1 Kings 15

In the eighteenth year that Jeroboam son of Nebat was king of Israel, Abijam became king of Judah.

1Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.

NoteSince the death of Solomon the nation had split in two: ten northern tribes kept the name Israel, ruled here by Jeroboam, while the southern kingdom of Judah, centered on Jerusalem, stayed with David's family. From here on the book tells the two stories side by side, dating each king by the regnal year of his counterpart in the other kingdom.

2He ruled three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

2Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

NoteAbishalom is a longer form of Absalom, David's son, so Maachah may have been his granddaughter. In Hebrew usage "daughter of" often means simply "descendant of." The mother of a Judean king is named at the start of nearly every reign in these books, because her position at court was an official one.

3He committed all the same sins his father had committed before him. His heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, the way the heart of David his forefather had been.

3And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.

4Even so, for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem. He did this by raising up a son to rule after him and by keeping Jerusalem strong.

4Nevertheless for David’s sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:

Note"A lamp" is a standing Hebrew image for a surviving heir who keeps a family line burning rather than letting it go dark. The promise is about the dynasty continuing, not about an actual light.

5The LORD did this because David had done what was right in his eyes. David never turned away from anything the LORD commanded him, as long as he lived, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

5Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

NoteThe reference is to the account in 2 Samuel 11: David took Uriah's wife Bathsheba and then had Uriah placed where he would be killed in battle. Some ancient copies of Kings omit this exception clause entirely.

6There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam that went on all his life.

6And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

NoteThe Hebrew names Rehoboam here, though Rehoboam had already died at the end of the previous chapter; some ancient copies read "Abijam" instead. "All his life" is correspondingly unclear as to whose life is meant.

7The rest of what Abijam did, and everything he accomplished, is written in the book of the records of the kings of Judah. There was also war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

7Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

NoteThis is a royal archive kept by the court of Judah, now lost. It is not the biblical books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, which were written much later. The narrator repeatedly points readers to it as the fuller record he is summarizing.

8Abijam died and joined his ancestors, and they buried him in the City of David. His son Asa became king in his place.

8And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.

Note"Died and joined his ancestors" is a standard formula for a peaceful death and burial in the family tomb. The City of David is the oldest, southeastern ridge of Jerusalem, the part David captured, where the kings were buried.

9In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah.

9And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.

10He ruled forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

10And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

NoteMaachah is named as the mother of both Abijam and his son Asa. She was most likely Asa's grandmother; the Hebrew word covers both, and the title went with the office rather than strictly with parentage.

11Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his forefather David had done.

11And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.

12He drove the male shrine prostitutes out of the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made.

12And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

NoteThe Hebrew word refers to men attached to a shrine for sexual rites connected with fertility worship; the King James "sodomites" reflects a later interpretation rather than the word's own sense. The "idols" are literally "dung-images," a deliberately insulting term.

13He also removed his mother Maachah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a detestable image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

13And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

NoteQueen mother was a formal court rank in Judah, with real influence, which is why it could be taken away. Asherah was a goddess worshiped across Canaan, and the image was probably a carved wooden pole set up beside an altar. The Kidron is the ravine running along the east side of Jerusalem, the city's usual place for disposing of defiling things.

14The high places where people offered sacrifices were not taken away. Still, Asa's heart was fully devoted to the LORD his whole life.

14But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.

NoteHigh places were open-air worship sites, typically on hilltops, with an altar and a standing stone or pole. They were used for sacrifice to the LORD as well as to other gods; the writer of Kings judges every ruler partly by whether he shut them down in favor of the Jerusalem temple.

15He brought into the house of the LORD the silver, the gold, and the other objects that his father had set apart for God, along with the ones he himself had set apart.

15And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver, and gold, and vessels.

NoteObjects "set apart" were spoils of war and vows given permanently to the sanctuary, forming the temple treasury. The point is that Asa restocked reserves that had been stripped in the previous generation.

16There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel the whole time they both ruled.

16And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

17Baasha king of Israel marched against Judah and fortified the town of Ramah. He did this to stop anyone from going out of or coming into the land of Asa king of Judah.

17And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

NoteRamah stood about five miles north of Jerusalem on the main road running through the hill country. Fortifying it let Baasha throttle all traffic in and out of Judah's capital, a blockade rather than an invasion.

