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. He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin. Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha struck him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon. Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha killed him, and reigned in his place. As soon as he was king, he struck all the house of Jeroboam. He didn’t leave to Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him; according to the saying of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite; for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger. Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
Show the surrounding paragraph
1 Kings 15:25-31 sits inside this longer paragraph.
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. He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin. Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha struck him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon. Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha killed him, and reigned in his place. As soon as he was king, he struck all the house of Jeroboam. He didn’t leave to Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him; according to the saying of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite; for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger. Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
Parallel Translations
-
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.
He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.
Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha struck him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon.
Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha killed him, and reigned in his place.
As soon as he was king, he struck all the house of Jeroboam. He didn’t leave to Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him; according to the saying of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite;
for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger.
Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
-
And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
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 laid siege to Gibbethon.
Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead.
And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:
Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
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?
Show all 3 translations
-
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.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
And Baasa the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasa smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.
Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasa slay him, and reigned in his stead.
And it came to pass that, as soon as he was king, he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him; according unto the saying of the LORD, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Ahijah the Shilonite;
for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and wherewith he made Israel to sin; because of his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel.
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?
Cross-references (45)
- 1 Kings 14:9-16 (vv29–30) but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods, molten images, to provoke me to anger,…
- Joshua 19:44 (v27) Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,
- Joshua 21:23 (v27) Out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands,
- 1 Kings 14:14 (v27) Moreover Yahweh will raise up a king for himself over Israel, who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day! What? Even now.
- 1 Kings 14:16 (v26) He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin.”
Show all 44 cross-references
- 1 Kings 14:20 (v25) The days which Jeroboam reigned were twenty two years, then he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
- 1 Kings 15:26 (v30) He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.
- 1 Kings 15:30 (v26) for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked Yahweh,…
- 1 Kings 15:34 (v26) He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.
- 1 Kings 16:15 (v27) In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which…
- 1 Kings 12:28-33 (v26) So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and behold…
- 1 Kings 13:33-34 (v26) After this thing Jeroboam didn’t return from his evil way, but again made priests of the high places from among all the people. Whoever…
- 1 Kings 14:19 (v31) The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of…
- Genesis 20:9 (v26) Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and…
- Exodus 32:21 (v26) Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”
- Deuteronomy 32:35 (v28) Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”
- 1 Samuel 2:24 (v26) No, my sons; for it is not a good report that I hear! You make Yahweh’s people disobey.
- 1 Kings 14:12 (v25) Arise therefore, and go to your house. When your feet enter into the city, the child will die.
- 1 Kings 14:22 (v30) Judah did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that…
- 1 Kings 15:16-17 (v27) There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he…
- 1 Kings 16:5 (v31) Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of…
- 1 Kings 16:7 (v26) Moreover Yahweh’s word came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and against his house, both because of all the evil that…
- 1 Kings 16:9 (v27) His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza,…
- 1 Kings 16:14 (v31) Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
- 1 Kings 16:17 (v27) Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.
- 1 Kings 16:19 (v26) for his sins which he sinned in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he…
- 1 Kings 16:20 (v31) Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he committed, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of…
- 1 Kings 16:25-26 (v26) Omri did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and dealt wickedly above all who were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam…
- 1 Kings 16:27 (v31) Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings…
- 1 Kings 16:30 (v26) Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight above all that were before him.
- 1 Kings 21:22 (v26) I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with…
- 1 Kings 22:52 (v26) He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam…
- 2 Kings 3:3 (v26) Nevertheless he held to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. He didn’t depart from them.
- 2 Kings 9:7-10 (v29) You must strike your master Ahab’s house, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of…
- 2 Kings 9:36-37 (v29) Therefore they came back, and told him. He said, “This is Yahweh’s word, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘The…
- 2 Kings 10:10-11 (v29) Know now that nothing will fall to the earth of Yahweh’s word, which Yahweh spoke concerning Ahab’s house. For Yahweh has done that which…
- 2 Kings 10:31 (v29) But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Yahweh, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam, with…
- 2 Kings 12:20 (v27) His servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and struck Joash at the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla.
- 2 Kings 19:25 (v29) Haven’t you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to…
- 2 Kings 21:11 (v26) “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, who were before him,…
- 2 Kings 23:15 (v26) Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that…
- Jeremiah 32:35 (v26) They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through…
- Romans 14:15 (v26) Yet if because of food your brother is grieved, you walk no longer in love. Don’t destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.
- 1 Corinthians 8:10-13 (v26) For if a man sees you who have knowledge sitting in an idol’s temple, won’t his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things…
44 distinct cross-references across this passage (45 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv29–30 So God stirred up one tyrant to punish the…
So God stirred up one tyrant to punish the wickedness of another.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv25–31 1Ki 15:25 And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began…
1Ki 15:25 And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.
Ver. 25. And reigned over Israel two years.] Two years peaceably, and eight years in affliction, saith Vatablus; but the truth is, he reigned not two full years in all. {1Ki 15:28}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv25–30 Not complete, as appears from 1Ki 15:28,33.
