own family circle that his faithfulness is put fairly to the test." (Knapp)

i. 1 Kings 15:12-15 makes it clearer that Maachah was actually the grandmother of King Asa. "Maacah was apparently the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah (2 Chronicles 13:2) and Tamar (2 Samuel 14:27), hence the granddaughter of Absalom, David's rebellious son." (Patterson and Austel)

ii. An obscene image: "This image is described as 'obscene' in our English translation, but the Hebrew word is closer in meaning to 'frightening,' 'horrible,' or 'abominable.' Some commentators believe it was some sort of phallic symbol consistent with the fertility cult of Asherah." (Dilday)

iii. "From the whole, it is pretty evident that the image was a mere Priapus, or something of the same nature, and that Maachah had an assembly in the grove where the image was set up, and doubtless worshipped it with the most impure rites. What the Roman Priapus was I need not tell the learned reader; and as to the unlearned, it would not profit him to know." (Clarke)

iv. "The Jews imagine that Maachah repented, and her name became changed into Michaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah; and that this was done that there might be no mention of her former name, lest it should be a reproach to her." (Clarke)

b. But the high places were not removed from Israel: 2 Chronicles 14:3 says that Asa did remove the high places, but it mentions these high places in connection with altars of the foreign gods. Therefore Asa removed the high places that were dedicated to idols, but not the ones that were dedicated to the LORD.

i. "More probably, however, the addition of from Israel (cf. 1 Kings 15:14; cf. 2 Chronicles 15:8) suggests that the Chronicler distinguished between the high places in Judah (14:3, 5) and those in Israel (15:17)." (Selman)

ii. "It was also a more extensive removal, 'from the whole land'; for it included areas Asa 'had captured in the hills of Ephraim' during the five years of hostility that had immediately preceded." (Payne)

c. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days: Asa's loyal heart was shown in his reforms against idolatry and state-sanctioned perversion, and in his restoration of certain silver and gold utensils to the temple.

i. There was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa: "For though there were continual skirmishes between Asa and Baasha and their people all their days, 1 Kings 15:16, yet it did not break forth into an open war till Asa's thirty-fifth year; i.e. till that was ended." (Poole)

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Guzik: 2Ch 16:1-14

2 Chronicles 16 - Asa's Disappointing End

A. A treaty with Syria.

1. (1-3) Asa makes a treaty with Syria to strengthen himself against Israel.

In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, "Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. Here, I have sent you silver and gold; come, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me."

a. Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah: This continues the struggle for dominance between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Baasha gained the upper hand in the days of Asa because he effectively blocked a main route into Judah at the city of Ramah. He hoped this military and economic pressure on Judah would force Asa into significant concessions.

i. "Baasha's aim in fortifying Ramah was probably to prevent access to Jerusalem for religious or trade reasons. Ramah is usually identified with er-Ram, on the main road just five miles north of Jerusalem." (Selman)

b. Asa brought silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent to Ben-Hadad king of Syria: Asa used this treasure to buy the favor of Ben-Hadad of Syria, so that he would withdraw support from Israel. Apparently, Baasha of Israel could not stand against Judah by himself and he needed the support of Syria.

i. "I will say nothing about what belonged to his own house. He might do as he liked with that so long as he did not spend it upon sin, but he took of the treasure that belonged to the house of the Lord, and gave it to Benhadad to bribe him to break his league with Bassha, and be in league with himself. Thus God was robbed that the unbelieving king might find help in an arm of flesh." (Spurgeon)

c. Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father: Asa was trying to keep the way open for pilgrims from the northern kingdom to come to Jerusalem, and this was a noble goal. His method was completely wrong. He gave treasure from the house of the LORD to a pagan king, and he made a treaty with that king.

i. Asa seems to have forgotten that his covenant was with God, not with a pagan king. Under the covenant they made with God, the LORD was responsible to protect Judah. Now they put their treasure and their trust into a pagan king.

ii. Asa would find that Ben-Hadad and Syria were worse enemies than Israel.

iii. "The power of Ethiopia was broken before him, and Judah's armies returned laden with the spoil. You would not have thought that a man who could perform that grand action would become, a little after, full of unbelief; but the greatest faith of yesterday will not give us confidence for to-day, unless the fresh springs which are in God shall overflow again." (Spurgeon)

iv. "But this was a smaller trouble altogether, and somehow, I fancy, it was because it was a smaller trouble Asa thought that he could manage it very well himself by the help of an arm of flesh. In the case of the invasion by countless hordes of Ethiopians, Asa must have felt that it was of no use calling in Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, or asking any of the nations to help him, for with all their help he would not have been equal to the tremendous struggle. Therefore he was driven to God. But this being a smaller trial, he does not seem to have been so thoroughly divorced from confidence in man." (Spurgeon)

v. "Here good Asa began to decline; which was the worse in him, because in his old age, after so great a victory, and so strict a covenant to cleave close to the Lord." (Trapp)

2. (4-6) The success of Asa's plan.

