1 Reis 15
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
1 Reis 15
NJB (MT versing) Abijam Reigns Over Judah Abijam Reigns In Judah Abijam of Judah King Abijah of Judah The Reign of Abijam in Judah (913-911) 15:1-6 15:1-8 15:1-8 15:1-7 15:1-6 15:7 15:7 Asa Succeeds Abijam 15:8 15:8 15:8 Asa Reigns in Judah Asa of Judah King Asa of Judah The Reign of Asa in Judah (911-870) 15:9-15 15:9-15 15:9-15 15:9-15 15:9-15 15:16-22 15:16-22 15:16-24 15:16-19 15:16-22 15:20-21 Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa 15:22 15:23-24 15:23-24 15:23-24 15:23-24 Nadab, Then Baasha, Rules Over Israel Nadab Reigns in Israel Nadab of Israel King Nadab of Israel The Reign of Nadab in Israel (910-909) 15:25-27 15:25-30 15:25-26 15:25-26 15:25-30 15:27-30 15:27-30 15:28-30 15:31 15:31 15:31 15:31 15:31 War with Judah Baasha Reigns in Israel Baasha of Israel (15:33-16:7) King Baasah of Israel (15:33-16:7) The Reign of Baasha in israel (909-886) (15:33-16:7) 15:32 15:32 15:32 15:32 15:32 15:33-34 15:33-34 15:33-34 15:33-34 15:33-34 Etc. CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS 1 Kings 14:21-15:24 discusses the kings of Judah. 1 Kings. 15:25-16:33 deals with the kings of Israel. Although not all of Judah's kings were faithful, all of Israel's kings were unfaithful. In comparison the reign of the kings of Judah were stable, while the kingdom of Israel suffered instability. From this point on in Kings, the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel are recorded, one after another.
1 Reis 15
NJB (MT versing) Prophecy Against Baasha Baasha Reigns in Israel (15:33-16:7) Baasha of Israel (15:33-16:7) King Baasha of israel (15:33-16:7) The Reign of Baasha in Israel (909-886) (15:33-16:7) 16:1-4 16:1-4 16:1-4 16:1-4 16:1-4 16:5 16:5-7 16:5-7 16:5-6 16:5-6 The Israelite Kings 16:6-7 16:7 16:7 Elah Reigns in Israel Elah of Israel King Elah of Israel The Riegn of Elah in Israel (886-885) 16:8-11 16:8-13 16:8-10 16:8-10 16:8-13 16:11-14 16:11-14 16:12-14 16:14 16:14 Zimri Reigns in Israel Zimri of Israel King Zimri of Israel The Reign of Zimri in Israel (885) 16:15-20 16:15-19 16:15-20 16:15-20 16:15-19 16:20 16:20 Omri Reigns in Israel Omri of Israel King Omri of Israel 16:21-24 16:21-26 16:21-23 16:21-24 16:21-22 The Reign of Omri in Israel (885-874) 16:23-26 16:24 16:25-28 16:25-28 16:25-28 16:27-28 16:27-28 Ahab Reigns in Israel Introduction to the Reign of Ahab in Israel King Ahab of Israel Introduction to the Reign of Ahab (874-853) 16:29-30 16:29-34 16:29-30 16:29-34 16:29-34 16:31-34 16:31-34 Etc.
