And also concerning Maachah. — 2 Chronicles 15:16-18 are a duplicate of 1 Kings 15:13-15, with a few unimportant variations. See the commentary there.
The mother of Asa the king — i.e., his grandmother. (See 2 Chronicles 13:2; and 1 Kings 15:13). Others have supposed that Maachah the mother of Abijah, and Maachah the “mother” of Asa, were different persons, the former being the daughter of Absalom, the latter the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There are really no grounds for this. Maachah, the mother of Abijah, enjoyed the rank of queen-mother not only during his short reign of three years, but also during that of her grandson Asa, until deposed by him on account of her idolatry.
Queen. — Gebîrah, lady, mistress; but always used of a queen. Compare the position of Athaliah (2 Chronicles 22:2).
An idol. — Miphlètseth; a thing of fear; a horror; a term only found here and in 1 Kings 15:13. (Not as Merx suggests, nor a phallus, as others think. Comp. the cognate words in Job 9:6; Job 21:6; Jeremiah 49:16.)
In a grove. — Rather, for Ashçrah (2 Kings 17:16).
Stamped it. — Crashed it. A detail added by the chronicler. So Moses treated the golden calf (Exodus 32:20); and Josiah the high place at Bethel (2 Kings 23:15).