Tyndale Open Study Notes2 Chronicles 16

Asa relied on foreign powers instead of trusting the Lord when Baasha attacked. The Chronicler aimed to show that disobedience leads to consequences.

• In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign: The book of Kings states that King Baasha, who reigned from 909 to 886 BC, died in the twenty-sixth year of Asa’s reign (1 Kings 16:8). One solution is that the Chronicles text might have errors and should instead read the fifteenth and sixteenth years, which would be about 895 BC, instead of the thirty-fifth (2 Chronicles 15:19) and thirty-sixth years of Asa. Another possibility is that the Chronicler counted these years from the division of the kingdom.

• Ramah was located five miles north of Jerusalem near Geba and Mizpah (see 2 Chronicles 16:6). King Baasha expanded Israel deep into the territory of Benjamin, separating important territory from Judah shortly after Abijah’s victories (2 Chronicles 13:19).

To stop Baasha's attacks, Asa bribed the Arameans with silver and gold from the temple. He reminded them of a treaty his father Abijah had made with them.

• King Ben-hadad of Aram (2 Chronicles 16:2) broke his treaty with Baasha and attacked northern Israel. He captured all of Naphtali, which included Galilee and most of the land north of the Jezreel Valley and east of the Sea of Galilee.

• Ijon was a large village in the southern Beqa‘ Valley, on the southern border of modern-day Lebanon. This town is usually listed with Dan (Laish), Abel-beth-maacah, and Hazor in northern Israel. Abel-beth-maacah was near a major waterfall of the Jordan River tributaries, at the meeting point of the Hula Valley and the Beqa‘ Valley in Lebanon.

Asa gathered workers to use materials from Ramah to strengthen his kingdom's northern border. Mizpah is often identified with Tell en-Nasba, about four miles north of Ramah and two miles from Bethel. Geba was likely located three miles beyond the watershed east of Gibeah, guarding a valley that leads to Jericho and the sanctuary at Gilgal.

Hanani the seer told Asa he would face war from then on because he disobeyed. This judgment contrasted with Asa’s earlier victory over Zerah, when he trusted in the Lord despite the odds (2 Chronicles 14:9–13). Asa's earlier trust in the Lord brought peace to the land (2 Chronicles 14:5), but now his reliance on military power would lead to ongoing warfare.

Asa's unfaithfulness to the Lord by relying on power led to other sins, such as oppressing the prophet and the people.

People often viewed sickness as a punishment for sin (see 2 Chronicles 21:18–19; 26:20).

Asa received an honorable burial despite his sins. During his life, he made extravagant plans for his burial, including carving out his own tomb. Asa might have been imitating the pharaohs of Egypt with these preparations. The tradition of a large funeral fire is not mentioned outside of Chronicles and Jeremiah (compare Jeremiah 34:5).