2 Crônicas 16

2 Crônicas 16

Constable: There is a chronological problem in verse 1, which says: "In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign, Baasha king of Israel" attacked Judah. But in 1 Kings 16:8 we read: "In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel." Keil attributed the difference to a scribal error and concluded that the number in 1 Kings is correct. Believer's Study Bible - The political and military alliance between Judah and Syria was the result of the building of fortifications by Baasha at Ramah, a mere five miles from Jerusalem. The temple and palace treasures gathered since the time of Rehoboam (cf. 12:2, note) and Asa (cf. 14:2-5, note) were used as a bribe to persuade Ben-Hadad of Syria to break his alliance with Baasha of Israel. This pattern of alliances is a typical "balance of power" strategy. It appeared to have been used successfully in this instance, since it compelled Baasha to leave off building and fortifying Ramah after Ben-Hadad struck several places in northern Israel, including all of the territory of Naphtali (cf. 1 Kin. 15:16-22). However, God sent Hanani with the message that security ought to be sought in God, not in Ben-Hadad (v. 7). Thus, apparent success is not always an indication of divine pleasure. Obedience would have resulted in victory even over Syria. Asa's thirty-sixth year was 875 B.C. Baasha, however, died 11 years earlier in 886 B.C. (cf. 1 Kin. 16:8). Therefore, the phrase malkut ^asa^ (Heb.) should probably be understood here as referring to "Asa's kingdom," i.e., Judah, rather than "Asa's reign." Since the kingdom of Judah came into being in 931 B.C., the thirty-sixth year was 895 B.C., the year of war between Asa and Baasha. This was the sixteenth year of Asa, the year following the great assembly (15:10). Another possible solution is that "35" and "36" in 15:19 and 16:1 are inaccurate transmissions for "15" and "16." This would be possible when numbers were written with Hebrew letters, since the letters for 10 and 30 look very much alike in ancient Hebrew. J.A. Thompson: Asa withdrew silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram-Damascus, to encourage him to break the treaty he had with Baasha. The Arameans were implacable foes of the Northern Kingdom, and the drawing of Damascus into a hostile attitude to Judah would provide conflict for Baasha on a second front and ease pressure on Judah. By this political maneuver Asa’s enlistment of Ben-Hadad’s aid outmaneuvered Baasha. But however shrewd this scheme was politically, it displayed a lack of trust in the Lord and merited divine retribution. Mark Boda: For the Chronicler, that Asa entered into a foreign alliance was bad enough; using the treasuries protected by the Levites at the Temple (1 Chr 9:26; 26:20, 22) was far worse. (See 1-2 Chronicles - Page 310) Cyril