=1‒6= (= 1 Kings xv. 17‒22).
ASA ASKS HELP OF BEN-HADAD.
¹In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king
of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might
not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
=1.= _the six and thirtieth year_] According to 1 Kings xvi. 8 Baasha
was succeeded by his son Elah in the six-and-twentieth year of Asa.
The number _thirty-six_ may therefore be wrong. It should be noticed
however that the _thirty-sixth_ year of the separate kingdom of Judah
corresponds with the _sixteenth_ year of Asa, so that possibly two
different reckonings are here confused and we should read, =In the
six and thirtieth year, that is, in the sixteenth year of Asa=. So
in xv. 19 we should read, =in the five and thirtieth, that is, in
the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa=. This scheme of Asa’s reign,
however, agrees badly with the dominant ideas of the Chronicler,
for the religious reform and covenant in the fifteenth year (verse
10) _ought_ not to have been immediately followed by war in the
sixteenth year, but rather by a period of peace and prosperity. Hence
_thirty-six_ may after all be the original text, and we must suppose
that the Chronicler either ignored or overlooked 1 Kings xvi. 8; or
perhaps that he quoted from a midrashic source, having a different
system of chronology from that in Kings.
_Ramah_] The modern _er-Rām_, situated on a commanding hill about two
hours north of Jerusalem. Bädeker, _Palestine_⁵, p. 216.
²Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures
of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent to
Ben-hadad king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus¹, saying, ³_There
is_² a league between me and thee, as _there was_ between my
father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold;
go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may
depart from me.
¹ Hebrew _Darmesek_.
² Or, Let there be.
=2.= _silver and gold_] In 1 Kings, “all the silver and the gold that
were left.”
_Ben-hadad_] At least three kings of Syria bore this name, the two
others being severally (1) a contemporary of Ahab (1 Kings xx. 1 ff.),
(2) a contemporary of Jehoash the grandson of Jehu, 2 Kings xiii. 25.
_that dwelt at Damascus_] The epithet distinguishes the king of
Damascus from other kings of Syria, e.g. from the king of Hamath.
_Damascus_] Hebrew “Darmesek”; see note on 1 Chronicles xviii. 5.
⁴And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains
of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon,
and Dan, and Abel-maim, and all the store cities¹ of Naphtali.
¹ Hebrew _storehouses of the cities_.
=4.= _and they smote_] The places smitten were all in the extreme north
of Israel.
_Ijon_] The city cannot be identified, but the name is preserved
in _Merj ‘Iyūn_, a table-land north of the Jordan valley. Bädeker,
_Palestine_⁵, p. 291.
_Abel-maim_] In 1 Kings, “Abel-beth-maacah”; compare 2 Samuel xx. 14,
15. No doubt the two names designate one place.
_all the store cities_] In 1 Kings, “all Chinneroth” (i.e. the district
west of the Sea of Galilee). As this was a very fruitful district, the
“store cities” of the Chronicler may be only another name for it.
⁵And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left
off building of Ramah, and let his work cease.
=5.= _and let his work cease_] In 1 Kings _and dwelt in Tirzah_
(Hebrew), _and returned to Tirzah_ (LXX.). Baasha (like Jeroboam;
1 Kings xiv. 17) fixed his seat of government at Tirzah in the centre
of the Northern Kingdom in order to be able to watch Syria as well as
Judah. The Chronicler takes no interest in the home of Baasha.
⁶Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the
stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had
builded; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.
=6.= _took all Judah_] In 1 Kings _summoned all Judah_ (so translate);
_none was exempted_.
_Geba and Mizpah_] The names signify, “the hill and the watch-tower.”
Geba is mentioned in 2 Kings xxiii. 8, evidently as being on the
northern boundary of Judah. Yet, be it noted, it was only 7 miles north
of Jerusalem, whilst Mizpah was about 5 miles north-west of the capital.
For Mizpah see Jeremiah xli. 1‒9. See also note on xiv. 6‒8.
=7‒10= (not in 1 Kings).
THE INTERVENTION OF HANANI.
The Chronicler stands alone both in recording the condemnation of Asa
in this passage and in himself condemning him in verse 12. In 1 Kings
no blame is passed on Asa.
⁷And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and
said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria,
and hast not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host
of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.
=7.= _Hanani the seer_] Hanani _as a seer_ is known to us from this
passage only; but in xix. 2 and xx. 34 (also 1 Kings xvi. 1) Jehu the
prophet is called son of Hanani.
_the seer_] an ancient title, elsewhere applied only to Samuel. Compare
1 Samuel ix. 9 “he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called
a Seer.” In consequence of this phrase it has been supposed that the
story of Hanani is a genuinely old tradition. This is possible, but
the evidence of this one phrase is not sufficient to be convincing. The
term may be a deliberate archaism of the Chronicler.
_therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped_] The prophet
declares that if Asa had not detached Syria by his presents, he might
have smitten Israel and Syria combined.
⁸Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge host, with
chariots and horsemen exceeding many? yet, because thou didst
rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand.
=8.= _and the Lubim_] The Lubim are not mentioned in xiv. 9‒13, but as
they were auxiliaries of the Egyptians (xii. 3) it is quite possible
that they represent the help given by Egypt to the Arabian Cushites as
they passed the Egyptian border on their way to invade Judah. Compare
note on xiv. 9 (_three hundred chariots_).
⁹For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole
earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart
is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly; for from
henceforth thou shalt have wars.
=9.= _run to and fro_] i.e. no event escapes the Divine vigilance,
compare Zechariah iv. 10.
¹⁰Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in the prison
house¹; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And
Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.
¹ Hebrew _house of the stocks_.
=10.= _in the prison house_] Render, =in the stocks= (literally _in the
house of the stocks_). Compare xviii. 26; Jeremiah xx. 2.
_oppressed_] literally _brake in pieces_, an expression which when
applied to things would mean _made spoil of_, when applied to persons
_treated outrageously, tortured_, ἐλυμήνατο LXX.
=11‒14= (= 1 Kings xv. 23, 24).
THE EPILOGUE OF ASA’S REIGN.
¹¹And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are
written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²And in
the thirty and ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his
feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he
sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.
=11.= _the book of the kings of Judah and Israel_] In 1 Kings the
appeal is to “the book of chronicles of the kings of Judah.” See
Introduction § 5.
_he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians_] _Physicians_
(Hebrew _rōph’īm_) are condemned by implication here, perhaps as using
incantations and adjurations. Contrast Ecclesiasticus (_Ben Sira_)
xxxviii. 9‒15, especially verse 15 (Hebrew text), _He that sinneth
against his Maker will behave himself proudly against a physician_.
Curtis notes the connection of the art of healing with the prophets;
compare 1 Kings xvii. 17 ff. (Elijah); 2 Kings iv. 19 ff. (Elisha);
2 Kings xx. 7 (Isaiah).
¹³And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and
fortieth year of his reign.
=13.= _in the one and fortieth year_] Compare 1 Kings xv. 10.
¹⁴And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had hewn
out for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed
which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds _of spices_
prepared by the apothecaries’ art: and they made a very great
burning for him.
=14.= _in his own sepulchres_] In 1 Kings _with his fathers_.
_which he had hewn out for himself_] This clause is absent from 1 Kings.
_divers kinds_ of spices] Mark xvi. 1; John xii. 3, 7, xix. 39, 40.
_a very great burning_] Compare xxi. 19. What is here meant is not
cremation of the body, but only a burning of spices; Jeremiah xxxiv. 5.
CHAPTERS XVII.‒XX.
THE REIGN OF JEHOSHAPHAT.