Melachim Alef 15

1 5 Now in the eighteenth year of Melech Yarov‘am Ben Nevat reigned Aviyam over Yehudah.

2 Shalosh shanim reigned he in Yerushalayim. And shem immo was Ma’achah Bat Avishalom.

3 And he walked in all the chattot Aviv, which he had done before him; and his lev was not shalem (fully devoted) to Hashem Elohav, as the levav Dovid Aviv.

4 Nevertheless l’ma’an Dovid (for the sake of Dovid) did Hashem Elohav give him a ner (lamp) in Yerushalayim, to raise up Bno after him, and to establish Yerushalayim;

5 Because Dovid did that which was yashar in the eyes of Hashem, and turned not aside from any thing that He commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriyah HaChitti (the Hittite).

6 And there was milchamah between Rechav‘am and Yarov‘am all the days of his life.

7 Now the rest of the acts of Aviyam, and all that he did, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yehudah? And there was milchamah between Aviyam and Yarov‘am.

8 And Aviyam slept with his avot; and they buried him in Ir Dovid; and Asa Bno reigned in his place.

9 And in the twentieth year of Yarov‘am Melech Yisroel, Asa began to reign as Melech over Yehudah.

10 And forty and one years reigned he in Yerushalayim. And shem immo was Ma’achah Bat Avishalom.

11 And Asa did that which was yashar in the eyes of Hashem, as did Dovid Aviv.

12 And he removed kedeshim (the male and female cult prostitutes) out of HaAretz, and got rid of kol hagillulim (all the idols) that his avot had made.

13 And also Ma’achah immo, even her he deposed from being Gevirah (Queen Mother), because she had made a mifletzet (idol) to Asherah; and Asa cut down her mifletzet, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

14 But the high places were not removed; nevertheless levav Asa was shalem with Hashem all his days.

15 And he brought in the kodshei Aviv (the things his father had dedicated), and the things which he himself had dedicated, into the Beis Hashem, kesef, and zahav, and kelim.

16 And there was milchamah between Asa and Ba’asha Melech Yisroel all their days.

17 And Ba’asha Melech Yisroel went up against Yehudah, and built up Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa Melech Yehudah.

18 Then Asa took all the kesef and the zahav that were left in the otzarot of the Beis Hashem, and the otzarot of the Bais HaMelech, and delivered them into the yad of his avadim; and HaMelech Asa sent them to Ben-Hadad, Ben Tavrimmon Ben Chezron Melech Aram, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

19 There is a brit between me and thee, and between Avi and Avicha; hinei, I send unto thee a shochad (incentive kind of gift) of kesef and zahav; come, break thy brit with Ba’asha Melech Yisroel, that he may withdraw from me.

20 So Ben-Hadad paid heed unto HaMelech Asa, and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Yisroel, and struck Iyon, and Dan, and Abel Beit- Ma’achah, and kol Kinnerot, with Kol Eretz Naphtali.

21 And it came to pass, when Ba’asha heard this, he stopped building Ramah, and stayed in Tirtzah.

22 Then HaMelech Asa made a proclamation throughout all Yehudah; none was exempted; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Ba’asha had built; and HaMelech Asa built up with them Geva of Binyamin, and Mitzpah.

23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his gevurah, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yehudah? Nevertheless in the time of his ziknah (old age) he was diseased in his raglayim.

24 And Asa slept with his avot, and was buried with his avot in Ir Dovid Aviv; and Yehoshaphat Bno reigned in his place.

25 And Nadav Ben Yarov‘am began to reign as Melech over Yisroel in the second year of Asa Melech Yehudah, and reigned over Yisroel two years.

26 And he did rah in the eyes of Hashem, and walked in the derech Aviv, and in his chattat wherewith he made Yisroel to commit sin.

27 And Ba’asha Ben Achiyah, of the Bais of Yissakhar, plotted a keshar against him; and Ba’asha struck him down at Gibeton, which belonged to the Pelishtim; for Nadav and kol Yisroel were laying siege to Gibeton.

