1 And Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.
And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his stead. And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah; and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Maachah, daughter of Abishalom. And Asa did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, as David his father. And he put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his father had made. And also Maachah his mother he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol for the Asherah; and Asa cut down her idol, and burned it in the valley of Kidron. But the high places were not removed; only, Asa's heart was perfect with Jehovah all his days. And he brought into the house of Jehovah the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had dedicated, silver and gold and vessels. And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. And Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, in order to let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. And Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house, and gave them into the hand of his servants; and king Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt at Damascus, saying, There is a league between me and thee, [as] between my father and thy father; behold, I send thee a present of silver and gold: go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. And Ben-Hadad hearkened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his forces against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-Beth-Maachah, and all Kinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. And it came to pass when Baasha heard of it, that he left off building Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah. And king Asa called together all Judah: none was exempted; and they carried away the stones and the timber from Ramah, with which Baasha had been building; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah. And the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Only, in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. 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.
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Commentary on 2 Chronicles 14 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 14
2Ch 14:1-5. Asa Destroys Idolatry.
1. In his days the land was quiet ten years—This long interval of peace was the continued effect of the great battle of Zemaraim (compare 1Ki 15:11-14).
2. Asa did that which was good and right—(compare 1Ki 15:14). Still his character and life were not free from faults (2Ch 16:7, 10, 12).
3. brake down the images—of Baal (see on 2Ch 34:4; Le 26:30).
cut down the groves—rather, "Asherim."
5. he took away … the high places—that is, those devoted to idolatrous rites.
took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images—All public objects and relics of idolatry in Jerusalem and other cities through his kingdom were destroyed; but those high places where God was worshipped under the figure of an ox, as at Beth-el, were allowed to remain (1Ki 15:14); so far the reformation was incomplete.
2Ch 14:6-8. Having Peace, He Strengthens His Kingdom with Forts and Armies.
6. he built fenced cities in Judah—(See on 1Ki 15:22).
7. while the land is yet before us—that is, while we have free and undisputed progress everywhere; no foe is near; but, as this happy time of peace may not last always and the kingdom is but small and weak, let us prepare suitable defenses in case of need. He had also an army of five hundred eighty thousand men. Judah furnished the heavily armed soldiers, and Benjamin the archers. This large number does not mean a body of professional soldiers, but all capable of bearing arms and liable to be called into service.
2Ch 14:9-15. He Overcomes Zerah, and Spoils the Ethiopians.
9. there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian—This could not have been from Ethiopia south of the cataracts of the Nile, for in the reign of Osorkon I, successor of Shishak, no foreign army would have been allowed a free passage through Egypt. Zerah must, therefore, have been chief of the Cushites, or Ethiopians of Arabia, as they were evidently a nomad horde who had a settlement of tents and cattle in the neighborhood of Gerar.
a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots—"Twenty camels employed to carry couriers upon them might have procured that number of men to meet in a short time. As Zerah was the aggressor, he had time to choose when he would summon these men and attack the enemy. Every one of these Cushite shepherds, carrying with them their own provisions of flour and water, as is their invariable custom, might have fought with Asa without eating a loaf of Zerah's bread or drinking a pint of his water" [Bruce, Travels].
10. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array … at Mareshah—one of the towns which Rehoboam fortified (2Ch 11:8), near a great southern pass in the low country of Judah (Jos 15:44). The engagement between the armies took place in a plain near the town, called "the valley of Zephathah," supposed to be the broad way coming down Beit Jibrin towards Tell Es-Safren [Robinson].
11-13. Asa cried unto the Lord his God—Strong in the confidence that the power of God was able to give the victory equally with few as with many, the pious king marched with a comparatively small force to encounter the formidable host of marauders at his southern frontier. Committing his cause to God, he engaged in the conflict—completely routed the enemy, and succeeded in obtaining, as the reward of his victory, a rich booty in treasure and cattle from the tents of this pastoral horde.