1 Reis 15:1-6
15:1 "eighteenth year" 1 Kings 14:21 has "seventeen." The difference may be in the way the two kingdoms counted the reign of a king. See Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, p. 80. ▣ "Abijam" On this name see full note at 1 Kgs. 14:31. 2 Chronicles 13:2-3 gives additional information, especially the war with Jeroboam (cf. 1 Kgs. 15:6). The LXX adds "Abijam the son of Rehoboam." The LXX omits v. 6, which also mentions Rehoboam. Abijam may have been chosen as king because his mother was Rehoboam's favorite wife (cf. 2 Chr. 11:21-22) and not because he was the oldest son. SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY 15:2 "Maacah" In 2 Chr. 13:2 his name is spelled "Micaiah," but in 2 Chr. 11:20 she is named "Maacah" and is the daughter or granddaughter of Absalom (cf. 1 Kgs. 15:2). The LXX records in 2 Sam. 14:27 that it was Absalom's granddaughter, whose name was Tamar. ▣ "daughter of Abishalom" Note that 2 Chr. 11:20 names the father "Absalom" and 2 Chr. 13:2 has "Uriel of Gibeah." 15:3 "he walked in all the sins of his father" "Walk" is a biblical metaphor for lifestyle faithfulness or faithlessness. Obedience to YHWH's laws through Moses was the determining factor. See NIDOTTE, vol. 1, pp. 989-992 and 1032-1035. ▣ "his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God" See full note at 1 Kgs. 11:4. SPECIAL TOPIC: HEART 15:4 "a lamp" See full note at 1 Kgs. 11:36. It is obvious from this verse that it refers to a royal child in David's line. 15:5 "turned aside" This VERB (BDB 693, KB 747, Qal PERFECT) is often used in the sense of deviation from God's path/way (i.e., Laws, cf. Exod. 32:8; Deut. 5:32; 9:12; 17:11,20; 1 Sam. 12:20; 2 Kgs. 22:2; Jer. 5:23). ▣ "Uriah the Hittite" This was Bathsheba's husband and faithful soldier. David's sin is recorded in 2 Samuel 11. 15:6 NASB, NKJV, NRSV, TEV "Rehoboam" NJB, LXX ‒omit v. 6‒ REB, JPSOA, Peshitta "Abijam" The MT has "Rehoboam" but this seems to be a repeat of 1 Kgs. 14:30. This context is about Abijam. Notice the end of 1 Kgs. 15:7, which also seems to repeat v. 6. ▣ "Jeroboam" See NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 769-772.
1 Reis 15:7
15:7 "the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah" This is not the biblical Chronicles.
1 Reis 15:8
15:8 "slept with his fathers" See note at 1 Kgs. 1:21. See my notes on "sleep" in Dan. 12:2. Daniel 12:2 "those who sleep" There are several terms in Hebrew for sleep. yashen (BDB 445), which is normally used of natural sleep, but in Dan. 12:2, of death shenah (BDB 446), also used of natural sleep, Dan. 2:1; 6:18 shakab (BDB 446), which is used in the books of 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, and 2 Chronicles for death (2 Sam. 11:9) and normal sleep (2 Sam. 7:12) The concept of death as sleep is also found in the NT (e.g., Matt. 27:52 [note resurrection]; John 11:11 [note resurrection in 11:25-26; 13:36; Acts 7:60; 1 Thess. 4:13 [note resurrection in 4:14-17]; 5:10).
1 Reis 15:9-15
15:9 "Asa" There seems to be confusion about the parents of Abijam and Asa (v. 10; 2 Chr. 11:20-22; 13:2). For "Asa" see NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 412-414. 15:11 "Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord" See my notes from 2 Chr. 14:2. 2 Chr. 14:2 "Asa did good and right in the sight of the Lord" This is a recurrent theme in Deuteronomy (cf. Deut. 6:18; 12:28; 13:18). This chapter lists several things he did to merit this evaluation (cf. 2 Chr. 15:8-15,16-18). removed foreign altars, 2 Chr. 14:3 high places, 2 Chr. 14:3,5 (cf. 2 Chr. 15:17; see Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, "High Places," pp. 284-288) incense altars, 2 Chr. 14:5 (associated with Ba'al worship, cf. Lev. 26:30; 2 Chr. 34:4,7) destroyed (cf. Deut. 12:2-3) sacred pillars (i.e., raised stone which was a symbol of the male deity, cf. Exod. 23:24) Asherim (i.e., a live tree or carved stake which was a symbol of the female deity, cf. Exod. 34:13; 2 Chr. 15:16) demanded his people to seek YHWH to observe His law The Chronicler expands (i.e., three chapters) the material on the life of Asa. Kings only has a few verses (i.e., 1 Kgs. 15:9-24). Chronicles is using another prophetic written source. positive ‒ 2 Chr. 14:1-15:19 negative ‒ 2 Chr. 16:1-14 Faithful at the beginning but faithless at the end becomes a terrible pattern. 