Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 16:1

"In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah." — 2 Chronicles 16:1 (ASV)

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).