13 and also Maachah his mother -- he turneth her aside from being mistress, in that she made a horrible thing for a shrine, and Asa cutteth down her horrible thing, and burneth `it' by the brook Kidron;
14 and the high places have not turned aside; only, the heart of Asa hath been perfect with Jehovah all his days,
15 and he bringeth in the sanctified things of his father, and his own sanctified things, to the house of Jehovah, silver, and gold, and vessels.
16 And war hath been between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days,
17 and Baasha king of Israel goeth up against Judah, and buildeth Ramah, not to permit any one going out and coming in to Asa king of Judah.
18 And Asa taketh all the silver and the gold that are left in the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the house of the king, and giveth them into the hand of his servants, and king Asa sendeth them unto Ben-Hadad, son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion king of Aram, who is dwelling in Damascus, saying,
19 `A covenant `is' between me and thee, between my father and thy father; lo, I have sent to thee a reward of silver and gold; go, break thy covenant with Baasha king of Israel, and he goeth up from off me.'
20 And Ben-Hadad hearkeneth unto king Asa, and sendeth the heads of the forces that he hath against cities of Israel, and smiteth Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-Beth-Maachah, and all Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali;
21 and it cometh to pass at Baasha's hearing, that he ceaseth from building Ramah, and dwelleth in Tirzah.
22 And king Asa hath summoned all Judah -- there is none exempt -- and they lift up the stones of Ramah, and its wood, that Baasha hath built, and king Asa buildeth with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23 And the rest of all the matters of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? Only, at the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet;
24 and Asa lieth with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoshaphat his son reigneth in his stead.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Kings 15
Commentary on 1 Kings 15 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 15
In this chapter we have an abstract of the history,
1Ki 15:1-8
We have here a short account of the short reign of Abijam the son of Rehoboam king of Judah. He makes a better figure, 2 Chr. 13, where we have an account of his war with Jeroboam, the speech which he made before the armies engaged, and the wonderful victory he obtained by the help of God. There he is called Abijah-My father is the Lord, because no wickedness is there laid to his charge. But here, where we are told of his faults, Jah, the name of God, is, in disgrace to him, taken away from his name, and he is called Abijam. See Jer. 22:24.
1Ki 15:9-24
We have here a short account of the reign of Asa; we shall find a more copious history of it 2 Chr. 14, 15, and 16. Here is,
1Ki 15:25-34
We are now to take a view of the miserable state of Israel, while the kingdom of Judah was happy under Asa's good government. It was threatened that they should be as a reed shaken in the water (ch. 14:15), and so they were, when, during the single reign of Asa, the government of their kingdom was in six or seven different hands, as we find in this and the following chapter. Jeroboam was upon the throne in the beginning of his reign and Ahab at the end of it, and between them were Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Tibni, and Omri, undermining and destroying one another. This they got by deserting the house both of God and of David. Here we have,