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1 Kings 15:4 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

4 Nevertheless for David's H1732 sake did the LORD H3068 his God H430 give H5414 him a lamp H5216 in Jerusalem, H3389 to set up H6965 his son H1121 after H310 him, and to establish H5975 Jerusalem: H3389

Cross Reference

1 Kings 11:36 STRONG

And unto his son H1121 will I give H5414 one H259 tribe, H7626 that David H1732 my servant H5650 may have a light H5216 alway H3117 before H6440 me in Jerusalem, H3389 the city H5892 which I have chosen H977 me to put H7760 my name H8034 there.

2 Chronicles 21:7 STRONG

Howbeit the LORD H3068 would H14 not destroy H7843 the house H1004 of David, H1732 because of the covenant H1285 that he had made H3772 with David, H1732 and as he promised H559 to give H5414 a light H5216 to him and to his sons H1121 for ever. H3117

Isaiah 37:35 STRONG

For I will defend H1598 this city H5892 to save H3467 it for mine own sake, and for my servant H5650 David's H1732 sake.

Revelation 22:16 STRONG

I G1473 Jesus G2424 have sent G3992 mine G3450 angel G32 to testify G3140 unto you G5213 these things G5023 in G1909 the churches. G1577 I G1473 am G1510 the root G4491 and G2532 the offspring G1085 of David, G1138 and the bright G2986 and G2532 morning G3720 star. G792

Romans 11:28 STRONG

As concerning G2596 G3303 the gospel, G2098 they are enemies G2190 for your sakes: G1223 G5209 but G1161 as touching G2596 the election, G1589 they are beloved G27 for G1223 the fathers' G3962 sakes. G1223

John 8:12 STRONG

Then G3767 spake G2980 Jesus G2424 again G3825 unto them, G846 saying, G3004 I G1473 am G1510 the light G5457 of the world: G2889 he that followeth G190 me G1698 shall G4043 not G3364 walk G4043 in G1722 darkness, G4653 but G235 shall have G2192 the light G5457 of life. G2222

Luke 2:32 STRONG

A light G5457 to G1519 lighten G602 the Gentiles, G1484 and G2532 the glory G1391 of thy G4675 people G2992 Israel. G2474

Luke 1:69-79 STRONG

And G2532 hath raised up G1453 an horn G2768 of salvation G4991 for us G2254 in G1722 the house G3624 of his G846 servant G3816 David; G1138 As G2531 he spake G2980 by G1223 the mouth G4750 of his G846 holy G40 prophets, G4396 which G3588 have been since G575 the world began: G165 That we should be saved G4991 from G1537 our G2257 enemies, G2190 and G2532 from G1537 the hand G5495 of all G3956 that hate G3404 us; G2248 To perform G4160 the mercy G1656 promised to G3326 our G2257 fathers, G3962 and G2532 to remember G3415 his G846 holy G40 covenant; G1242 The oath G3727 which G3739 he sware G3660 to G4314 our G2257 father G3962 Abraham, G11 That he would grant G1325 unto us, G2254 that we being delivered G4506 out of G1537 the hand G5495 of our G2257 enemies G2190 might serve G3000 him G846 without fear, G870 In G1722 holiness G3742 and G2532 righteousness G1343 before G1799 him, G846 all G3956 the days G2250 of our G2257 life. G2222 And G2532 thou, G4771 child, G3813 shalt be called G2564 the prophet G4396 of the Highest: G5310 for G1063 thou shalt go G4313 before G4253 the face G4383 of the Lord G2962 to prepare G2090 his G846 ways; G3598 To give G1325 knowledge G1108 of salvation G4991 unto his G846 people G2992 by G1722 the remission G859 of their G846 sins, G266 Through G1223 the tender G4698 mercy G1656 of our G2257 God; G2316 whereby G1722 G3739 the dayspring G395 from G1537 on high G5311 hath visited G1980 us, G2248 To give light G2014 to them that sit G2521 in G1722 darkness G4655 and G2532 in the shadow G4639 of death, G2288 to guide G2720 our G2257 feet G4228 into G1519 the way G3598 of peace. G1515

