TEXT [Commentary]

3. Asa rules in Judah (15:9-24)

9 Asa began to rule over Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel. 10 He reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother[*] was Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom.

11 Asa did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight, as his ancestor David had done. 12 He banished the male and female shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols[*] his ancestors had made. 13 He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 Although the pagan shrines were not removed, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful to the LORD throughout his life. 15 He brought into the Temple of the LORD the silver and gold and the various items that he and his father had dedicated.

16 There was constant war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel. 17 King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa’s territory in Judah.

18 Asa responded by removing all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Temple of the LORD and the royal palace. He sent it with some of his officials to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message:

19 “Let there be a treaty[*] between you and me like the one between your father and my father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”

20 Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa’s request and sent the commanders of his army to attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Kinnereth, and all the land of Naphtali. 21 As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa sent an order throughout Judah, requiring that everyone, without exception, help to carry away the building stones and timbers that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah. Asa used these materials to fortify the town of Geba in Benjamin and the town of Mizpah.

23 The rest of the events in Asa’s reign—the extent of his power, everything he did, and the names of the cities he built—are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. In his old age his feet became diseased. 24 When Asa died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David.

Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became the next king.

NOTES

15:9 Asa. Heb., ’asa’ [TH609, ZH654] (which may mean “healer”); he is a prominent king in both the books of Kings and Chronicles. His 41-year reign is longer than either David’s or Solomon’s; it is surpassed only by those of Uzziah (52 years) and Manasseh (55 years).

15:10 grandmother. Lit., “mother” (see NLT mg); some have understood Abijam and Asa to be brothers, but the NLT text is preferable. Concerning the position of the “queen mother” (15:13), see notes on 2:19.

15:11 what was pleasing. See note on 15:4.

15:12 male and female shrine prostitutes. See note on 14:24.

idols. Heb., gillulim [TH1544, ZH1658], lit., “round(ed) items” or the like (traditionally taken as “dung”; hence the NLT mg). For a similar term, see the third note on 14:10. Both Cogan (2001:397) and Koehler and Baumgartner (HALOT 192), however, suggest plausible alternative etymologies (“stones” and “venerable things,” respectively) for this relatively common term.

15:13 obscene Asherah pole. See the note on 14:15 concerning the “Asherah pole” itself. The adjective “obscene” used here is a debatable translation for the strong term mipletseth [TH4656, ZH5145] (horrid thing), which is found twice in the Hebrew of this verse. The term mipletseth is meant to evoke a strong shudder of hatred and fear, but not necessarily sexual repulsion.

Kidron Valley. This valley is located directly east of Jerusalem and west of the Mount of Olives.

15:16 constant war. This is a repeated reference throughout these several chapters (see commentary on 15:1-8).

Baasha. See note on 15:27.

15:17 fortified Ramah. This was a Benjamite city (present-day village of er-Ram) just 5 miles (8 km) north of Jerusalem. By this action, Baasha effectively blockaded Asa in his own capital city (Cogan 2001:399) or, at least, controlled traffic on the main north–south route to and from Jerusalem (Pitard 1987:107).

15:18 silver and gold that was left. This was a desperate measure, but understandable from a desperate king (see the previous note). Presumably not all that much gold or silver was left (but cf. 15:15) after the notorious despoiling of the city of Jerusalem by Pharaoh Shishak in the days of Rehoboam (14:25-26).

Ben-hadad. This is Ben-hadad I, the first of at least two (and possibly three) ­Aramean monarchs who bore that name, which means “son of [the god] Hadad.” Pitard (1987:107-110; also cf. Pitard in ABD 1.663-664) characterized this king as an early ninth-century king of Damascus, son of Tab-Ramman (“Ramman [the thundering one] is good”); cf. “Tabrimmon, son of Hezion,” in the present verse.

15:19 Let there be a treaty. This follows the imperative verb of the LXX (diathou [TG1303, ZG1415]). There is no expressed verb in MT, but this is possibly its intended meaning as well (cf. GKC 453 [§141f], as noted by Pitard 1987:108; but contrast Cogan 2001:400; Japhet 1993:733).

Break your treaty. This would have far-reaching consequences—among other things, domination of Israel’s northern territory and interruption of their main trade route to the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon (Pitard 1987:109; Wiseman 1993:156). The symmetrical nature of these diplomatic and military maneuverings is self-evident (see note on 15:17).

15:20 all the land of Naphtali. This was the area west and southwest of Aram proper, and north and west of the Sea of Galilee (including Dan; cf. the note on 12:29).

15:21 Tirzah. Heb., tirtsah [TH8656A, ZH9574], meaning “pleasure, beauty.” This was the early capital of the northern kingdom (14:17), probably to be identified with Tell el-Far’ah (north), 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Shechem along the highway running downhill to Beth-shan in the Jordan River valley (Cogan 2001:401).

15:22 without exception. Lit., “none was clean [innocent, exempt]”—that is, free from state obligations (cf. Deut 24:5, as noted by Cogan 2001:401).

15:23 are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. See “Literary Style” in the Introduction.

his feet became diseased. This is another brief, concluding notice, akin to 14:30 and 15:7b. Concerning the nature and the significance of this disease, see the commentary below.

15:24 Jehoshaphat. His formal accession formula will not be given until 22:41-42; for the earlier placement of this formula in the LXX, see the note on 16:28.

COMMENTARY [Text]

“A generation of hostilities between Judah and Israel reached new heights during the reign of Asa.” This is how Cogan (2001:403) introduces his historical overview of the present passage of Scripture. Likewise, I have noted in the two preceding commentary sections how the refrain of constant warfare punctuates both these passages. By now, something more permanent had to be accomplished, and it was Baasha’s provocative action of fortifying Ramah (just north of Jerusalem) that led Asa to respond. “In an open admission of weakness” (again, Cogan’s comment), Asa sent a bribe to encourage Ben-hadad of Aram to break his nonaggression pact with Israel. And the stratagem worked—at least for Asa’s generation. Soon enough, however, Aram again becomes an enemy (cf. ch 20; also 22:1-40).

“God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform,” an adaptation from the hymn by William Cowper, might well describe the present passage about Asa. We have been told a number of times in 1 Kings that both apparent successes and apparent disasters were the will of Yahweh (cf. the notes and commentary on 12:15, 24). Such is probably also the case here: Asa, in a desperate move, acted decisively (and deceitfully, it must be acknowledged) to protect the capital city of Jerusalem. And the results were positive: Both the Benjamite cites of Geba and Mizpah were eventually captured, thus guarding the northern approaches to Jerusalem itself (Cogan 2001:401). The capital city of David became secure; and it was apparently not threatened from without until the time of King Joash, some 50 years later (see 2 Kgs 12:17). Yahweh was truly protecting the city that bears his name (see “One Place of Worship” under “Major Themes” in the Introduction).

But in another mysterious move of God, King Asa is said to have had a disease of his feet (15:23). (For other royal illnesses, note Uzziah’s “leprosy” [or contagious skin disease] in 2 Kgs 15:5, and Hezekiah’s “deathly illness” in 2 Kgs 20:1-11 [termed a “boil” in Isa 38:21].) Unlike Hezekiah, who was miraculously healed, the implication in the present text seems to be that Asa’s foot troubles (gout?) led to his death (Cogan 2001:402; DeVries 1985:191). Wiseman (1993:157) argues that this was a vascular disease with ensuing gangrene. Although in the Kings account the causal connection between disease and death is only implied by the editor, contrast 2 Chronicles 16:12-13.

In sum, Asa was a godly king who pleased his Lord. He significantly cleansed the land of idolatry, and he acted decisively to protect his capital city. Such protection was costly, but apparently necessary and apparently in God’s will. Even his foot disease did not disqualify him from being reckoned positively as only 8 out of 19 southern kings (and no northern kings) would be. God does work in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.