15:12 "male prostitutes" See full note at 1 Kgs. 14:24. ▣ "all the idols which his fathers had made" This may go back to Solomon's idolatry in 1 Kings 11:7-8. This term for "idols" (BDB 165) is always found in the PLURAL and always in a negative sense (very common in Ezekiel). The meaning or connotation is uncertain. from the root for "dung" or dung balls from the root "stone circles" from Akkadian "crime" (AB, p. 397) from Arabic "sacred object" (Expositors, vol. 4, p. 130 15:13 Apparently the mother of the reigning king had a place of great honor and influence (see Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, pp. 117-119. Asa's mother became an idolater (i.e., Asherah) but Asa cut the site down. SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANE ▣ "horrid image" "obscene image" NRSV, JPSOA "abominable image" TEV, NJB, REB "obscene idol" "idol" The MT has a FEMININE NOUN (BDB 814), which is found only in this text and its parallel in 2 Chronicles. Its basic meaning is "something to shudder at." See NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 1057; vol. 3, p. 630. 15:14 "high places" These were places of local worship (cf. 1 Kgs. 22:43). They were not condemned originally (cf. 1 Kgs. 3:4) because there was no central shrine, but later these local sites became places of fertility worship and were condemned (cf. vv. 12-14; 2 Chr. 14:3,5; 17:8; 21:11; 28:4; 31:1; 32:12; 33:3,17,19; 34:3-4). 15:15 Asa may have dedicated much of the spoils of this successful war with Zerah the Ethiopian (cf. 2 Chr. 14:9-15).
1 Reis 15:16-22
15:17 "fortified Ramah" Baasha tried to isolate Jerusalem from trade from the north and from the coast by turning the city of Ramah, which was only a short distance north of Jerusalem, into a fortified city. 15:18 In response to Baasha's economic siege, Asa bribed the King of Syria into changing his alliance from Israel to Judah. Asa paid all the silver and gold left in Jerusalem (i.e., the temple and palace) and all the valuable metals not taken by Shishak, King of Egypt in Rehoboam's day. 15:19 "treaty" See SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT. 15:20 The King of Syria, Ben-hadad, attacked northern Israel and captured the major cities of Dan and Naphtali. Baasha reacted to this as can be seen in v. 21." ▣ "Chinneroth" This is an OT name for Galilee. 5:21 NASB, NKJV, JPSOA "remained in" NRSV, Pehsitta "lived in" "went to" "retired to" "fell back on" "returned to" The MT has the VERB "dwelt" (BDB 442, KB 444, Qal IMPERFECT with waw). The UBS Text Project, p. 324, suggests the term is a military form for "being inactive" (i.e., he ceased to trouble Judah).
1 Reis 15:23-24
15:23 "But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet" Asa's godly reign did not keep him from the normal aging problems. All humans suffer from the Fall. It is possible that this illness caused a co-reign with Jehoshphat. See Edwin Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings. SPECIAL TOPIC: HUMAN AGING SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FALL 15:24 "Jehoshaphat" See SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY.
1 Reis 15:25-27
15:25-30 This paragraph recounts the story of the fall of Jeroboam's royal line. This was to fulfill the prophecy of Ahijah (cf. 1 Kgs. 14:5-16).
1 Reis 15:28-30
15:30 Jeroboam's main sin was establishing rival temples at Bethel and Dan (i.e., the golden calves).
1 Reis 15:33-34
15:33-34 These should go with chapter 16 because they deal with Baasha, King of Israel.
1 Reis 15:33-34
15:33-34 These should go with chapter 16 because they deal with Baasha, King of Israel. 15:33 The long reign of Asa (i.e., 41 years, 1 Kgs. 15:10; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 412-414) provides a way to document the turmoil in Israel. in the 20th year of Jeroboam, Asa began to reign (1 Kgs. 15:9) in the 2nd year of Asa, Nadab begin to reign in Israel (1 Kgs. 15:25) in the 3rd year of Asa, Baasha began to reign (1 Kgs. 15:33) in the 26th year of Asa, Elah began to reign (1 Kgs. 16:8) in the 27th year of Asa, Zimri began to reign (1 Kgs. 16:15) in the 31st year of Asa, Omri began to reign (1 Kgs. 16:23) in the 38th year of Asa, Ahab began to reign (1 Kgs. 16:29) SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY