EXPOSITION
THE REIGNS OF NADAB, BAASHA, ELAH, ZIMRI, AND OMRI, KINGS OF ISRAEL.—After bringing up the history of the kings of Judah, which has engaged his pen since 1 Kings 14:21, to the date of the death of Asa, our author goes back some forty years to record the contemporary history of the kingdom of Israel, with which the rest of this book, the last thirteen verses alone excepted, is occupied. On the other hand, none of these reigns are even noticed by the chronicler, who only refers to the history of Israel, so far as it is inextricably connected with the object of his work; in other words, so far as is necessary to explain or illustrate the reigns of the kings of Judah.
And Nadab [= liberal] the son of Jeroboam began to reign [Heb. reigned] over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah and reigned over Israel two years. [The reigns of these five kings of Israel are related with great brevity. It was not the object of the author to chronicle secular history—for this he refers us to "the books of the days"—he is only concerned with the events of their reigns in so far as they relate to the kingdom of God.]
And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father [Jeroboam begat all his sons, save one, "in his own likeness"], and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin. [I.e; not the rebellion, but the schism. All the successors of Jeroboam it is clear, either thought themselves compelled, by the exigencies of their position, to adhere to his ecclesiastical policy, or found themselves more and more entangled in its toils.]
And Baasha the son of Ahijah [not the prophet of that name (1 Kings 14:2), who was an Ephraimite, whereas this Ahijah was], of the house of Issachar [This fact is perhaps mentioned to distinguish the father of Baasha from the prophet. Or it may owe its insertion to the insignificance of this tribe (Genesis 49:14, Genesis 49:15) up to this date. This change of dynasty, unlike the last, was in no way connected with tribal jealousies. Baasha owed his elevation to his own abilities or to his unscrupulous daring], conspired [The word implies associates. There was a plot formed fur Nadab's assassination] against him: and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon [= eminence. In the tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:44) and a Levitical city: one of the four assigned to the Levites in the territory of that tribe (ib; 1 Kings 21:23). It has not been identified. Evidently it was on the border of Philistia. Some would connect it with the modern Mejdel, a little to the north of Ascalon. The reader will observe how large a number of the names of towns indicate their elevation. The cities of those days were set on a hill. It was dangerous to build in the plain], which belonged to the Philistines [Blunt suggests that it was because the place had been deserted by the Levites, in the general exodus to Judah, that the Philistines availed themselves of the opportunity to seize and fortify it. But the divided and consequently weakened state of the kingdom would of itself have encouraged them to throw off the yoke of Israel (Ewald)]; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.
Even in the third year of Asa [We have here (as in 1 Kings 16:8, 1 Kings 16:23) a conspicuous instance of the Hebrew habit of counting parts of years as entire years. It is obvious that if Nadab succeeded to the throne in the second (1 Kings 15:25) and died in the third year of Asa, he cannot have reigned two full years] king of Judah did Baasha slay him [As the assassination took place during the siege, it is extremely probable that Baasha, like Omri, was the captain of the host], and reigned in his stead. [Probably Nadab had showed himself quite unequal to the task of governing, of which reading the army was in that age a principal function (1 Samuel 8:20). It is just possible that in the occupation of Gibbethon by Philistines we have a proof of his feebleness and incapacity. Anyhow, when the strong hand of Jeroboam is removed, the fruits of the rebellion at once begin to appear. The contempt and defiance which Jeroboam had showed towards constituted authority are now manifested towards his successor. Baasha only takes a leaf out of Jeroboam's book (1 Kings 11:26).]
And it cams to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed [Same expression in Joshua 11:14; cf. Deuteronomy 20:16. Males and females alike were destroyed; see 1 Kings 14:11], until he had destroyed him according unto the saying of the Lord, which he spake by his servant AhiJah the Shilonite [1 Kings 14:10. It is not implied that it was because of this prophecy that Baasha exterminated the house of Jeroboam. It is probable that, so far from setting himself to fulfil it, he knew nothing about it, and, as he thought, merely took effectual measures for his own security. His seat could never be safe, so long as one of Jeroboam's house survived. Grotius aptly cites, with reference to these wholesale murders, the saying, ὃς πατέρα κτείνας υἱοὺς κατέλιπε]:
Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel to sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger. [Cf. 1 Kings 16:2, 1 Kings 16:7, 1 Kings 13:26. etc.]
Now 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?
And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. [Verbatim as 1 Kings 15:16, where see note. Several commentators suggest that this latter statement was copied from the chronicles of Israel, and that of 1 Kings 15:16 from those of Judah. It is held by others, however, that for Baasha we should here read Nadab, and in favour of this view is the fact that the reign of Nadab is still under consideration, the history of Baasha only beginning with the following verse.]
In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign [Practically a repetition of 1 Kings 15:28. These iterations are thoroughly in accord with Eastern usage (cf. 1 Kings 15:26, 1 Kings 15:30, 1Ki 15:34; 1 Kings 16:1, 1 Kings 16:7, etc.)] over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.
And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.