XVI.
THE WAR WITH BAASHA — (2 Chronicles 16:1-6).
Comp. 1 Kings 15:17-22.
(1) In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up. — According to 1 Kings 15:33; 1 Kings 16:8, Baasha began to reign in the third year of Asa, reigned twenty-four years, and died in the twenty-sixth year of Asa. These statements are obviously irreconcilable with that of our verse. We must suppose either that the chronicler has accepted a different calculation from that of the Kings — a calculation which he may have found in one of his documents; or that the text here is unsound, and thirty-six has been substituted by an error of transcription for sixteen, or twenty-six; and that in 2 Chronicles 15:19 by a similar mistake thirty-five has taken the place of fifteen or twenty-five. Upon the whole, the latter alternative appears preferable; and if we assume twenty-five and twenty-six to be the correct numerals, we get the following chronology for the reign : — First, ten years of peace (2 Chronicles 14:1), during which Asa strengthened his defences (2 Chronicles 14:6-8); then the invasion of Zerah, at what precise date is not clear, but at some time between the eleventh and the fifteenth year (2 Chronicles 14:9; 2 Chronicles 15:10); then the reformation of religion and renewal of the covenant in Asa’s fifteenth year (2 Chronicles 15:10); and lastly, another ten years of peace, until the outbreak of the war with Baasha, in the twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth year.
The idea of the ancient commentators, that the phrase “five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa” might mean “five and thirtieth year of the kingdom of Judah,” is absurd. The phrase “bishnath... lemalkûth” always denotes the year of a king’s reign, not of the duration of his kingdom. (See 2 Chronicles 16:12 infra.)
And built Ramah. — Er-Râm, about five miles north of Jerusalem. Baasha had probably retaken the cities annexed by Abijah. (See on 2 Chronicles 15:8.)
Built = fortified it. (See 1 Kings 15:17 for the rest of the verse.)