And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah
Which, in ( 2 Chronicles
16:1 ) is said to be in the thirty sixth year of Asa's reign,
or rather of his kingdom; for it can never mean the year of his
reign, for Baasha was dead many years before that, since his
reign began in the third of Asa, and he reigned but twenty four
years, and therefore must die in the twenty seventh of Asa; but
it is to be understood of the kingdom of Judah, when it was
divided from Israel; from that time to this were thirty six
years, seventeen under Rehoboam, three under Abijam, so that this
year must be the sixteenth of Asa; thus it is calculated in the
Jewish chronology F21, and which is followed by many of
the best of our chronologers:
and built Ramah;
a city in the tribe of Benjamin, ( Joshua 18:25
) , but taken by the king of Israel, which he rebuilt or
fortified:
that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa
king of Judah;
that his people might not go to and from Jerusalem, and worship
at the temple there; this garrison lying on the borders of both
kingdoms, he thought hereby to cut off all communication between
them.
F21 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 16.