Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.
Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.
Abijam = Abijah.
Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
Three years. Not full years, for he died in the twentieth year of Jeroboam (1 Kings 15:9 ).
mother's. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus) for ancestor. Here = grandmother. Maachah, or Michaiah (2 Chronicles 13:2 ). Abishalom = Absalom (2 Chronicles 11:21 ).
And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.
father. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus), App-6 , for ancestor.
Nevertheless for David's sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:
lamp. See note on 1 Kings 11:36 . Peculiarly used of David.
Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
And, &c. This is repeated (from 1 Kings 14:30 ) to complete Structure above.
Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
the rest. See 2 Chronicles 13:3 , &c.
And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
slept with his fathers. See note on 1 Kings 14:20 .
And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.
right. Therefore his days "long in the land" (1 Kings 15:23 ). Contemporary with seven Israelite kings.
idols = filthy idols.
And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.
not removed: not till the reign of Hezekiah (1 Kings 22:43 ; 2 Kings 12:3 ; 2 Kings 18:4 ).
And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver, and gold, and vessels.
things. dedicated = holy things of his father. See note on Exodus 3:5 .
And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
war. Only border fighting. No campaign. Compare 1 Kings 15:32 .
And 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.
Ramah = the modern er Ram, five miles north of Jerusalem, which it was intended to menace. See 2 Chronicles 16:1 .
go out or come in. But in vain. See 1Ki 12:27 ; 1 Kings 15:9 , &c.
Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
the. Some codices, with two early printed editions, read "among the".
There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
There is. Supply Figure of speech Ellipsis ( App-6 ). [Let there be. ]
league = covenant.
and. Supply [as] instead of "and",
behold. Figure of speech Asterismos App-6 .
So Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
hosts = forces.
Ijon, &c. All in the neighbourhood of Gennesaret.
And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.
dwelt in. Septuagint and Vulg, read "returned to". See note on 1 Kings 14:17 .
Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
The rest. Compare 2 Chronicles 14:9 , 2 Chronicles 15:10 .
are they not. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .
And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.
father = forefather. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species).
And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
evil. Hebrew. ra'a . App-44 .
sin. Same as "evil", above.
made Israel to sin. See note on 1 Kings 14:16 .
And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.
Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead.
And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:
that breathed. Hebrew. neshamah. App-16 .
the saying. Compare 1 Kings 14:7-11 .
Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
war. Only border fighting (compare verses: 1 Kings 15:16 , 1Ki 15:32 , 2 Chronicles 14:1 ; 2 Chronicles 15:19 ); no actual campaign, as in 2 Chronicles 16:1 .
In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.
in Tirzah. See notes on 1 Kings 14:17 and 1 Kings 15:21 .
twenty and four years. Began in the third year of Asa. Therefore he died in the twenty-sixth year of Asa (1 Kings 16:8 ). Yet in the thirty-sixth year Baasha came and made war against Judah (2 Chronicles 16:1 ). This would be nine or ten years after he was dead. But see note on 2 Chronicles 16:1 , where the word "reign" should be rendered "kingdom": i.e. the thirty-sixth year from the kingdom of Israel. See App-50 .
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.