1 Kings 16:1-14

B. THE BAASHA DYNASTY 15:32-16:14

The Baasha dynasty receives the most cursory treatment from the author of Kings. Political accomplishments of Baasha are almost totally ignored, as the author has elected to focus on the prophetic curse which ultimately brought destruction to this dynasty. The material may be conveniently discussed under the headings (1) the reign of Baasha and the prophecy of Jehu (1 Kings 15:32 to 1 Kings 16:7); and (2) the reign of Elah and his assassination by Zimri (1 Kings 16:8-14).

1. THE REIGN OF BAASHA AND THE PROPHECY OF JEHU (1 Kings 15:32 to 1 Kings 16:7)

TRANSLATION

(32) And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. (33) In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah reigned over all Israel in Tizrah, twenty-four years. (34) And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and went in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin with which he had made Israel to sin. (1) And the word of the LORD came onto Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasha, saying, (2) Because I raised you up from the dust, and made you a prince over My people Israel, but you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and you have caused My people Israel to sin to provoke Me with their sin, (3) I will burn after Baasha and after his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. (4) The one of Baasha who dies in the city, the dogs shall eat, and the ones of him who die in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat. (5) And the rest of the acts of Baasha, that which he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (6) So Baasha slept with his fathers, and he was buried in Tirzah; and his son Elah, reigned in his place. (7) And also by the hand of Jehu the son of Hanani, the prophet, the word of the LORD came against Baasha and against his house, even for all the evil which he had done in the eyes of the LORD to provoke Him with the deeds of his hands, to be like the house of Jeroboam; and because he smote him.

Third King of Israel
BAASHA BEN AHIJAH
909-886 B.C.
(He who seeks, or lays waste)

1 Kings 15:27 to 1 Kings 16:7; 2 Chronicles 6:1-6

Synchronism
Baasha 1 = Asa 3
Contemporary Prophet
Jehu son of Hanani

The Lord has made all things for Himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Proverbs 16:4

COMMENTS

The author has already made mention of the hostilities between Asa and Baasha (cf. 1 Kings 15:16). Why does he again mention this perpetual conflict? Some have argued that the verse is out of place here in the concluding formula of Nadab's reign, and, therefore, should be omitted.[388] However, the repetition may well be deliberate. Inasmuch as Baasha had exterminated the house of Jeroboam (Nadab and his immediate relatives) with whom Asa had been at war, one might think that Asa's attitude toward the royal house of the North might have changed. This, however, was not the case and thus the author underscores what he previously has said.

[388] The verse is omitted in the Septuagint version.

No events of Baasha's reign are recorded at this point in Kings. On the basis of information given earlier in Kings (1 Kings 15:16-22; 1 Kings 15:27 ff.) and in Chronicles (2 Chronicles 13-15; 2 Chronicles 16:1-6) it is possible to draw up a picture of his reign. When he came to the throne, his nation was in bad shape. Israel had been severely defeated by Judah; the Philistines were threatening from the southwest; the Aramean kingdom of Damascus had entered a friendly alliance with Judah and was threatening from the northeast. Baasha was able to persuade the Arameans to shift their alliance to Israel.

Now the invasion of Judah by Zerah, the Ethiopian, forced Asa to devote his attention to fortification of his southern frontier. Baasha seized upon this opportunity by recapturing Bethel and the greater part of Benjamin and extending his boundary as far as Ramah. The fortification of Ramah was a real threat to Judah. Asa sent gifts to Benhadad and persuaded him to break his alliance with Baasha and apply some military pressure on the northern boundary of Israel. Benhadad entered the alliance with Asa, invaded Israel, and captured several towns. Baasha abandoned his efforts to fortify Ramah and retreated to the safety of his capital.
It is reasonable to assume that Baasha had been encouraged by the prophets to take the initiative against the house of Jeroboam. When it became apparent, however, that he intended to follow in the same pitiful path as his two Northern predecessors, Baasha lost prophetic support. The Lord immediately dispatched a prophet from Judah,[389] Jehu, the son of the prophet Hanani,[390] to publicly proclaim in the North the doom of Baasha (1 Kings 15:1).

[389] About fifty years later, Jehu was still active. He rebuked king Jehoshaphat of Judah, for giving aid to wicked Ahab (2 Chronicles 19:2). This prophet also wrote the history of the reign of Jehoshaphat, which was incorporated into the book of the kings of Israel (2 Chronicles 20:34). This suggests that Jehu was a prophet of Judah (like Amos) who came north for the express purpose of delivering this blast against Baasha and then returned to his native land. Others have suggested that Jehu was a Northern prophet who took refuge in Judah during the Jezebel persecution.

