Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
1 Kings 15:25-31
The Reign Of Nadab Of Israel c.910-908 BC (1 Kings 15:25).
Nadab was the son of Jeroboam following the proclamation of Ahijah the prophet that God would cut off the house of Jeroboam. He was thus doomed from the start, and the main item in his reign as far as the prophetic author was concerned was his assassination by Basha, and the assassination of all the males in his house by which YHWH's pronouncement was fulfilled.
He did, however, contribute towards his own downfall by following in the ways of his father, and especially by committing the sin for which his father and his house were condemned, namely the worship of the golden calves in the false high places. He also seemingly engaged in a foray against the Philistines, but the author's only interest in that is that it determined the place of his assassination.
Analysis.
a And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. (1 Kings 15:25).
b And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin by which he made Israel to sin (1 Kings 15:26).
c And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon (1 Kings 15:27).
d Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned instead of him (1 Kings 15:28).
c And it came about that, as soon as he was king, he smote all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone who breathed, until he had destroyed him (1 Kings 15:29).
b According to the saying of YHWH, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and by which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked YHWH, the God of Israel, to anger (1 Kings 15:30).
a Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (1 Kings 15:31).
Note that in ‘a' Nadab reigned over Israel, and in the parallel his acts are recorded in the court records of Israel. In ‘b' he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH as his father Jeroboam had done, and in the parallel it is the sins of Jeroboam that have brought destruction on his house. In ‘c' Baasha assassinated Nadab, and in the parallel he assassinated all his house. Centrally in ‘d' Baasha slew Nadab and reigned instead of him.
‘ And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.'
The kings of Israel counted their accession part year as a first year, thus Nadab only reigned for two part years, before he was assassinated, possibly not even achieving a full year. The accession of a new king was always a dangerous time as rival claimants vie for the throne, an especially in Israel where there was no tradition of accession.
Nadab began to reign over Judah in the second year of Asa king of Judah. Rehoboam had reigned 17 years plus his accession part year, which in Judah was not included in the number of years of his reign, Abiyam had reigned three years plus his accession part year, which is, however cancelled out by combination with the final part year of Rehoboam, Thus together they reigned for twenty years and a part year. The two years of Asa (omitting his accession part year because that makes Nadab's third year into a full year), make twenty two years and a part year. Jeroboam reigned for twenty two years.
‘ And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin by which he made Israel to sin.'
Nadab continued in the ways of Jeroboam. He made no effort to bring Israel back to true Yahwism. Thus he continued to do what was evil in the sight of YHWH, and threw himself into his father's falsely established religion.
‘ And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.'
The result was that when he was campaigning against the Philistines at the siege of Gibbethon, one of his commanders. Baasha, the son of Ahijah, conspired against him and assassinated him. Gibbethon was a frontier town of Dan (Joshua 19:44; Joshua 21:23) which had been occupied by the Philistines, and indeed was occupied by them for many years (1 Kings 16:15). Baasha was from the tribe of Issachar in south west Galilee.
‘ Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned instead of him.'
This took place in the third year of Asa, when Baasha began to reign instead of Nadab.
‘ And it came about that, as soon as he was king, he smote all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone who breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the saying of YHWH, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and by which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked YHWH, the God of Israel, to anger.'
Once Baasha was in place and had returned to Tirzah he arranged the assassination of all the males in the house of Jeroboam. He left not one of them alive. This was just as Ahijah the prophet at Shiloh had prophesied, and it was because of the awful sin of Jeroboam which had provoked YHWH to ‘anger (antipathy against sin), a sin in which Nadab and all Israel had also participated.
We should note, however, that this slaughtering of the sons of the previously reigning house was common practise in those days when a new dynasty began. It prevented ‘pretenders' arising from the old house to claim the throne, and ensured that there would be no one from the old house seeking blood vengeance in the future.
‘ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?'
The remainder of the acts of Nadab in his brief reign were to be found in the official state records of Israel.
The lesson we may learn from Nadab's life, are:
1). The brevity life. It is a reminder that in the midst of life we are in death.
2). The certainty of God's judgment on sin.
3). A recognition of the holiness of a God Who so hates sin that He allowed the wiping out of a family because of its sinfulness.
4). The folly of following in the footsteps of those who have turned against God and His ways. If only he had repented he might have avoided God's judgment.
The Reign Of Baasha, The Usurper Of Israel c.908-885 BC (1 Kings 15:32 to 1 Kings 16:7).