Matthew 16:18 STRONG

And G1161 I say G3004 also G2504 unto thee, G4671 That G3754 thou G4771 art G1488 Peter, G4074 and G2532 upon G1909 this G5026 rock G4073 I will build G3618 my G3450 church; G1577 and G2532 the gates G4439 of hell G86 shall G2729 not G3756 prevail against G2729 it. G846

Micah 4:1-2 STRONG

But in the last H319 days H3117 it shall come to pass, that the mountain H2022 of the house H1004 of the LORD H3068 shall be established H3559 in the top H7218 of the mountains, H2022 and it shall be exalted H5375 above the hills; H1389 and people H5971 shall flow H5102 unto it. And many H7227 nations H1471 shall come, H1980 and say, H559 Come, H3212 and let us go up H5927 to the mountain H2022 of the LORD, H3068 and to the house H1004 of the God H430 of Jacob; H3290 and he will teach H3384 us of his ways, H1870 and we will walk H3212 in his paths: H734 for the law H8451 shall go forth H3318 of Zion, H6726 and the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 from Jerusalem. H3389

Jeremiah 33:20-26 STRONG

Thus saith H559 the LORD; H3068 If ye can break H6565 my covenant H1285 of the day, H3117 and my covenant H1285 of the night, H3915 and that there should not be day H3119 and night H3915 in their season; H6256 Then may also my covenant H1285 be broken H6565 with David H1732 my servant, H5650 that he should not have a son H1121 to reign H4427 upon his throne; H3678 and with the Levites H3881 the priests, H3548 my ministers. H8334 As the host H6635 of heaven H8064 cannot be numbered, H5608 neither the sand H2344 of the sea H3220 measured: H4058 so will I multiply H7235 the seed H2233 of David H1732 my servant, H5650 and the Levites H3881 that minister H8334 unto me. Moreover the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came to Jeremiah, H3414 saying, H559 Considerest H7200 thou not what this people H5971 have spoken, H1696 saying, H559 The two H8147 families H4940 which the LORD H3068 hath chosen, H977 he hath even cast them off? H3988 thus they have despised H5006 my people, H5971 that they should be no more a nation H1471 before H6440 them. Thus saith H559 the LORD; H3068 If my covenant H1285 be not with day H3119 and night, H3915 and if I have not appointed H7760 the ordinances H2708 of heaven H8064 and earth; H776 Then H1571 will I cast away H3988 the seed H2233 of Jacob, H3290 and David H1732 my servant, H5650 so that I will not take H3947 any of his seed H2233 to be rulers H4910 over the seed H2233 of Abraham, H85 Isaac, H3446 and Jacob: H3290 for I will cause their captivity H7622 to return, H7725 H7725 and have mercy H7355 on them.

Jeremiah 33:2 STRONG

Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 the maker H6213 thereof, the LORD H3068 that formed H3335 it, to establish H3559 it; the LORD H3068 is his name; H8034

Isaiah 62:7 STRONG

And give H5414 him no rest, H1824 till he establish, H3559 and till he make H7760 Jerusalem H3389 a praise H8416 in the earth. H776

Genesis 12:2 STRONG

And I will make of thee H6213 a great H1419 nation, H1471 and I will bless H1288 thee, and make H1431 thy name H8034 great; H1431 and thou shalt be a blessing: H1293

Isaiah 14:32 STRONG

What shall one then answer H6030 the messengers H4397 of the nation? H1471 That the LORD H3068 hath founded H3245 Zion, H6726 and the poor H6041 of his people H5971 shall trust H2620 in it.