So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work. Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, which Baasha had used for building; and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

a. So Ben-Hadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel: The pagan king Ben-Hadad did have some power, and because of the treasure and under the treaty with Asa, he used that power on behalf of Asa.

i. "Store cities is 'Kineroth' in 1 Kings 15:20, which became Genneseret in the post-exilic period (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 2.573)." (Selman)

b. Now it happened, when Baasha heard it, that he stopped building Ramah and ceased his work: Because of the intervention of the King of Syria, Baasha king of Israel stopped his work of building the fortress city of Ramah to keep the faithful of Israel from visiting Jerusalem and Judah. We could say that Asa's trust in a pagan king worked.

i. "Now, many people in the world judge actions by their immediate results. If a Christian does a wrong thing, and it prospers, then at once they conclude he was justified in doing it; but, ah! Brethren, this is a poor, blind way of judging the actions of men and the providence of God. Do you not know that there are devil's providences as well as God's providences?" (Spurgeon)

ii. "Things which appear successful may be in the life of faith most disastrous." (Morgan)

B. God's rebuke to King Asa and the king's response.

1. (7-9) The word from Hanani the Seer.

And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: "Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars."

a. Hanani the seer: We don't know much about this prophet, other than his bold word to King Asa here, and that his son was also a prophet who spoke to Baasha the king of Israel (1 Kings 16:1, 16:7) and to Jehoshaphat king of Judah (2 Chronicles 19:2).

b. Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand: This was a complete surprise to Asa. He believed that the main enemy was Israel, because of King Baasha's aggressive building of the Ramah fortress. He succeeded in gaining Syria's help against Baasha and Israel, but he failed to see what God saw: that the bigger enemy was Syria, and God wanted to give him victory over the greater enemy.

i. Compromise blinds us to who our true enemies are and it leads us into alliances with those whom God would rather give us victory over.

c. Because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand: God wanted Asa to remember the great victories of the past. Asa failed to remember that the same God who gave him victory over a greater enemy (the Ethiopians) was able to also give him victory over the lesser enemy, Syria.

d. For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him: The Prophet Hanani's message was clear. God looks for ways to defend and show his strength on behalf of those who are committed to Him. Asa's fear that God could not be trusted with the defense of Israel was foolish and wrong; God wanted to show His strength of behalf of His trusting people.

i. "The Hebrew word for 'fun to a fro' signifieth, not to take a light view, but to search narrowly into the nature and the course of things." (Trapp)

ii. "What an exquisite thought is suggested by the allusion to the eyes of the Lord running to and fro throughout the whole earth! At a glance He takes in our position; not a sorrow, trial, or temptation visits us without exciting his notice and loving sympathy. In all the whole wide earth there is not one spot so lonely, one heart so darkened, as to escape those eyes." (Meyer)

iii. The issue was not the strength of God or His willingness to use that strength on behalf of His people. The issue was the loyalty of the heart of Asa and the people of the Kingdom of Judah.

e. Therefore from now on you shall have wars: Because of Asa's foolish trust in a pagan king and his rejection of God as their defender, he will bring more wars upon himself and the Kingdom of Judah.

i. "At one stroke Asa thereby sacrificed the results of his own piety (cf. on 2 Chronicles 15:18) and of God's blessing (2 Chronicles 14:13-14); he induced a pagan ruler to an act of perfidy (2 Chronicles 16:3); precipitated a pattern of Syrian intervention into the affairs of Israel that would have disastrous results throughout the succeeding century (cf. 2 Kings 10:32-33; 12:17-18); and in the most serious deviation of all, he departed from the Lord by placing his primary trust in 'the arm of flesh' (Jeremiah 17:5)." (Payne)

2. (10) Asa rejects the message from Hanani.

Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.

a. Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison: Instead of taking this word from God to heart and humbling himself, King Asa attacked the messenger. Instead of being humbled he was enraged.

i. Asa shows us the tragedy of a man who rules well and seeks the LORD for many years, yet fails in a significant challenge of his faith and then refuses to hear God's correction.

ii. "The precise form of Hanani's punishment is unknown, though he was probably detained in some kind of jail (lit., 'house of stocks'; cf. NIV, prison; the word for 'prison' in 18:26 is different." (Selman)

b. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time: He struck out against not only Hanani, but also against others who were committed to God and could see the error of the king's ways. As a man in compromise and unbelief, the presence of those truly loyal to God was convicting and oppressive to Asa.

3. (11-14) The sad end of the otherwise promising reign of King Asa of Judah.

Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians. So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. They buried him in his own tomb, which he had made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made a very great burning for him.

a. Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe: This happened after he refused to hear God's word of correction through Hanani the seer. Some think that Asa's foot ailment was gout, "but gout was uncommon in Palestine and ancient Egypt and it is more likely, in very of Asa's age, the severity of the disease and death within two years, to have been a peripheral obstructive vascular disease with ensuing gangrene." (Wiseman)

i. "He had a strong and long fit of the gout; this is most likely." (Clarke)

ii. "As he had laid the good prophet by the heels in his bed; to him therefore he should have sought for release; since natural means in this case could do him little good." (Trapp)

b. Yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians: The closing chapters of the life of King Asa are discouraging. Here was a man involved in a notable period of trust in God, great victory, and the renewal of God's covenant with His people. All in all, Asa was a good man who did not finish well. The last years of his life were marked by unbelief, hardness against God, oppression against his people, and disease. Age and time do not necessarily make us better; they only do if we continue to follow God in faith.

i. He refused to rely on God in the face of the threat against him from Israel and Syria; he refused to rely on God in His loving correction from Hanani the seer. It is no wonder that he also refused to rely on God regarding his diseased feet at the end of his life. This was a powerful warning to both the first readers of the Chronicler and to us.

