2 Chronicles 16:1

In the thirty and sixth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah,.... How this is to be reconciled with the reign of Baasha, which was but twenty four years, and was begun

In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

2 CHAPTER 16 Asa maketh a league with the Syrians against the king of Israel, ; for which the prophet reproving him, he putteth him into prison, . He is sick, and seeketh to the physicians, and not to God: his death and burial, . Of the reign of Asa; or, of the kingdom of Asa, i.e. of the kingdom of Judah, which was now Asa’ s kingdom; or from the time of the division of the two kingdoms. Rehoboam reigned seventeen years, ; Abijah three years, ; Asa had now reigned fifteen years, ; all which, put together, make up the thirty-five years mentioned . And in the next year Baasha wars against him; and the ground of war was the defection of many of his subjects to Asa, , whom Asa endeavours to engage, together with his own subjects, by an oath and a covenant, to be true and faithful to God, and consequently to himself; which was done in his fifteenth year, ,10; and therefore in his sixteenth year, called here the thirty-sixth year of his kingdom, he commenceth an open war against him. If it be objected, That the reign or kingdom of Asa is otherwise understood of the time of Asa’ s personal reign, (as I may call it,) ; the answer is obvious, That there are many instances in Scripture (some of which have been formerly given, and others will be given in their proper places) where the same word or phrase is taken differently, and that in the very same chapter and history. And particularly this variety is elsewhere used, both by sacred and profane writers, in the computation of the years of princes, which are sometimes reckoned from the beginning of their reign, and sometimes from other remarkable times and occurrences. Titus Nebuchadnezzar’ s years are sometimes computed from the beginning of his reign, as ,29,30, and sometimes from his complete conquest of Syria and Egypt, &c., as that passage, , In the second year of Nebuchadnezzar, is by the general stream of interpreters understood. Thus Ahaziah’ s years, which doubtless were usually computed from the time of his birth, are computed from another head, , See Poole "". And the like differences are observed in computing the years of some of the Syrian monarchs and Roman emperors; and particularly of Augustus, the years of whose reign are variously accounted by the Roman historians; sometimes from his first consulship, sometimes from the time of the triumvirate, and sometimes from that famous victory at Actium, where he utterly overthrew his competitor, and made himself sole and unquestionable emperor. And therefore it is not strange if it be so here. And that it must necessarily be thus understood, appears from hence, that it cannot be the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa in his own person, because Baasha began to reign in Asa’ s third year, , and reigned only twenty-four years, and consequently died in Asa’ s twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh year, as it is said he did, .

2 Chronicles 16:1 In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.Ver. 1. In the six and thirtieth year.] See 2 Chronicles 15:19. Of the reign of Asa.] Or, In the reign of Asa. Baasha king of Israel.] Of whom, see 1 Kings 15:27. Came up against Judah.] See on 1 Kings 15:17, &c.

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.)

CHAPTER XVI Baasha, king of Israel, begins to build Ramah, to prevent his subjects from having any intercourse with the Jews, 1. Asa hires Ben-hadad, king of Syria, against him; and obliges him to leave off building Ramah, 2-5. Asa and his men carry the stones and timbers of Ramah away, and build therewith Geba and Mizpah, 6. Asa is reproved by Hanani, the seer, for his union with the king of Syria: he is offended with the seer, and puts him in prison, 7-10. Of his acts, 11. He is diseased in his feet, and seeks to physicians and not to God, and dies, 12, 13. His sumptuous funeral, 14. NOTES ON CHAP. XVI Verse 1. The six and thirtieth year] After the division of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; according to Usher. This opinion is followed in our margin; 1Kg 15:16, where this subject is farther considered. Concerning Baasha's building of Ramah, 1Kg 15:17.

Ch. 2 Chronicles 16:1-6 (= 1 Kings 15:17-22). Asa asks help of Ben-hadad 1. the six and thirtieth year] According to 1 Kings 16:8 Baasha was succeeded by his son Elah in the six-and-twentieth year of Asa. The number thirty-six is probably therefore wrong. It should be noticed however that the thirty-sixth year of the separate kingdom of Judah corresponds with the sixteenth year of Asa, so that possibly two different reckonings are here confused, and so we should read, In the six-and-thirtieth year, that is, in the sixteenth year of Asa. So in 2 Chronicles 15:19 we should read, in the five-and-thirtieth, that is, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. Ramah] The modern er-Râm, situated on a commanding hill about two hours north of Jerusalem. Bädeker, p. 212. that he might let none go out] R.V. that he might not suffer any to go out (as in 1 Kin.).

This passage runs parallel with Kings (see the marginal reference).