1 Kings 15:18
Ver. 18. 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,.... What was left untaken away by Shishak king of Egypt, 1Ki 14:26, or what he had put there dedicated by his father and himself, 1Ki 15:15 and be they either, they were not to be taken, especially the treasures of the house of the Lord, and put to profane use, and particularly to such bad purposes as these were:and delivered them into the hands of his servants: to be disposed of as next directed:and King Asa sent them to Benhadad the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus; according to some chronologers {w}, Hezion, the grandfather of this Benhadad, is the same with Rezon the first king of Damascus, 1Ki 11:23, who was succeeded by Tabrimon, and he by Benhadad:saying: as follows.{w} Usher. Annal. A. M. 3064. Marsham. Canon. Chron. Seculum 13. p. 346. 1 Kings 15:19Ver. 19. There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father,.... For though Hezion, if he is the same with Rezon, was an adversary to Israel in the days of Solomon, 1Ki 11:25, yet it seems his son was not, but was a confederate with the kings of Israel and Judah:behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; taken out of the treasury of the temple and his own treasury:come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me; it was sinful in him to take the money out of the temple, to which it was dedicated; it was more so to make use of it to bribe an Heathen to break his covenant and alliance with another, in order to serve him; in which he betrayed great distrust of the Lord, and of his power to help him; which was the more aggravated, when he had had such a wonderful appearance of God for him against the Ethiopians, see 2Ch 16:7. 1 Kings 15:20Ver. 20. So Benhadad hearkened unto King Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel,.... He broke off his alliance with the king of Israel; and as he had a standing army, with proper officers, he sent them directly to take the cities of Israel:and he smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abelbethmaachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali; places which lay on the northern part of Israel, the nearest to Syria. Ijon some place in the tribe of Naphtali, others in Asher; it seems to be on the extreme border of the land northward, as Dan also was; hence the phrase from Dan to Beersheba, i.e. from north to south. Abelbethmaachah is the same with Abelmaim, 2Ch 16:4 which perhaps is the same with that Abela, placed by Jerome {x} between Damascus and Paneas, supposed to be the Enhydra of Pliny {y}. Cinneroth is the same with Gennesaret, a fruitful country in Galilee, from which is a sea or lake of that name, mentioned in the New Testament, and was in the tribe of Naphtali, the land of which was seized upon at this time.{x} De loc. Heb. fol. 83. K. {y} Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 19. 1 Kings 15:21Ver. 21. And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof,.... What was doing in the northern part of his kingdom:that he left off building of Ramah; which was the thing designed to be answered by this diversion:and dwelt in Tirzah; in the tribe of Manasseh, nearer at hand, to observe and stop the motions of the Syrian king. 1 Kings 15:22Ver. 22. Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah,.... Summoned men of all sorts, ranks, and degrees:(none was exempted;) the Jews {z} say, not so much as a newly married man, whom the law excused from war the first year, nor the disciples of the wise men:and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; or fortified the place; these; the men of Judah, whom Asa summoned, carried off:and King Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah; which were both in the tribe of Benjamin, and which he fortified, Jos 18:24.{z} Jarchi & Kimchi in loc. 1 Kings 15:23Ver. 23. 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?.... Some of which are to be met with in the canonical book of that name, 2Ch 14:1, and others in the annals of the kings, out of which the Scripture account was taken:nevertheless, in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet; seized with the gout, as the Jews say {a}, and which was two years before his death, see 2Ch 16:12.{a} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 48. 2. So Clemens of Alexandria, Stromat. l. 1. p. 326. 1 Kings 15:24Ver. 24. And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father,.... In a sepulchre there he himself had made, and in great pomp and solemnity, being laid on a bed filled with sweet odours and spices, prepared according to art, and which were burned for him, 2Ch 16:14,and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead; a very pious and worthy prince. 1 Kings 15:25Ver. 25. And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah,.... Before Baasha did:and reigned over Israel two years, not two whole years; for he began in the second of Asa, and in the third of that king's reign Baasha slew him, and reigned in his stead, 1Ki 15:28. 1 Kings 15:26Ver. 26. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Committed idolatry, than which nothing is a greater evil in his sight:and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin: in making and worshipping of golden calves. 1 Kings 15:27Ver. 27. And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar,.... A man of that tribe; but who he was, or his father, is nowhere else said, very probably an officer in Nadab's army:conspired against him; laid a scheme to take away his life, and seize the kingdom:and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon; a city in the tribe of Dan, Jos 19:44which belongeth to the Philistines; it was a city given to the Levites, Jos 21:23 and they being driven from it by Jeroboam, the Philistines seized on it, or had heretofore made a conquest of it; and Nadab was desirous of getting it out of their hands, and therefore besieged it, as follows:for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon; and while he was besieging it, Baasha took the opportunity to slay him, where his carcass lay exposed to dogs, or fowls of the air, and had no burial, as Ahijah predicted, 1Ki 14:11. 1 Kings 15:28Ver. 28. Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead. Which seems to be his only or chief view in slaying him, to get possession of his kingdom. 1 Kings 15:29Ver. 29. And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam,.... That he might have no rival, or any that could pretend any title to the crown:he left not Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite; not that his intention in destroying Jeroboam's family was to fulfil that prophecy, but so it was eventually; see1Ki 14:10. 1 Kings 15:30Ver. 30. 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. Not that Baasha destroyed the family of Jeroboam because of his sins, which did so much mischief to Israel, and were so provoking to the Lord, from any dislike or hatred of them, for he walked in the same, 1Ki 15:34, but the Lord threatened this by his prophet, and suffered it to be done because of his abominations. 1 Kings 15:31Ver. 31. Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did,.... In his short reign, which yet were more than here related:are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? in which those of his father Jeroboam were written, 1Ki 14:19. 1 Kings 15:32Ver. 32. And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. For being a wicked man, and an idolater, Asa had no respect for him, though he had slain the family of Jeroboam; nor had Baasha any regard to Judah, nor to the worship of God at Jerusalem, so that there was no good understanding between them, but frequent acts of hostility, see 1Ki 15:16. 1 Kings 15:33Ver. 33. In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah,.... Which is repeated, partly to observe that the whole kingdom submitted to him, though an usurper and murderer, and the place where he kept his court, as also the time of his reign, as follows:twenty four years; which were as long as both Jeroboam and his son reigned. 1 Kings 15:34Ver. 34. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord,.... As Nadab did, whom he slew:and walked in the way of Jeroboam; whose family he destroyed:and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin; in worshipping the golden calves; so that it was not out of dislike to idolatry, but out of malice and ambition, that he slew the family of Jeroboam.
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