ii. Overall, the Bible is positive about the role of physicians and medical care (Colossians 4:14, Acts 28:9, James 5:14-15, and 1 Timothy 5:23). However, it is never right to seek the physicians instead of the LORD. One may rather trust the LORD and when appropriate, see His hand move through a physician.

iii. "It is not wrong to send for physicians, it is quite right; but it is very wrong to send for physicians in place of crying to God, thus putting the human agency before the divine; besides, it is very probable that these physicians were only heathenish conjurors, necromancers, and pretenders to magical arts, and could not be consulted without implicating the patient in their evil practices." (Spurgeon)

iv. Morgan on Asa: "It is the record of a faulty life, but one in which the deepest thing, that of desire, was right; and so it is the record of a life, the influence of which was a blessing rather than a curse. It is a revealing story."

c. They made a very great burning for him: "Such fires were customary for royal funerals (cf. Jeremiah 34:5), and were not for cremating the body but as a sign of honour (cf. 2 Chronicles 21:19)." (Selman)

i. "He that could drive out that huge army of the Ethiopians, could not drive away death." (Trapp)

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Commentary -- Other

Contradiction: 2Ch 16:1

13. According to the author, did Baasha, the king of Israel die in the 26th year of king Asa's reign (1 Kings 15:33), or was he still alive in the 36th year ( 2 Chronicles 16:1)?

(Category: misunderstood the historical context, or copyist error)

There are two possible solutions to this problem. To begin with, scholars who have looked at these passages have concluded that the 36th year of Asa should be calculated from the withdrawal of the 10 tribes from Judah and Benjamin which brought about the division of the country into Judah and Israel. If we look at it from this perspective, the 36th year of the divided monarchy would be in the 16th year of Asa. This is supported by the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel, as well as contemporary records, which follow this convention. (note: for a fuller explanation of this theory, see Archer, page 225-116).

Keil and Delitzsch (pp. 366-367) preferred to regard the number 36 in 2 Chronicles 16:1 and the number 35 in 15:19 as a copyist's error for 16 and 15, respectively. This problem is similar to question numbers five and six above. In this case, however, the numbers were written using Hebrew alphabetical type (rather than the Egyptian multiple stroke type used in the Elephantine Papyri, referred to in questions 5 and 6). It is therefore quite possible that the number 16 could quite easily be confused with 36. The reason for this is that up through the seventh century BC the letter yod (10) greatly resembled the letter lamed (30), except for two tiny strokes attached to the left of the main vertical strokes. It required only a smudge from excessive wear on this scroll-column to result in making the yod look like a lamed. It is possible that this error occurred first in the earlier passage, in 2 Chronicles 15:19 (with its 35 wrongly copied from an original 15); then to make it consistent in 16:1, the same scribe (or perhaps a later one) concluded that 16 must be an error for 36 and changed it accordingly on his copy.

(Archer 1982:226: Keil & Delitzsch 1949:366-367; Light of Life II 1992:194)

Critics Ask: 2Ch 16:1

2 CHRONICLES 16:1 —How can this verse say Baasha king of Israel built Ramah in the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa?

PROBLEM: Asa began his reign in about 911 B.C . The thirty-sixth year of his reign would have been about 876 or 875 B .C. However, Baasha began his reign in 909 and reigned until 886 B .C. when Elah his son became king ( 1 Kings 16:8 ). How could 2 Chronicles 16:1 say Baasha built Ramah in the thirty-sixth year of Asa, 11 years after Baasha’s death?

SOLUTION: The number “thirty-six” is undoubtedly a copyist error. The actual number was probably “sixteen.” This error is explained by the fact that the numbers were probably written in numerical notation. In this type of notation, the difference between the letter representing the number 10 xx and the letter representing the number 30 xx was only two small strokes at the top of the letter. It is quite possible that a copyist misread the original and wrote the wrong letter for the number, possibly as the result of a smudged or damaged manuscript at his disposal.   

Introduction / Outline

JFB: 2 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF CHRONICLES were also considered as one by the ancient Jews, who called them "words of days," that is, diaries or journals, being probably compiled from those registers that were kept by the king's historiographers of passing occurrences. In the Septuagint the title given them is Paraleipomenon, "of things omitted," that is, the books are supplementary because many things unnoticed in the former books are here recorded; and not only the omissions are supplied, but some narratives extended while others are added. The authorship is commonly ascribed to Ezra, whose leading object seems to have been to show the division of families, possessions, &c., before the captivity, with a view to the exact restoration of the same order after the return from Babylon. Although many things are restated and others are exact repetitions of what is contained in Kings, there is so much new and important information that, as JEROME has well said, the Chronicles furnish the means of comprehending parts of the New Testament, which must have been unintelligible without them. They are frequently referred to by Christ and the Apostles as forming part of "the Word of God" (see the genealogies in Mat. 1:1-16; Luk. 3:23-38; compare 2Ch 19:7 with 1Pe 1:17; 2Ch 24:19-21 with Mat 23:32-35).

