--- title: "2 Chronicles 16 - Study King James Bible with ellicotts commentary for english readers" description: "Read 2 Chronicles 16 with ellicotts commentary for english readers commentary. 1 In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles/16" --- [ Read](/kjv/2-chronicles/16)[ Commentary](/study/2-chronicles/16)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/2-chronicles/16) Audio 1 In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then 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 Damascus, saying,* 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, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. 4 And 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 cities of Naphtali.* 5 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard *it*, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his work cease. 6 Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah. 7 ¶ And 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 not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand.* 9 For 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: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.* 10 Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for *he was* in a rage with him because of this *thing*. And Asa oppressed *some* of the people the same time.* 11 ¶ And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they *are* written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease *was* exceeding *great:* yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians. 13 ¶ And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign. 14 And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made 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.* [2 Chronicles 15](/study/2-chronicles/15) [2 Chronicles 17](/study/2-chronicles/17) ## Commentary To verse 1 **XVI. THE WAR WITH BAASHA**—([2 Chronicles 16:1-6](/kjv/2-chronicles/16/1-6)). Comp. [1 Kings 15:17-22](/kjv/1-kings/15/17-22). (1) **In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up.**—According to [1 Kings 15:33](/kjv/1-kings/15/33); [1 Kings 16:8](/kjv/1-kings/16/8), Baasha began to reign in the third year of Asa, reigned twenty-four years, and died in the twenty-sixth year of Asa. These statements are obviously irreconcilable with that of our verse. We must suppose either that the chronicler has accepted a different calculation from that of the Kings—a calculation which he may have found in one of his documents; or that the text here is unsound, and thirty-six has been substituted by an error of transcription for sixteen, or twenty-six; and that in [2 Chronicles 15:19](/kjv/2-chronicles/15/19) by a similar mistake thirty-five has taken the place of fifteen or twenty-five. Upon the whole, the latter alternative appears preferable; and if we assume twenty-five and twenty-six to be the correct numerals, we get the following chronology for the reign :—First, ten years of peace ([2 Chronicles 14:1](/kjv/2-chronicles/14/1)), during which Asa strengthened his defences ([2 Chronicles 14:6-8](/kjv/2-chronicles/14/6-8)); then the invasion of Zerah, at what precise date is not clear, but at some time between the eleventh and the fifteenth year ([2 Chronicles 14:9](/kjv/2-chronicles/14/9); [2 Chronicles 15:10](/kjv/2-chronicles/15/10)); then the reformation of religion and renewal of the covenant in Asa’s fifteenth year ([2 Chronicles 15:10](/kjv/2-chronicles/15/10)); and lastly, another ten years of peace, until the outbreak of the war with Baasha, in the twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth year. The idea of the ancient commentators, that the phrase “five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa” might mean “five and thirtieth year of the kingdom of Judah,” is absurd. The phrase “*bishnath* . . . *l**e**malkûth”* always denotes the year of a king’s reign, not of the duration of his kingdom. (See [2 Chronicles 16:12](/kjv/2-chronicles/16/12) *infra.*) **And built Ramah.**—*Er-Râm,* about five miles north of Jerusalem. Baasha had probably retaken the cities annexed by Abijah. (See on [2 Chronicles 15:8](/kjv/2-chronicles/15/8).) **Built =** fortified it. (See [1 Kings 15:17](/kjv/1-kings/15/17) for the rest of the verse.) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles/16#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles/16#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles/16","name":"2 Chronicles 16 - Study King James Bible with ellicotts commentary for english readers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles/16#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read 2 Chronicles 16 with ellicotts commentary for english readers commentary. 1 In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles/16#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles/16"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles/16#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers","name":"ellicotts commentary for english readers"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles","name":"2 Chronicles"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles/16","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/2-chronicles/16","name":"16"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```