18So Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He handed it to his officials and sent them to Benhadad son of Tabrimon, son of Hezion, king of Syria, who ruled in Damascus, with this message:

18Then 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, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

NoteSyria here is Aram, the kingdom centered on Damascus, north-east of Israel and the strongest of Judah's and Israel's neighbors in this period. Benhadad is a throne name meaning "son of the god Hadad."

19"Let there be an agreement between you and me, as there was between your father and my father. Look, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Now break your agreement with Baasha king of Israel, so he will pull back from me."

19There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

Note"Agreement" translates a word for a formal treaty between kings, often inherited from one generation to the next; Asa is claiming such an inherited tie. The "gift" is understood on both sides as a substantial payment to buy military action.

20Benhadad agreed with King Asa and sent his army commanders against the towns of Israel. They attacked and took Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maachah, all of Cinneroth, and the whole territory of Naphtali.

20So Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abelbethmaachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.

NoteEvery place listed lies in the far north of Israel: Ijon, Dan and Abel-beth-maachah near the top of the Jordan valley, Cinneroth the district beside the Sea of Galilee, and Naphtali the tribal territory around them. Losing them forced Baasha to abandon his southern campaign and defend his own back.

21When Baasha heard about it, he stopped fortifying Ramah and stayed in Tirzah.

21And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.

NoteTirzah, in the hills north-east of Shechem, served as the northern kingdom's capital before Samaria was built.

22Then King Asa sent an order through all of Judah, and no one was excused from it. They carried off the stones and the timber that Baasha had been building Ramah with. King Asa used them to build up Geba in Benjamin, and Mizpah.

22Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.

NoteThe order was a labor levy: every able-bodied man was conscripted, with none of the usual exemptions. Geba and Mizpah were border towns a few miles north of Jerusalem, so Asa reused Baasha's own building materials to fortify the frontier against him.

23The rest of what Asa did, all his power, everything he accomplished, and the towns he built, are written in the book of the records of the kings of Judah. But in his old age he got a disease in his feet.

23The 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? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.

NoteThe Hebrew says only that the disease was "in his feet." "Feet" is sometimes a polite substitute for the genitals or the lower body generally, so the nature of the illness is uncertain.

24Asa died and joined his ancestors, and he was buried with them in the city of his forefather David. His son Jehoshaphat became king in his place.

24And 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.

25Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he ruled Israel two years.

25And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.

26He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He lived the same way his father had lived, and repeated the sin his father had led Israel into.

26And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.

27Baasha son of Ahijah, from the tribe of Issachar, plotted against him. Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were surrounding it in a siege.

27And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.

NoteThe Philistines were a people settled on the coastal plain to Israel's south-west, long-standing rivals for control of the lowlands. Gibbethon lay on the disputed border, and Israel's kings repeatedly tried to take it. A siege meant surrounding a walled town to starve it out, which left the besieging king camped in one place for months and exposed to a plot.

28So in the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha killed Nadab and became king in his place.

28Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead.

29As soon as Baasha was king, he killed everyone in Jeroboam's family. He did not leave a single person of Jeroboam's household alive, but destroyed them all. This matched what the LORD had said through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh.

29And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:

NoteWiping out the previous king's whole family was normal practice for a usurper, since any surviving male could claim the throne. Ahijah, a prophet from the sanctuary town of Shiloh, had announced this outcome to Jeroboam's wife in chapter 14.

30It happened because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had led Israel to commit, and because he had made the LORD, the God of Israel, angry.

30Because 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 to anger.

Note"The sin Jeroboam led Israel into" refers throughout these books to one specific act: setting up rival gold calf shrines at Bethel and Dan so that northerners would not travel to the Jerusalem temple.

31The rest of what Nadab did, and everything he accomplished, is written in the book of the records of the kings of Israel.

31Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

32There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel the whole time they both ruled.

32And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

33In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel. He ruled from the city of Tirzah for twenty-four years.

33In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.

NoteThe figures do not line up neatly (Nadab's two years and Baasha's accession are both placed in Asa's second and third years) because reigns were counted by calendar years, so a few months could be reckoned as a whole year at each end.

34He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He lived the same way Jeroboam had lived, and repeated the sin Jeroboam had led Israel into.

34And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.