JFB: 2 Chronicles (Outline)

• SOLEMN OFFERING OF SOLOMON AT GIBEON. (2Ch 1:1-6)
• HIS CHOICE OF WISDOM IS BLESSED BY GOD. (2Ch 1:7-13)
• HIS STRENGTH AND WEALTH. (2Ch 1:14-17)
• SOLOMON'S LABORERS FOR BUILDING THE TEMPLE. (2Ch 2:1-2)
• HIS MESSAGE TO HURAM FOR SKILFUL ARTIFICERS. (2Ch 2:3-10)
• HURAM'S KIND ANSWER. (2Ch 2:11-18)
• PLACE AND TIME OF BUILDING THE TEMPLE. (2Ch 3:1-2)
• MEASURES AND ORNAMENTS OF THE HOUSE. (2Ch 3:3-7)
• DIMENSIONS, &C., OF THE MOST HOLY HOUSE. (2Ch 3:8-13)
• ALTAR OF BRASS. (2Ch 4:1)
• MOLTEN SEA. (2Ch 4:2-5)
• THE TEN LAVERS, CANDLESTICKS, AND TABLES. (2Ch 4:6-18)
• THE DEDICATED TREASURES. (2Ch 5:1)
• BRINGING UP OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. (2Ch 5:2-13)
• SOLOMON BLESSES THE PEOPLE AND PRAISES GOD. (2Ch. 6:1-41)
• GOD GIVES TESTIMONY TO SOLOMON'S PRAYER; THE PEOPLE WORSHIP. (2Ch 7:1-3)
• SOLOMON'S SACRIFICES. (2Ch 7:4-11)
• GOD APPEARS TO HIM. (2Ch 7:12-22)
• SOLOMON'S BUILDINGS. (2Ch 8:1-6)
• THE CANAANITES MADE TRIBUTARIES. (2Ch 8:7-11)
• SOLOMON'S FESTIVAL SACRIFICES. (2Ch 8:15-18)
• THE QUEEN OF SHEBA VISITS SOLOMON; SHE ADMIRES HIS WISDOM AND MAGNIFICENCE. (2Ch 9:1-12)
• HIS RICHES. (2Ch. 9:13-28)
• REHOBOAM REFUSING THE OLD MEN'S GOOD COUNSEL. (2Ch 10:1-15)
• REHOBOAM, RAISING AN ARMY TO SUBDUE ISRAEL, IS FORBIDDEN BY SHEMAIAH. (2Ch. 11:1-17)
• HIS WIVES AND CHILDREN. (2Ch 11:18-23)
• REHOBOAM, FORSAKING GOD, IS PUNISHED BY SHISHAK. (2Ch 12:1-12)
• HIS REIGN AND DEATH. (2Ch 12:13-16)
• ABIJAH, SUCCEEDING, MAKES WAR AGAINST JEROBOAM, AND OVERCOMES HIM. (2Ch. 13:1-20)
• ASA DESTROYS IDOLATRY. (2Ch 14:1-5)
• HAVING PEACE, HE STRENGTHENS HIS KINGDOM WITH FORTS AND ARMIES. (2Ch 14:6-8)
• HE OVERCOMES ZERAH, AND SPOILS THE ETHIOPIANS. (2Ch 14:9-15)
• JUDAH MAKES A SOLEMN COVENANT WITH GOD. (2Ch 15:1-15)
• ASA, BY A LEAGUE WITH THE SYRIANS, DIVERTS BAASHA FROM BUILDING RAMAH. (2Ch 16:1-14)
• JEHOSHAPHAT REIGNS WELL AND PROSPERS. (2Ch 17:1-6)
• HE SENDS LEVITES TO TEACH IN JUDAH. (2Ch 17:7-11)
• HIS GREATNESS, CAPTAINS, AND ARMIES. (2Ch 17:12-19)
• JEHOSHAPHAT AND AHAB GO AGAINST RAMOTH-GILEAD. (2Ch. 18:1-34)
• JEHOSHAPHAT VISITS HIS KINGDOM. (2Ch 19:1-4)
• HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JUDGES. (2Ch 19:5-7)
• TO THE PRIESTS AND LEVITES. (2Ch 19:8-11)
• JEHOSHAPHAT, INVADED BY THE MOABITES, PROCLAIMS A FAST. (2Ch. 20:1-21)
• THE OVERTHROW OF HIS ENEMIES. (2Ch 20:22-30)
• HIS REIGN. (2Ch 20:31-37)
• JEHORAM SUCCEEDS JEHOSHAPHAT. (2Ch 21:1-4)
• HIS WICKED REIGN. (2Ch 21:5-7)
• EDOM AND LIBNAH REVOLT. (2Ch 21:8-17)
• AHAZIAH SUCCEEDING JEHORAM, REIGNS WICKEDLY. (2Ch 22:1-9)
• ATHALIAH, DESTROYING THE SEED ROYAL SAVE JOASH, USURPS THE KINGDOM. (2Ch 22:10-12)
• JEHOIADA MAKES JOASH KING. (2Ch 23:1-11)
• ATHALIAH SLAIN. (2Ch 23:12-15)
• JEHOIADA RESTORES THE WORSHIP OF GOD, AND SETTLES THE KING. (2Ch 23:16)
• JOASH REIGNS WELL ALL THE DAYS OF JEHOIADA. (2Ch 24:1-14)
• JEHOIADA BEING DEAD. (2Ch 24:15-16)
• JOASH FALLS INTO IDOLATRY. (2Ch 24:17-22)
• HE IS SLAIN BY HIS SERVANTS. (2Ch 24:23-27)
• AMAZIAH BEGINS TO REIGN WELL. (2Ch 25:1-4)
• HAVING HIRED AN ARMY OF ISRAELITES AGAINST THE EDOMITES, AT THE WORD OF A PROPHET HE LOSES A HUNDRED TALENTS AND DISMISSES THEM. (2Ch 25:5-10)
• HE PROVOKES JOASH TO HIS OVERTHROW. (2Ch 25:17)
• UZZIAH SUCCEEDS AMAZIAH AND REIGNS WELL IN THE DAYS OF ZECHARIAH. (2Ch 26:1-8)
• HIS BUILDINGS. (2Ch 26:9-10)
• HIS HOST, AND ENGINES OF WAR. (2Ch 26:11-15)
• HE INVADES THE PRIEST'S OFFICE, AND IS SMITTEN WITH LEPROSY. (2Ch 26:16-21)
• JOTHAM, REIGNING WELL, PROSPERS. (2Ch 27:1-4)
• HE SUBDUES THE AMMONITES. (2Ch 27:5-9)
• AHAZ, REIGNING WICKEDLY, IS AFFLICTED BY THE SYRIANS. (2Ch. 28:1-21)
• HIS IDOLATRY IN HIS DISTRESS. (2Ch 28:22-27)
• HEZEKIAH'S GOOD REIGN. (2Ch 29:1-2)
• HE RESTORES RELIGION. (2Ch 29:3-11)
• THE HOUSE OF GOD CLEANSED. (2Ch. 29:12-36)
• HEZEKIAH PROCLAIMS A PASSOVER. (2Ch 30:1-12)
• THE ASSEMBLY DESTROYS THE ALTARS OF IDOLATRY. (2Ch 30:13-27)
• THE PEOPLE FORWARD IN DESTROYING IDOLATRY. (2Ch 31:1-10)
• HEZEKIAH APPOINTS OFFICERS TO DISPOSE OF THE TITHES. (2Ch 31:11-19)
• HIS SINCERITY OF HEART. (2Ch 31:20-21)
• SENNACHERIB INVADES JUDAH. (2Ch. 32:1-20)
• AN ANGEL DESTROYS THE ASSYRIANS. (2Ch 32:21-23)
• HEZEKIAH'S SICKNESS AND RECOVERY. (2Ch 32:24-26)
• HIS RICHES AND WORKS. (2Ch 32:27-33)
• MANASSEH'S WICKED REIGN. (2Ch 33:1-10)
• HE IS CARRIED UNTO BABYLON, WHERE HE HUMBLES HIMSELF BEFORE GOD, AND IS RESTORED TO HIS KINGDOM. (2Ch 33:11-19)
• HE DIES AND AMON SUCCEEDS HIM. (2Ch 33:20-25)
• JOSIAH'S GOOD REIGN. (2Ch 34:1-2)
• HE DESTROYS IDOLATRY. (2Ch 34:3-7)
• HE REPAIRS THE TEMPLE. (2Ch 34:8-18)
• AND, CAUSING THE LAW TO BE READ, RENEWS THE COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND THE PEOPLE. (2Ch 34:19-33)
• JOSIAH KEEPS A SOLEMN PASSOVER. (2Ch. 35:1-19)
• HIS DEATH. (2Ch 35:20-27)
• JEHOAHAZ, SUCCEEDING, IS DEPOSED BY PHARAOH. (2Ch 36:1-4)
• JEHOIAKIM, REIGNING ILL, IS CARRIED INTO BABYLON. (2Ch 36:5-8)
• ZEDEKIAH'S REIGN. (2Ch 36:11-21)
• CYRUS' PROCLAMATION. (2Ch 36:22-23)