Isaiah 9:7 STRONG

Of the increase H4766 of his government H4951 and peace H7965 there shall be no end, H7093 upon the throne H3678 of David, H1732 and upon his kingdom, H4467 to order H3559 it, and to establish H5582 it with judgment H4941 and with justice H6666 from henceforth even for H5704 ever. H5769 The zeal H7068 of the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 will perform H6213 this.

Psalms 132:17 STRONG

There will I make H6779 the horn H7161 of David H1732 to bud: H6779 I have ordained H6186 a lamp H5216 for mine anointed. H4899

Psalms 87:5 STRONG

And of Zion H6726 it shall be said, H559 This and that man H376 was born H3205 in her: and the highest H5945 himself shall establish H3559 her.

Psalms 18:28 STRONG

For thou wilt light H215 my candle: H5216 the LORD H3068 my God H430 will enlighten H5050 my darkness. H2822

1 Kings 11:32 STRONG

(But he shall have one H259 tribe H7626 for my servant H5650 David's H1732 sake, and for Jerusalem's H3389 sake, the city H5892 which I have chosen H977 out of all the tribes H7626 of Israel:) H3478

1 Kings 11:12 STRONG

Notwithstanding in thy days H3117 I will not do H6213 it for David H1732 thy father's H1 sake: but I will rend H7167 it out of the hand H3027 of thy son. H1121

2 Samuel 21:17 STRONG

But Abishai H52 the son H1121 of Zeruiah H6870 succoured H5826 him, and smote H5221 the Philistine, H6430 and killed H4191 him. Then the men H582 of David H1732 sware H7650 unto him, saying, H559 Thou shalt go H3318 no more out with us to battle, H4421 that thou quench H3518 not the light H5216 of Israel. H3478

2 Samuel 7:12-16 STRONG

And when thy days H3117 be fulfilled, H4390 and thou shalt sleep H7901 with thy fathers, H1 I will set up H6965 thy seed H2233 after H310 thee, which shall proceed H3318 out of thy bowels, H4578 and I will establish H3559 his kingdom. H4467 He shall build H1129 an house H1004 for my name, H8034 and I will stablish H3559 the throne H3678 of his kingdom H4467 for H5704 ever. H5769 I will be his father, H1 and he shall be my son. H1121 If he commit iniquity, H5753 I will chasten H3198 him with the rod H7626 of men, H582 and with the stripes H5061 of the children H1121 of men: H120 But my mercy H2617 shall not depart away H5493 from him, as I took H5493 it from Saul, H7586 whom I put away H5493 before H6440 thee. And thine house H1004 and thy kingdom H4467 shall be established H539 for H5704 ever H5769 before H6440 thee: thy throne H3678 shall be established H3559 for H5704 ever. H5769

Deuteronomy 4:37 STRONG

And because he loved H157 thy fathers, H1 therefore he chose H977 their seed H2233 after H310 them, and brought thee out H3318 in his sight H6440 with his mighty H1419 power H3581 out of Egypt; H4714

Genesis 26:5 STRONG

Because H6118 that Abraham H85 obeyed H8085 my voice, H6963 and kept H8104 my charge, H4931 my commandments, H4687 my statutes, H2708 and my laws. H8451

Genesis 19:29 STRONG

And it came to pass, when God H430 destroyed H7843 the cities H5892 of the plain, H3603 that God H430 remembered H2142 Abraham, H85 and sent H7971 Lot H3876 out of the midst H8432 of the overthrow, H2018 when he overthrew H2015 the cities H5892 in the which H2004 Lot H3876 dwelt. H3427

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 1 Kings 15

Commentary on 1 Kings 15 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verse 1-2

Reign of Abijam (cf., 2 Chron 13). - Abijam reigned three years, and his mother's name was Maacah , daughter (i.e., grand-daughter) of Absalom. We have the same in 2 Chronicles 11:20-21; but in 2 Chronicles 13:2 she is called Michajahu , daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. If אבישׁלום was without doubt Absalom, the well-known son of David, as we may infer from the fact that this name does not occur again in the Old Testament in connection with any other person, since Absalom had only one daughter, viz., Thamar (2 Samuel 14:27), who was fifty years old when Solomon died, Maacah must have been a daughter of this Thamar, who had married Uriel of Gibeah, and therefore a grand-daughter of Absalom. This is sustained by Josephus ( Ant . viii. 10, 1). The form of the name מיכיהוּ is probably an error in copying for מעכה , as the name is also written in 2 Chronicles 11:20, 2 Chronicles 11:21, and not a different name, which Maacah assumed as queen, as Caspari supposes ( Micha , p. 3, note 4).