[390] Hanani is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 16:7 as having admonished Asa of Judah and as having been thrown into prison for doing so.

Though Baasha had been used as a tool of divine judgment against the Jeroboam dynasty, and though he had consequently been elevated from lowly ranks to the highest position in the realm, yet Baasha had not proved to be faithful to the Lord (1 Kings 15:2). In words almost identical to those used by Ahijah against Jeroboam, Jehu pronounced the doom of Baasha's dynasty (1 Kings 15:3). The relatives of Baasha would fall in the city and in the field, and their corpses would be left unburied (1 Kings 15:4).

One example of Baasha's might (1 Kings 15:5) has already been recorded in chapter 15. The fortification of Ramah, not five miles from the city limits of Jerusalem, is convincing proof that Baasha was a strong king. Furthermore, the reluctance of Asa of Judah to challenge his building operations at Ramah is further evidence that Baasha must have had a formidable force.

Baasha died a natural death and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah tried to succeed his father on the throne (1 Kings 15:6). But the hand of divine destruction fell swiftly on the family of Baasha, both because of the participation in calf worship, and because Baasha had murdered his predecessor (1 Kings 15:7). Had Baasha been a righteous man, his destruction of the house of Jeroboam would have been regarded as a divine mission; but since he was just as evil as the man he had killed, his act was only motivated by personal ambition and was judged as such.[391]

[391] Slotki, SBB, p. 117.

2. THE REIGN OF ELAH AND HIS ASSASSINATION BY ZIMRI (1 Kings 16:8-14)

TRANSLATION

(8) In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha, reigned over Israel in Tirzah, two years. (9) And his servant, Zimri, the captain of half of his chariots, conspired against him while he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the house in Tirzah. (10) And Zimri came and smote him, and slew him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah; and he ruled in his place. (11) And it came to pass when he reigned, as soon as he was sitting upon the throne, he smote all the house of Baasha. There did not remain to him a male descendant, either of his kinfolks or his friends. (12) And Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha according to the word of the LORD which He spake against Baasha by the hand of Jehu the prophet, (13) for all the sin of Baasha and the sin of Elah his son, which they had committed, and because they had caused Israel to sin by provoking the LORD of Israel with their vanities. (14) Now the rest of the deeds of Elah, and all which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Fourth King of Israel
FLAM BEN BAASHA
826 B.C.
(Am Oak)

1 Kings 16:8-14

Synchronism
Elah 1 = Asa 26

Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner. Proverbs 11:31

COMMENTS

Having affirmed in 1 Kings 15:7 that the prophecy against the house of Baasha was fulfilled, the historian now describes the fulfillment. When Elah had reigned two years (1 Kings 15:8), one of his military officers, Zimri, the commander of half of the Israelite chariotry force, conspired against him. Elah seems to have been a dissolute and drunken incompetent. As king, he should have been with the army, which was engaged in a campaign at Gibbethon (cf. 1 Kings 15:15). But instead, he was in the house of one of his attendants participating in a drunken orgy (1 Kings 15:9). Perhaps Elah remained in Tirzah because he remembered the fate of Nadab, who had been assassinated at Gibbethon (1 Kings 15:27), and perhaps superstitiously avoided this spot. It was a serious breach of monarchical etiquette for the king to ever accept the hospitality of one of his subjects.[392] Arza, the steward or attendant, may have been in on the conspiracy, in which case Elah is made to look all the more naive. At any rate, it was during this drinking party that Zimri assassinated his king[393] (1 Kings 15:10).

[392] Rawlinson, BC, II, 550.

[393] Special odium seems to be attached to action of Zimri (cf. 2 Kings 9:31). Probably this was the case because the deed was not committed in open revolt but stealthily after his victim had been reduced to a drunken stupor. In Jewish and even English literature the name of Zimri became a term of opprobrium (Honor, JCBR, p. 228).

Following the example of Baasha who destroyed the Jeroboam dynasty, Zimri no sooner had sat on the throne when he ordered the execution of all the male relatives of Baasha. Not only would this eliminate all potential rivals for the throne, it would also remove all those who might feel obligated to avenge the blood of their relative (cf. Numbers 35:19). Zimri went a step beyond what Baasha had done when he also executed the friends of the royal house, any who might sympathize with Elah (1 Kings 15:11). The bloodshed fulfilled the prediction made against the Baasha dynasty by the prophet Jehu (1 Kings 15:12). This dynasty had incurred the wrath of God because of its commitment to vanities, i.e., the golden calves (1 Kings 15:13). It is hard to imagine what acts of Elah would have been worth recording in the prophetic chronicles, but nonetheless, the author refers his readers to those records for further information about Elah (1 Kings 15:14).