TSK: 2 Chronicles 15 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Ch 15:1, Asa, with Judah and many of Israel, moved by the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, make a solemn covenant with God; 2Ch 15:16, He puts down Maachah his mother for her idolatry; 2Ch 15:18, He brings dedicated things into the house of God, and enjoys a long peace.

TSK: 2 Chronicles 16 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Ch 16:1, Asa, by the aid of the Syrians, diverts Baasha from building Ramah; 2Ch 16:7, Being reproved thereof by Hanani, he puts him in prison; 2Ch 16:11, Among his other acts in his disease he seeks not to God, but to the physicians; 2Ch 16:13, His death and burial.

Poole: 2 Chronicles 15 (Chapter Introduction)

CHRONICLES CHAPTER 15

Asa, with Judah and many of Israel, moved by Azariah the prophet, renew a solemn covenant with God, 2Ch 15:1-15 . He removeth Maachah his mother for her idolatry; bringeth the hallowed things again into the temple; and enjoyeth a long peace, 2Ch 15:16-19 .

Poole: 2 Chronicles 16 (Chapter Introduction)

CHRONICLES CHAPTER 16

Asa maketh a league with the Syrians against the king of Israel, 2Ch 16:1-6 ; for which the prophet reproving him, he putteth him into prison, 2Ch 16:7-10 . He is sick, and seeketh to the physicians, and not to God: his death and burial, 2Ch 16:11-14 .

MHCC: 2 Chronicles 15 (Chapter Introduction)

The people make a solemn covenant with God.

MHCC: 2 Chronicles 16 (Chapter Introduction)

Asa seeks the aid of the Syrians, His death.