Verses 3-5

Abijam walked as king in the footsteps of his father. Although he made presents to the temple (1 Kings 15:15), his heart was not שׁלם , wholly or undividedly given to the Lord, like the heart of David (cf., 1 Kings 11:4); but ( כּי , after a previous negative) for David's sake Jehovah had left him a light in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him and to let Jerusalem stand, because ( אשׁר ) David had done right in the eyes of God, etc., i.e., so that it was only for David's sake that Jehovah did not reject him, and allowed the throne to pass to his son. For the fact itself compare 1 Kings 11:13, 1 Kings 11:36; and for the words, “except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite,” see 2 Sam 11 and 12.


Verses 6-8

“And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all his life;” i.e., the state of hostility which had already existed between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continued “all the days of his life,” or so long as Abijam lived and reigned. If we take חיּיו כּל־ימי in this manner (not כּל־ימיהם , 1 Kings 15:16), the statement loses the strangeness which it has at first sight, and harmonizes very well with that in 1 Kings 15:7, that there was also war between Abijam and Jeroboam. Under Abijam it assumed the form of a serious war, in which Jeroboam sustained a great defeat (see 2 Chron 13:3-20). - The other notices concerning Abijam in 1 Kings 15:7, 1 Kings 15:8 are the same as in the case of Rehoboam in 1 Kings 14:29, 1 Kings 14:31.


Verses 9-24

Reign of Asa (cf., 2 Chron 14-16). - As Asa ascended the throne in the twentieth year of the reign of Jeroboam, his father Abijam, who began to reign in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam (1 Kings 15:1), can only have reigned two years and a few months, and not three full years.

1 Kings 15:10

Asa reigned forty-one years. “The name of his mother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom.” This notice, which agrees verbatim with 1 Kings 15:2, cannot mean that Abijam had his own mother for a wife; though Thenius finds this meaning in the passage, and then proceeds to build up conjectures concerning emendations of the text. We must rather explain it, as Ephr. Syr., the Rabbins, and others have done, as signifying that Maacah, the mother of Abijam, continued during Asa's reign to retain the post of queen-mother or הגּבירה , i.e., sultana valide, till Asa deposed her on account of her idolatry (1 Kings 15:13), probably because Asa's own mother had died at an early age.

