1 Kings 15:11 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Asa did that which was right. — This reign — happily, a long one — was a turning-point in the history of Judah. Freed from immediate pressure by the victory of Abijah over Jeroboam, Asa resolved — perhaps under the guidance of the prophets Azariah and Hanani (2 Chronicles 15:1; 2 Chronicles 16:7) — to renew the true strength of his kingdom by restoring the worship and trusting in the blessings of the true God, extirpating by repeated efforts the false worships introduced by Rehoboam and continued by Abijah, and solemnly renewing the covenant with the Lord, in the name of the people, and of the strangers from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, who joined them. Of all this the text here gives but brief notice: the record in the Chronicles (2 Chronicles 14:15) contains a detailed account. From the same record we find that he fortified his cities and strengthened his army, and that he was able to repel with great slaughter a formidable invasion from Egypt, under “Zerah the Ethiopian,” in his fifteenth year.