Matthew Henry: 2 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Book of Chronicles

This book begins with the reign of Solomon and the building of the temple, and continues the history of the kings of Judah thenceforward to the captivity and so concludes with the fall of that illustrious monarchy and the destruction of the temple. That monarchy of the house of David, as it was prior in time, so it was superior in worth and dignity to all those four celebrated ones of which Nebuchadnezzar dreamed. The Babylonian monarchy I reckon to begin in Nebuchadnezzar himself - Thou art that head of gold, and that lasted but about seventy years; The Persian monarchy, in several families, about 130; the Grecian, in their several branches, about 300; and 300 more went far with the Roman. But as I reckon David a greater hero than any of the founders of those monarchies, and Solomon a more magnificent prince than any of those that were the glories of them, so the succession was kept up in a lineal descent throughout the whole monarchy, which continued considerable between 400 and 500 years, and, after a long eclipse, shone forth again in the kingdom of the Messiah, of the increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end. This history of the Jewish monarchy, as it is more authentic, so it is more entertaining and more instructive, than the histories of any of those monarchies. We had the story of the house of David before, in the first and second books of Kings, intermixed with that of the kings of Israel, which there took more room than that of Judah; but here we have it entire. Much is repeated here which we had before, yet many of the passages of the story are enlarged upon, and divers added, which we had not before, especially relating to the affairs of religion; for it is a church-history, and it is written for our learning, to let nations and families know that then, and then only, they can expect to prosper, when they keep in the way of their duty to God: for all along the good kings prospered and the wicked kings suffered. The peaceable reign of Solomon we have (ch. 1-9), the blemished reign of Rehoboam (ch. 10-12), the short but busy reign of Abijah (ch. 13), the long and happy reign of Asa (ch. 14-16), the pious and prosperous reign of Jehoshaphat (ch. 17-20), the impious and infamous reigns of Jehoram and Ahaziah (ch. 21-22), the unsteady reigns of Joash and Amaziah (ch. 24, 25), the long and prosperous reign of Uzziah (ch. 26), the regular reign of Jotham (2Ch 27:1-9), the profane and wicked reign of Ahaz (ch. 28), the gracious glorious reign of Hezekiah (ch. 29-32), the wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon (ch. 33), the reforming reign of Josiah (ch. 34, 35), the ruining reigns of his sons (ch. 36). Put all these together, and the truth of that word of God will appear, Those that honour me I will honour, but those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. The learned Mr. Whiston, in his chronology, suggests that the historical books which were written after the captivity (namely, the two books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah) have more mistakes in names and numbers than all the books of the Old Testament besides, through the carelessness of transcribers: but, though that should be allowed, the things are so very minute that we may be confident the foundation of God stands sure notwithstanding.

Matthew Henry: 2 Chronicles 15 (Chapter Introduction)

Asa and his army were now returning in triumph from the battle, laden with spoils and adorned with the trophies of victory, the pious prince, we may now suppose, studying what he should render to God for this great favour. He knew that the work of reformation, which he had begun in his kingdom, was not perfected; his enemies abroad were subdued, but there were more dangerous enemies at home that were yet unconquered - idols in Judah and Benjamin: his victory over the former emboldened him vigorously to renew his attack upon the latter. Now here we have, I. The message which God sent to him, by a prophet, to engage him to, and encourage him in, the prosecution of his reformation (2Ch 15:1-7). II. The life which this message put into that good cause, and their proceedings in pursuance of it. Idols removed (2Ch 15:8). The spoil dedicated to God (2Ch 15:9-11). A covenant made with God, and a law for the punishing of idolaters (2Ch 15:12-15). A reformation at court (2Ch 15:16). Dedicated things brought into the house of God (2Ch 15:18). All well, but that the high places were permitted (2Ch 15:17). And the effect of this was great peace (2Ch 15:19).

Matthew Henry: 2 Chronicles 16 (Chapter Introduction)

This chapter concludes the history of the reign of Asa, but does not furnish so pleasing an account of his latter end as we had of his beginning. I. Here is a foolish treaty with Benhadad king of Syria (2Ch 16:1-6). II. The reproof which God sent him for it by a prophet (2Ch 16:7-9). III. Asa's displeasure against the prophet for his faithfulness (2Ch 16:10). IV. The sickness, death, and burial of Asa (2Ch 16:11-14).

Constable: 2 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

Introduction

For an explanation of the title, writer, date, scope, and purpose of this book, see my comments in my notes on 1 Chronicles. Second Chronicles continues the historical narrative begun in 1 Chronicles.

Message¹

Even though 1 and 2 Chronicles give one continuous story the emphasis in 2 Chronicles is different from that in 1 Chronicles. In 1 Chronicles the emphasis is the importance of the temple in national life. However in 2 Chronicles the emphasis is the impotence of the temple in national life. First Chronicles condemns rationalism in national life, the idea that we can get along without God. Second Chronicles condemns ritualism in national life, the idea that what satisfies God is external conformity rather than internal reality. First Chronicles emphasizes the importance of recognizing God in national life. Second Chronicles emphasizes the importance of following up that formal recognition with actual recognition in attitudes and actions. Second Chronicles is a negative lesson because in it we see that the Israelites' recognition of God was only formal, not actual.

In the first part of the book (chs. 1-9) we have the story of Solomon. It is a demonstration of the impotence and uselessness of merely formal religion. This comes through in four respects.