1 Kings 15:11-14

As ruler Asa walked in the ways of his pious ancestor David: he banished the male prostitutes out of the land, abolished all the abominations of idolatry, which his fathers (Abijam and Rehoboam) had introduced, deposed his grandmother Maacah from the rank of a queen, because she had made herself an idol for the Ashera, and had the idol hewn in pieces and burned in the valley of the Kidron. גּלּלים is a contemptuous epithet applied to idols (Leviticus 26:30); it does not mean stercorei , however, as the Rabbins affirm, but logs, from גּלל , to roll, or masses of stone, after the Chaldee גּלל (Ezra 5:8; Ezra 6:4), generally connected with שׁקּצים . It is so in Deuteronomy 29:16. מפלצת , formido , from פּלץ , terrere , timere , hence an idol as an object of fear, and not pudendum , a shameful image, as Movers ( Phöniz . i. p. 571), who follows the Rabbins, explains it, understanding thereby a Phallus as a symbol of the generative and fructifying power of nature. With regard to the character of this idol, nothing further can be determined than that it was of wood, and possibly a wooden column like the אשׁרים (see at 1 Kings 14:23). “But the high places departed not,” i.e., were not abolished. By the בּמות we are not to understand, according to 1 Kings 15:12, altars of high places dedicated to idols, but unlawful altars to Jehovah. It is so in the other passages in which this formula recurs (1 Kings 22:24; 2 Kings 12:4; 2 Kings 14:4; 2 Kings 15:4; and the parallel passages 2 Chronicles 15:17; 2 Chronicles 20:33). The apparent discrepancy between the last-mentioned passages and 2 Chronicles 14:2, 2 Chronicles 14:4, and 2 Chronicles 17:6, may be solved very simply on the supposition that the kings (Asa and Jehoshaphat) did indeed abolish the altars on the high places, but did not carry their reforms in the nation thoroughly out; and not by distinguishing between the bamoth dedicated to Jehovah and those dedicated to idols, as Thenius, Bertheau, and Caspari, with many of the earlier commentators, suppose. For although 2 Chronicles 14:2 is very favourable to this solution, since both בּמות and הגּכר dna בּמו מזבּחות are mentioned there, it does not accord with 2 Chronicles 17:6, where הבּמות cannot be merely idolatrous altars dedicated to the Canaanitish Baal, but unquestionably refer to the unlawful altars of Jehovah, or at any rate include them. Moreover, the next clause in the passage before us, “nevertheless Asa's heart was wholly given to the Lord,” shows that the expression סרוּ לא סרוּ nois does not mean that the king allowed the unlawful Jehovah- bamoth to remain, but simply that, notwithstanding his fidelity to Jehovah, the bamoth did not depart, so that he was unable to carry the abolition of them thoroughly out.

1 Kings 15:15

He brought the sacred offerings of his father and his own sacred offerings into the house of Jehovah; probably the booty, in silver, gold, and vessels, which his father Abijam had gathered in the war with Jeroboam (2 Chronicles 13:16-17), and he himself on the conquest of the Cushites (2 Chronicles 14:12-13). The Keri וקדשׁי is a bad emendation of the correct reading in the Chethîb קדשׁו , i.e., קדשׁו ( קדשׁיו ); for יהוה בּית is an accusative, and is to be connected with ויּבא .

1 Kings 15:16-17

The state of hostility between Judah and Israel continued during the reign of Asa; and Baasha the king of Israel advanced, etc. These statements are completed and elucidated by the Chronicles. After the great victory obtained by Abijam over Jeroboam, the kingdom of Judah enjoyed rest for ten years (2 Chronicles 14:1). Asa employed this time in exterminating idolatry, fortifying different cities, and equipping his army (2 Chronicles 14:1-7). Then the Cushite Zerah invaded the land of Judah with an innumerable army (in the eleventh year of Asa), but was totally defeated by the help of the Lord (2 Chronicles 14:8-14); whereupon Asa, encouraged by the prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, proceeded with fresh zeal to the extermination of such traces of idolatry as still remained in the kingdom, then renewed the altar of burnt-offering in front of the temple-hall, and in the fifteenth year of his reign held, with the whole nation, a great festival of thanksgiving and rejoicing to the Lord at Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 15:1-15). The next year, the sixteenth of his reign and the thirty-sixth from the division of the kingdom (2 Chronicles 16:1), Baasha commenced hostilities, by advancing against Judah, taking possession of Ramah , the present er Râm (see at Joshua 18:25), which was only two hours and a quarter from Jerusalem, and fortifying it. The occupation of Ramah is not expressly mentioned indeed, but it is implied in יהוּדה על ויּעל על יה , which affirms the hostile invasion of Judah. For Ramah, from its very situation in the heart of the tribe of Benjamin and the immediate neighbourhood of Jerusalem, can neither have been a border city nor have belonged to the kingdom of Israel. The intention of Baasha, therefore, in fortifying Ramah cannot have been merely to restrain his own subjects from passing over into the kingdom of Judah, but was evidently to cut off from the kingdom of Judah all free communication with the north. וגו תּת לבלתּי , “that they might not give one going out or one coming in to Asa;” i.e., to cut off from the others all connection with Asa, and at the same time to cut off from those with Asa all connection with this side. The main road from Jerusalem to the north passed by Ramah, so that by shutting up this road the line of communication of the kingdom of Judah was of necessity greatly disturbed. Moreover, the fortification of Ramah by Baasha presupposes the reconquest of the cities which Abijam had taken from the kingdom of Israel (2 Chronicles 13:19), and which, according to 2 Chronicles 13:19, were still in the possession of Asa.

1 Kings 15:18-19

In order to avert the danger with which his kingdom was threatened, Asa endeavoured to induce the Syrian king, Benhadad of Damascus, to break the treaty which he had concluded with Baasha and to become his ally, by sending him such treasures as were left in the temple and palace.

(Note: Asa had sought help from the Lord and obtained it, when the powerful army of the Cushites invaded the land; but when an invasion of the Israelites took place, he sought help from the Syrians. This alteration in his conduct may probably be explained in part from the fact, that notwithstanding the victory, his army had been considerably weakened by the battle which he fought with the Cushites (2 Chronicles 14:9), although this by no means justified his want of confidence in the power of the Lord, and still less his harsh and unjust treatment of the prophet Hanani, whom he caused to be put in the house of the stocks on account of his condemnation of the confidence which he placed in the Syrians instead of Jehovah ( 2 Chronicles 16:7-10).)

הגּותרים may be explained from the face that the temple and palace treasures had been plundered by Shishak in the reign of Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:26); and therefore what Asa had replaced in the temple treasury (1 Kings 15:15), and had collected together for his palace, was only a remnant in comparison with the former state of these treasures. The name בּן־הדד , i.e., son of Hadad , the sun-god (according to Macrobius, i. 23; cf., Movers, Phöniz . i. p. 196), was borne by three kings of Damascus: the one here named, his son in the time of Ahab (1 Kings 20:1, 1 Kings 20:34), and the son of Hazael (2 Kings 13:24). The first was a son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezyon . According to 1 Kings 15:19, his father Tabrimmon (good is Rimmon ; see at 2 Kings 5:18) had also been king, and was the contemporary of Abijam. But that his grandfather Hezyon was also king, and the same person as the Rezon mentioned in 1 Kings 11:23, cannot be shown to be even probable, since there is no ground for the assumption that Hezyon also bore the name Rezon, and is called by the latter name here and by the former in 1 Kings 11:23.

1 Kings 15:20

Benhadad consented to Asa's request, and directed his captains to advance into the kingdom of Israel: they took several cities in the north of the land, whereby Baasha was compelled to give up fortifying Ramah and withdraw to Thirza. Ijon ( עיּון ) is to be sought for in all probability in Tell Dibbin , on the eastern border of Merj Ayun ; and in Ajun , although Ajun is written with Aleph , the name Ijon is probably preserved, since the situation of this Tell seems thoroughly adapted for a fortress on the northern border of Israel (vid., Robinson, Bibl. Res . p. 375, and Van de Velde, Mem . p. 322). Dan is the present Tell el Kadi ; see at Joshua 19:47. Abel-Beth-Maachah , the present Abil el Kamh , to the north-west of Lake Huleh (see at 2 Samuel 20:14). “All Chinneroth ” is the district of Chinnereth , the tract of land on the western shore of the Lake of Gennesareth (see at Joshua 19:35). כּל־ארץ נ על , together with all the land of Naphtali (for this meaning of על fo gninae m compare the Comm. on Genesis 32:12). The cities named were the principal fortresses of the land of Naphtali, with which the whole of the country round was also smitten, i.e., laid waste.

1 Kings 15:21

ויּשׁב , and remained at Thirza, his place of residence (see at 1 Kings 14:17).

