1 Kings 15:19

19 "There is a covenant between me and you, which existed already between my father and your father. Here, I am sending you a present of silver and gold; go, and break your covenant with Ba'sha king of Isra'el, so that he will leave me alone."

1 Kings 15:19 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 15:19

There is a league between me and thee, and between my
father and thy father
For though Hezion, if he is the same with Rezon, was an adversary to Israel in the days of Solomon, ( 1 Kings 11:25 ) , yet it seems his son was not, but was a confederate with the kings of Israel and Judah:

behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold;
taken out of the treasury of the temple and his own treasury:

come and break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may
depart from me;
it was sinful in him to take the money out of the temple, to which it was dedicated; it was more so to make use of it to bribe an Heathen to break his covenant and alliance with another, in order to serve him; in which he betrayed great distrust of the Lord, and of his power to help him; which was the more aggravated, when he had had such a wonderful appearance of God for him against the Ethiopians, see ( 2 Chronicles 16:7 2 Chronicles 16:8 ) .

1 Kings 15:19 In-Context

17 Ba'sha attacked Y'hudah, and he fortified Ramah to prevent anyone's leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Y'hudah.

18 Then Asa took all the silver and gold left among the treasures of the house of ADONAI and among the treasures of the royal palace; and, entrusting them to his servants, King Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad the son of Tavrimmon, the son of Hezyon, king of Aram, who lived in Dammesek, with this message:

19 "There is a covenant between me and you, which existed already between my father and your father. Here, I am sending you a present of silver and gold; go, and break your covenant with Ba'sha king of Isra'el, so that he will leave me alone."

20 Ben-Hadad did as King Asa asked - he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Isra'el, attacking 'Iyon, Dan, Avel-Beit-Ma'akhah, all of Kinn'rot and all the land of Naftali.

21 As soon as Ba'sha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and stayed in Tirtzah.