First, Solomon's inheritance was more than the throne of Israel. His throne only gave him the opportunity to fulfill God's purpose for his life. That purpose was to enable the people to acknowledge Yahweh's rule over them that the temple symbolized. This had been David's great passion in life. He wanted the people to realize that national strength came from submission to God's heavenly throne. Solomon appreciated that fact. When he offered his first sacrifice as king to God he did so at the old tabernacle, not at the temporary tent where the ark resided. He realized that Israel's strength lay in her relationship to God that the tabernacle symbolized. His temple was to become the tabernacle's successor. Solomon's real inheritance then was his opportunity to build the temple as a reminder to the people of how important it was for them to recognize Yahweh as their real Ruler.

Second, Solomon's greatness was not really his wealth and political influence. These were the results of his greatness. His real greatness lay in his humility before God and in his intercession for the people with God. He got away from these things, but when he began to reign he had the essentials of greatness.

Third, Solomon's service was not most importantly the administration of Israel, though he did that well. His primary service to the nation was the erection of the temple, which the writer emphasized.

Fourth, Solomon's failure was more significant than that he oppressed the people and that he set the stage for the division of the kingdom. It was essentially the fact that he ceased to recognize God's rule over him and his kingdom, the very thing the temple he had built promoted. His life became self-centered rather than God-centered. He stopped submitting to the Word of God. For Solomon the temple became only an outward form, not the expression of his inward life. It became an object of ritual rather than the expression of reality. In the years that followed, what had become true of Solomon became true of the whole nation.

In the second part of the book (chs. 10-36) we have the history of the nation Solomon ruled. It is an illustration of the impotence and uselessness of merely formal religion. Let me point this out in four respects.

First, the division of the kingdom resulted because Rehoboam did not acknowledge God's sovereignty over the nation in reality even though he did so formally. Rehoboam continued the true form of worship in Judah, but Jeroboam substituted a new form of worship in Israel. In both cases the worship was only a matter of formal observance, not a matter of reality. That is why both nations failed.

Second, the degeneracy of the kingdom of Judah, as well as Israel, continued because most of the kings and people that followed continued worship only as a matter of formal observance. This resulted too in increasing neglect of even the form. People do not continue to observe a form of worship that is devoid of power very long. Mere formalism dies eventually, as it should. The real issue in Judah was apostasy, infidelity.

Third, the reformations in the kingdom began at the temple. Asa restored the altar. Jehoshaphat sent messengers throughout the land to read the Word of God to the people. Joash renovated the temple. Hezekiah reopened it and revitalized worship in it. Josiah repaired it. In each case, conditions were appalling when these reformations began. In Asa's day the altar was in disrepair. In Jehoshaphat's day the people were ignorant of God's Word. In Joash's day Athaliah had damaged the temple. In Hezekiah's day no one came to the temple. Its doors were shut and its worship abandoned. In Josiah's day not one copy of the Law was available. When the king heard the copy that someone had found in the rubble of the temple read, he was completely unfamiliar with it. Throughout this period of history, about 350 years in chapters 10-36, the nation moved farther and farther from God.

Fourth, the ultimate disaster in the kingdom was the burning of the temple and the captivity of the people. All through the years Solomon's temple had stood as a reminder to the people to recognize God's rule over them as a nation. It had become a hollow symbol, the symbol of a formal ritualism rather than the symbol of a vital relationship. It was only fitting that when the nation ceased to exist and the people left their land the Babylonians destroyed the temple.

If 1 Chronicles teaches that it was necessary that the people recognize God, 2 Chronicles teaches that if that recognition is only formal and ceremonial it is not only useless but impotent.

That is the message of this book. If our recognition of God is only formal and not real, that recognition will be useless for us and impotent in us.

I would like to apply this lesson to us.

First, let me remind you of the similarity that exists between ourselves and the Israelites. They had a physical, material temple. We are a spiritual temple (1 Cor. 3:16; cf. 1 Pet. 2:4-10, esp. vv. 5, 9-10). As the presence of God filled Solomon's temple at its beginning, God's presence filled the church at its beginning (2 Chron. 5:13-14; Acts 2:1-4). As Solomon's temple was the center of national life in Israel, so the church is to be the center of international life in the world. As God intended Solomon's temple to remind His people of His heavenly rule over them, so God intended the church to remind all people of God's rule over them. As Solomon's temple became simply a symbol of a form of worship, so can the church. We must remember what we are here to do, namely to call people to recognize God's gracious and beneficent rule over them that can result in their blessing.

Second, let me point out some manifestations of formalism in the church today. One of these is insistence on doctrinal orthodoxy without a corresponding vital spiritual life. This is what James called dead faith (James 2:20). This can be the possession of both individual Christians and local churches. I do not mean to suggest that doctrinal orthodoxy is unimportant. I am not suggesting that we tear down the temple. But let us make sure that our theological edifice is having its full effect and not merely giving us a false sense of God's approval. It is possible to argue for the correctness of our views and to curse the person who does not share them. That is an evidence of formalism. It is possible to go to church faithfully and yet to live out of church as though there were no God. That is ritualism. It is possible to worship God earnestly and then to goof off at work. That is formalism, ritualism, empty hypocrisy.