28 Even in the third year of Asa Melech Yehudah did Ba’asha slay him, and reigned in his place.

29 And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he put to death kol Bais Yarov‘am; he left not to Yarov‘am kol neshamah, until he had destroyed him, according unto the Devar Hashem, which He spoke by His eved Achiyah the Shiloni [1Kgs 14:9-16]

30 Because of the chattot Yarov‘am which he sinned, and which he made Yisroel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked Hashem Elohei Yisroel to anger.

31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadav, and all that he did, are they not written in the Sefer Divrei HaYamim L’Malkhei Yisroel?

32 And there was milchamah between Asa and Ba’asha Melech Yisroel all their days.

33 In the third year of Asa Melech Yehudah began Ba’asha Ben Achiyah to reign as Melech over kol Yisroel in Tirtzah, a reign lasting twenty and four years.

34 And he did rah (evil) in the eyes of Hashem, and walked in the derech Yarov`am, and in his chattat wherewith he made Yisroel to commit sin.

Melachim Alef 15 Commentary

Chapter 15

Wicked reign of Abijam, king of Judah. (1-8) Good reign of Asa, king of Judah. (9-24) The evil reigns of Nadab and Baasha in Israel. (25-34)

Verses 1-8 Abijam's heart was not perfect with the Lord his God; he wanted sincerity; he began well, but he fell off, and walked in all the sins of his father, following his bad example, though he had seen the bad consequences of it. David's family was continued as a lamp in Jerusalem, to maintain the true worship of God there, when the light of Divine truth was extinguished in all other places. The Lord has still taken care of his cause, while those who ought to have been serviceable thereto have lived and perished in their sins. The Son of David will still continue a light to his church, to establish it in truth and righteousness to the end of time. There are two kinds of fulfilling the law, one legal, the other by the gospel. Legal is, when men do all things required in the law, and that by themselves. None ever thus fulfilled the law but Christ, and Adam before his fall. The gospel manner of fulfilling the law is, to believe in Christ who fulfilled the law for us, and to endeavour in the whole man to obey God in all his precepts. And this is accepted of God, as to all those that are in Christ. Thus David and others are said to fulfil the law.

Verses 9-24 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. That is right indeed which is so in God's eyes. Asa's times were times of reformation. He removed that which was evil; there reformation begins, and a great deal he found to do. When Asa found idolatry in the court, he rooted it out thence. Reformation must begin at home. Asa honours and respects his mother; he loves her well, but he loves God better. Those that have power are happy when thus they have hearts to use it well. We must not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well; not only cast away the idols of our iniquity, but dedicate ourselves and our all to God's honour and glory. Asa was cordially devoted to the service of God, his sins not arising from presumption. But his league with Benhadad arose from unbelief. Even true believers find it hard, in times of urgent danger, to trust in the Lord with all their heart. Unbelief makes way for carnal policy, and thus for one sin after another. Unbelief has often led Christians to call in the help of the Lord's enemies in their contests with their brethren; and some who once shone brightly, have thus been covered with a dark cloud towards the end of their days.

Verses 25-34 During the single reign of Asa in Judah, the government of Israel was in six or seven different hands. Observe the ruin of the family of Jeroboam; no word of God shall fall to the ground. Divine threatenings are not designed merely to terrify. Ungodly men execute the just judgments of God upon each other. But in the midst of dreadful sins and this apparent confusion, the Lord carries on his own plan: when it is fully completed, the glorious justice, wisdom, truth, and mercy therein displayed, shall be admired and adored through all the ages of eternity.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 15

In this chapter we have a short history of the reign of Abijam, 1Ki 15:1-8 and of Asa, 1Ki 14:9-24, both kings of Judah; and of the reigns of Nadab the son of Jeroboam, and of Baasha, who destroyed his family, both kings of Israel, 1Ki 15:25-34.