1 Kings 15:22

Asa thereupon summoned all Judah נקי אין , nemine immuni , i.e., excepto , no one being free (cf., Ewald, §286, a .), and had the stones and the wood carried away from Ramah, and Geba and Mizpah in Benjamin built, i.e., fortified, with them. Geba must not be confounded with Gibeah of Benjamin or Saul, but is the present Jeba , three-quarters of an hour to the north-east of Ramah (see at Joshua 18:24). Mizpah , the present Nebi Samwil , about three-quarters of a geographical mile to the south-west of Ramah (see at Joshua 18:26).

1 Kings 15:23-24

Of the other acts of Asa, the building of cities refers to the building of fortifications mentioned in 2 Chronicles 14:5-6. The disease in his feet in the time of his old age commenced, according to 2 Chronicles 16:12, in the thirty-ninth year of his reign; and he sought help from the physicians, but not from the Lord; from which we may see, that the longer he lived the more he turned his heart away from the Lord (compare 2 Chronicles 16:10).


Verses 25-32

The Reign of Nadab lasted not quite two years, as he ascended the throne in the second year of Asa, and was slain in his third year.

1 Kings 15:26-31

He walked in the ways of his father (Jeroboam) and in his sin, i.e., in the calf-worship introduced by Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:28). When Nadab in the second year of his reign besieged Gibbethon, which the Philistines and occupied, Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house, I the family or tribe, of Issachar, conspired against him and slew him, and after he became king exterminated the whole house of Jeroboam, without leaving a single soul, whereby the prediction of the prophet Ahijah (1 Kings 14:10.) was fulfilled. Gibbethon , which was allotted to the Danites (Joshua 19:44), has not yet been discovered. It probably stood close to the Philistian border, and was taken by the Philistines, from whom the Israelites attempted to wrest it by siege under both Nadab and Baasha (1 Kings 16:16), though apparently without success. לא השׁאיר כּל־נשׁמה as in Joshua 11:14 (see the Comm. on Deuteronomy 20:16).

1 Kings 15:32

1 Kings 15:32 is simply a repetition of 1 Kings 15:16; and the remark concerning Baasha's attitude towards Asa of Judah immediately after his entrance upon the government precedes the account of his reign, for the purpose of indicating at the very outset, that the overthrow of the dynasty of Jeroboam and the rise of a new dynasty did not alter the hostile relation between the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah.


Verse 33-34

The Reign of Baasha is described very briefly according to its duration (two years) and its spirit, namely, the attitude of Baasha towards the Lord (1 Kings 15:34); there then follow in 1 Kings 16:1-4 the words of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 16:7), concerning the extermination of the family of Baasha; and lastly, in 1 Kings 16:5-7, his death is related with the standing allusion to the annals of the kings. The words of Jehu concerning Baasha (1 Kings 16:1-4) coincide exactly mutatis mutandis with the words of Ahijah concerning Jeroboam.

(Note: “ There was something very strange in the perversity and stolidity of the kings of Israel, that when they saw that the families of preceding kings were evidently overthrown by the command of God on account of the worship of the calves, and they themselves had overturned them, they nevertheless worshipped the same calves, and placed them before the people for them to worship, that they might not return to the temple and to Asa, king of Jerusalem; though prophets denounced it and threatened their destruction. Truly the devil and the ambition of reigning blinded them and deprived them of their senses. Hence it came to pass, through the just judgment of God, that they all were executioners of one another in turn: Baasha was the executioner of the sons of Jeroboam; Zambri was the executioner of the sons of Baasha; and the executioner of Zambri was Omri. ” - _C. a Lapide.)

The expression “exalted thee out of the dust,” instead of “from among the people” (1 Kings 14:7), leads to the conjecture that Baasha had risen to be king from a very low position. גּבוּרתו (his might) in 1 Kings 16:5 refers, as in the case of Asa (1 Kings 15:23), less to brave warlike deeds, than generally to the manifestation of strength and energy in his government.