Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 16

In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up.—According to 1 Kings 15:33 and 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 this verse. We must suppose either that the chronicler has accepted a different calculation from that of the book of Kings—a calculation which he may have found in one of his documents—or that the text here is corrupt: thirty-six has been substituted by an error of transcription for sixteen or twenty-six; additionally, in 2 Chronicles 15:19, by a similar mistake, thirty-five has taken the place of fifteen or twenty-five.

On the whole, the latter alternative seems preferable. If we assume twenty-five and twenty-six to be the correct numbers, we arrive at 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 occurred; the precise date is not clear, but it was sometime between the eleventh and the fifteenth year (2 Chronicles 14:9; 2 Chronicles 15:10). This was followed by the reformation of religion and renewal of the covenant in Asa’s fifteenth year (2 Chronicles 15:10). Lastly, there were 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 “thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa” might mean “thirty-fifth year of the kingdom of Judah”—is absurd. The phrase “bishnath ... l e malkûth” always denotes the year of a king’s reign, not the duration of his kingdom (see 2 Chronicles 16:12 below).

And built Ramah.—Er-Ram, about five miles north of Jerusalem. Baasha had probably retaken the cities annexed by Abijah (see the notes on 2 Chronicles 15:8).

Built means “fortified it” (see 1 Kings 15:17 for the rest of the verse).

Then Asa brought out silver and gold. —This verse is abridged as compared with 1 Kings 15:18, but the substance of it is the same. The differences are characteristic. In the first clause Kings reads: “And Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord.” The chronicler has purposely weakened this statement. He has also omitted the pedigree of Benhadad (“ben Ta-brimmôn ben Hezyôn”), and written the Aramaizing form Darmeseq for Dammèseg. (Syriac, Darmĕsûq.)

There is a league. — Bĕrîth, “covenant.” The verse is the same as 1 Kings 15:19, omitting the word “a present” before “silver and gold,” and making two or three other minute verbal changes.

As. — And.

Depart. — Go up. See the Notes on Kings.

Abel-maim. — In Kings, it is “Abel - beth - maachah” (compare 2 Samuel 20:14–15 and 2 Kings 15:29). This city is nowhere else called Abel-maim, which is perhaps an early mistake. The Syriac reads Abel-beth-maachah.

And all the store-cities (miskĕnôth, 2 Chronicles 8:4). — Literally, And all the stores (magazines) of the cities of Naphtali. In Kings, it says: “And all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.”

Cinneroth is mentioned (Joshua 19:35) as a town of Naphtali, and the Sea of Galilee was called the Sea of Cinneroth (Joshua 12:3). Probably the fertile district west of the lake was also called Cinneroth, and this was the country which Benhadad’s army laid waste.

The present reading of Chronicles may be either a mere textual corruption or a paraphrase of that of Kings. Some critics assume its originality, which is less likely. We prefer to regard it as a paraphrase or explanation.

And it came to pass. —See 1 Kings 15:21.

And let his work cease. — Vay-yashbêth ’ethmelakhtô. Kings: “vay-yêsheb bëthirzah,” “and dwelt in Tirzah.” The partial similarity of the Hebrew is obvious. Kings appears to be correct, and the tautologous reading of the Chronicler is attributable to a fault in the writer’s manuscript.