Third, let me point out the consequences of formalism. The most serious consequence is not only that a church will fail to be what God wants it to be. It is also that it will fail to do what God has placed it on the earth to do. As Israel failed to bring the light of God's revelation to the world, the church can fail to do so too. Our nation and our world can rush headlong toward godlessness if we are content merely with playing church. We Christians can bear the marks of unworthy conduct, cowardice in the face of wrong, and carelessness about what is right. If we do, we will be useless and impotent. Why is the modern church unlike the Jerusalem church in Acts 2? It is different because of formalism, ritualism, lack of reality. The world has no time or patience with formalism. Why are so many local churches not growing? They are stagnant because the Christians in them are just going through motions. There is no evidence to others that they are anything but useless and impotent. Is your Christian life vital, or are you just going through motions?

Constable: 2 Chronicles (Outline)

Outline

(Continued from notes on 1 Chronicles)

III. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-9

A. Solomon's wisdom and prosperity ch. 1

B. The building of the temple 2:1-5:1

1. Preparations for building the temple ch. 2

2. The temple proper 3:1-9

3. The temple furnishings 3:10-5:1

C. The dedication of the temple 5:2-7:10

1. The installation of the ark 5:2-14

2. Solomon's address 6:1-11

3. Solomon's prayer 6:12-42

4. The celebration of the people 7:1-10

D. God's blessings and curses 7:11-22

E. Solomon's successes chs. 8-9

1. Solomon's political success 8:1-11

2. Solomon's religious success 8:12-16

3. Solomon's economic success 8:17-9:28

4. Solomon's death 9:29-31

IV. The reigns of Solomon's successors chs. 10-36

A. Rehoboam chs. 10-12

1. The division of the nation ch. 10

2. Rehoboam's kingdom ch. 11

3. The invasion by Egypt ch. 12

B. Abijah 13:1-14:1

C. Asa 14:2-16:14

1. Asa's wisdom 14:2-15

2. Asa's reform ch. 15

3. Asa's failure ch. 16

D. Jehoshaphat chs. 17-20

1. Summary of Jehoshaphat's reign 17:1-6

2. The strength of Jehoshaphat's kingdom 17:7-19

3. Jehoshaphat and Ahab ch. 18

4. Jehoshaphat's appointment of judges ch. 19

5. Victory over the Moabite-Ammonite alliance 20:1-30

6. Jehoshaphat's failures 20:31-37

E. Jehoram ch. 21

F. Ahaziah ch. 22

G. Athaliah ch. 23

H. Joash ch. 24

I. Amaziah ch. 25

J. Uzziah ch. 26

K. Jotham ch. 27

L. Ahaz ch. 28

M. Hezekiah chs. 29-32

1. The cleansing and rededication of the temple ch. 29

2. Hezekiah's Passover 30:1-31:1

3. Re-establishment of proper worship 31:2-21

4. The invasion by Sennacherib 32:1-23

5. Hezekiah's humility and greatness 32:24-33

N. Manasseh 33:1-20

O. Amon 33:21-25

P. Josiah chs. 34-35

1. Josiah's reforms ch. 34

2. Josiah's Passover 35:1-19

3. Josiah's death 35:20-27

Q. The last four kings 36:1-21

1. Jehoahaz 36:1-4

2. Jehoiakim 36:5-8

3. Jehoiachin 36:9-10

4. Zedekiah 36:11-21

R. The edict of Cyrus 36:22-23

Constable: 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 2 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

THE SECOND BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON.

INTRODUCTION.

As the former Book shews how David was chosen to rule over God's peculiar people, so this [Book] explains briefly the reign of Solomon, in the nine first chapters; and in the rest, that of nineteen of his successors, who governed two tribes till the captivity, while Israel was divided. (Worthington)

Gill: 2 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES

This, and the preceding, were but one book originally, but divided into two because of the size of it, so that this is only a continuation of the former history; that ends at the death of David; this begins with the reign of Solomon, goes through that, and the reigns of all the kings of the house of David; of the kings of Judah only, after the separation of the ten tribes, quite down to the captivity of Judah in Babylon, and reaches to the deliverance of the Jews from thence by Cyrus, and contains an history of four hundred and seventy nine years. It treats not at all of the kings of Israel, after the separation, only of the kings of Judah, through whom the line of the Messiah was drawn; and though it omits several things recorded of them in the book of Kings, yet it gives abundance of anecdotes not to be met with there, which are of great use and advantage in history to know.

Gill: 2 Chronicles 15 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 15

Asa returning from the battle, and with the spoil of the enemy, was met by a prophet of the Lord, who encouraged him to go on with the work of reformation, promising the presence and help of God with him, 2Ch 15:1, which inspired him with fresh courage, and he went about the work with great alacrity; and having offered sacrifices, he and his people entered into a solemn covenant with the Lord, to serve him, 2Ch 15:8 upon which he destroyed his mother's idol, brought the dedicated things into the house of God, and the effect of this was peace for a long time, 2Ch 15:16.

Gill: 2 Chronicles 16 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 16

Baasha coming up against Judah, and building Ramah, Asa made a league with the king of Syria, and hired him to make a diversion in his favour, and cause Baasha to leave off building, which succeeded, 2Ch 16:1, for which he was reproved by a prophet of the Lord, with whom he was so angry for it as to put him in prison, and oppress others, 2Ch 16:7, and the chapter is closed with an account of his disease and conduct under it, and of his death and burial, 2Ch 16:11.