The prophetic author has nothing good to say about Baasha the Belligerent. He was belligerent, he did evil in the sight of YHWH, he continued the false cult, he was a murderer and he was so wicked that YHWH determined judgment on his house.
a And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days (1 Kings 15:32).
b In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty and four years (1 Kings 15:33).
c And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he made Israel to sin (1 Kings 15:34).
d And the word of YHWH came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, “Forasmuch as I exalted you out of the dust, and made you prince over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins” (1 Kings 16:1).
e “Behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat” (1 Kings 16:3).
d “Him who dies of Baasha in the city will the dogs eat, and him who dies of his in the countryside will the birds of the heavens eat” (1 Kings 16:4).
c Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (1 Kings 16:5).
b And Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned instead of him (1 Kings 16:6).
a And moreover by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of YHWH against Baasha, and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of YHWH, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he smote him (1 Kings 16:7).
Note how an opening comment and a closing comment are tacked on before the opening formula and after the closing formula. In ‘a' Baasha is revealed as being belligerent, and in the parallel he is revealed as being a murderer (‘because he smote him'). In ‘b' began to reign and reigned for twenty four years, and in the parallel his son reigned instead of him and he ceased to reign and slept with his fathers. In ‘c' he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, and in the parallel the rest of his acts can be found in the court annals of Judah. In ‘d' YHWH describes through His prophet how great his sin is, and in the parallel he describes how great his punishment will be. Centrally in ‘e' YHWH's sentence on Baasha is described.
‘ And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.'
This is the opening part of an inclusio that encloses Baasha's life (with 1 Kings 16:7). Usually similar statements have been made at the end of a king's reign (1 Kings 14:30; 1 Kings 15:6) or in the middle (1 Kings 15:16). Here it introduces his reign. Thus there is an emphasis in this case on just how belligerent Baasha was. Even though Asa was a good king Baasha would make no peace with him.
‘ In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty and four years.'
Here we have the usual details for a king of Israel, the date when he began to reign and the length of his reign. His mother's name was irrelevant because he was a usurper, and is anyway never given for the kings of Israel, possibly because they had no link with the Davidic house, or because the queen mother had no special status in Israel, or because in fact they were all usurpers, therefore their source did not matter. Baasha thus died in the twenty seventh year of Asa. 2 Chronicles 16:1 tells us of activity by Baasha in the thirty sixth year of the reign of Asa. This may suggest that Asa had been co-regent for a number of years prior to ascending the throne, years which the Chronicler's source took into account. Co-regency was a wise method of kingship because it ensured a smooth transition of power on the death of a king to someone who was already partially in control and established in the eyes of the leaders of the land. (Rehoboam was forty one years of age when he became king, thus Asa would probably by then have been a growing lad, or even older. That being so half way through Rehoboam's reign he would have been old enough to take on co-regency responsibilities, especially if his father was sickly (he died early)).
‘ And he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he made Israel to sin.'
Like all Israelite kings Baasha is seen as having done evil in the sight of YHWH because he did not seek to bring the nation back to pure Yahwism. He continued Jeroboam's evil heresy himself, and led the people in that direction. Israel's great crime, for which it would eventually be destroyed, was that from the beginning of its independent existence under the kings it distorted true Yahwism. By this he demonstrated that his action against the house of Jeroboam had not been prompted by a love for YHWH.
This did not, of course, mean that there were no true believers in Israel. Many in fact fled to Judah so that they could worship YHWH aright (e.g. 2 Chronicles 15:9), and in Israel itself a remnant of true worshippers remained (in Elijah's day seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal). Thus it is clear that some provision was made by the prophets for true worship in Israel.
‘ And the word of YHWH came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, “Forasmuch as I exalted you out of the dust, and made you prince over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins.”
Once more a prophet interferes in the affairs of Israel. Israel was not left without a witness. There were still some who were seeking to turn the people back to true Yahwism. Here it is Jehu the son of Hanani. He pointed out that it was YHWH who had raised him from the dust (from low beginnings) and made him prince over His people Israel, allowing him to remove the house of Jeroboam. But in spite of that he had walked in the way of Jeroboam, and had continued and encouraged the false cult established by Jeroboam, making the people sin and provoking YHWH to anger (antipathy against sin).
Jehu the son of Hanani himself wrote his own record and was especially prominent in the days of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:34). The Chronicler tells us that he rebuked Jehoshaphat for consorting with Ahab of Israel (2 Chronicles 19:2).
“Prince (nagid).” This was a term almost exclusively used of leaders in Israel/Judah. It was a further reminder that the king of Israel was supposed to be YHWH's war leader and subject to his Overlord. For being ‘exalted out of the dust' see 1 Samuel 2:8. For being made ‘prince over His people Israel' see 1 Kings 14:7.