Not complete, as appears from 1Ki 15:28,33.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v25 We are now to take a view of the…
We are now to take a view of the miserable state of Israel, while the kingdom of Judah was happy under Asa's good government. It was threatened that they should be as a reed shaken in the water (Kg1 14:15), and so they were, when, during the single reign of Asa, the government of their kingdom was in six or seven different hands, as we find in this and the following chapter. Jeroboam was upon the throne in the beginning of his reign and Ahab at the end of it, and between them were Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Tibni, and Omri, undermining and destroying one another. This they got by deserting the house both of God and of David. Here we have, 1. The ruin and extirpation of the family of Jeroboam, according to the word of the Lord by Ahijah. His son Nadab succeeded him. If the death of his brother Abijah had had a due influence upon him to make him religious, and the honour done him at his death had engaged him to follow his good example, his reign might have been long and glorious; but he walked in the way of his father (Kg1 15:26), kept up the worship of his calves, and forbade his subjects to go up to Jerusalem to worship, sinned and made Israel to sin, and therefore God brought ruin upon him quickly, in the second year of his reign. He was besieging Gibbethon, a city which the Philistines had taken from the Danites, and was endeavouring to re-take it; and there, in the midst of his army, did Baasha, with others, conspire against him and kill him, (Kg1 15:27), and so little interest had he in the affections of his people that his army did not only not avenge his death, but chose his murderer for his successor. Whether Baasha did it upon a personal pique against Nadab, or to be avenged on the house of Jeroboam for some affront received from them, or whether under pretence of freeing his country from the tyranny of a bad prince, or whether merely from a principle of ambition, to make way for himself to the throne, does not appear; but he slew him and reigned in his stead, Kg1 15:28. And the first thing he did when he came to the crown was to cut off all the house of Jeroboam, that he might the better secure himself and his own usurped government. He thought it not enough to imprison or banish them, but he destroyed them, left not only no males (as was foretold, Kg1 14:10), but none that breathed. Herein he was barbarous, but God was righteous. Jeroboam's sin was punished (Kg1 15:30); for those that provoke God do it to their own confusion; see Jer 7:19. Ahijah's prophecy was accomplished (Kg1 15:29); for no word of God shall fall to the ground. Divine threatenings are not bugbears. 2. The elevation of Baasha. He shall be tried awhile, as Jeroboam was. Twenty-four years he reigned (Kg1 15:33), but showed that it was not from any dislike to Jeroboam's sin that he destroyed his family, but from malice and ambition; for, when he had rooted out the sinner, he himself clave to the sin, and walked in the way of Jeroboam (Kg1 15:34), though he had seen the end of that way; so strangely was his heart hardened with the deceitfulness of sin.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv25–26 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king…
And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. For being a wicked man, and an idolater, Asa had no respect for him, though he had slain the family of Jeroboam; nor had Baasha any regard to Judah, nor to the worship of God at Jerusalem, so that there was no good understanding between them, but frequent acts of hostility, see Kg1 15:16.
.
Read full note →
1 Kings 15:33
kg1 15:33
kg1 15:33
kg1 15:33In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah,.... Which is repeated, partly to observe that the whole kingdom submitted to him, though an usurper and murderer, and the place where he kept his court, as also the time of his reign, as follows:
twenty four years; which were as long as both Jeroboam and his son reigned.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv25, 26, 28, 29, 30 Two years - Not compleat, as appears from ver.…
Two years - Not compleat, as appears from ver. 28, 33.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv25, 27, 29 Verse 25. Nadab - began to reign over Israel]…
Verse 25. Nadab - began to reign over Israel] He began his reign in the second year of the reign of Asa, and reigned two years.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv25, 27, 28, 29, 30 1Ki 15:25-26. And reigned over Israel two years —…
1Ki 15:25-26. And reigned over Israel two years — Not complete, as appears from 1Ki 15:28-33. And walked in his sin — In the worship of the calves which his father had made. If the death of his brother Abijah had had a due influence upon him, to make him religious, and the honour done to that well-disposed young man at his death had engaged him to follow his good example, his reign might have been long and glorious; but he walked in the way of his father, kept up the worship of the calves, and forbade his subjects to go up to Jerusalem to worship; sinned and made Israel to sin; and therefore God brought ruin upon him quickly, in the second year of his reign.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv25, 27 The sacred historian now gives an account of the…
The sacred historian now gives an account of the contemporary kings of Israel, beginning with Nadab, who ascended the throne in Asa’s second year, and concluding with Ahab, in whose fourth year Asa died. This narrative occupies him almost to the close of the first Book of Kings.
Chronology of Kingdoms
Read full note →
Year of the Divided Kingdom
Kings of Judah
Years of Reign
Kings of Israel
Years of Reign
1
Rehoboam
17
Jeroboam
22
5
(Invasion of Shishak)
18
Abijam
3
20
Asa
41
22
Nadab
2
23
Baasha
21
31
(Invasion of Zerah)
34
(Great Feast at Jerusalem)
46
Elah
2
47
Zimri
Omri
12
58
Ahab
22
61
(Last year of Asa)
(4th year of Ahab)
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv25, 27, 29, 31 Two years, incomplete; since he commenced his reign in…
Two years, incomplete; since he commenced his reign in the second, and died in the third year of Asa, ver. 28. (Calmet) --- Petau only allows him, "a few months;" and supposes, that he had been associated on the throne with Jeroboam. But this is unnecessary. (Houbigant) --- Nadab was the first king of Israel, who fell a pray to the fury of his subjects. (Salien, the year before Christ 971.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v25 the kingdom of israel under nadab and his successors…
FOURTH SECTION
the kingdom of israel under nadab and his successors until ahab
Read full note →
1Ki_15:25 to 1Ki_16:28
A.—The reign of Nadab and Baasha
1Ki_15:25 to 1Ki_16:7
25And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years. 26And he did evil in the sight of the Lord [Jehovah], and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin 27[sins13] wherewith he made Israel to sin. And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired14 against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon. 28Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead. 29And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed,15 until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the Lord [Jehovah], which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite: 30because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel to anger. 31Now 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? 1632And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
33In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years. 34And he did evil in the sight of the Lord [Jehovah], and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin [sins] wherewith he made Israel to sin.
1Ki_16:1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, 2Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins; 3behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house; and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat. 5Now 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? 6So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah: and Elah his son reigned in his stead.17 7And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the Lord [Jehovah] against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord [Jehovah], in provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he killed him.
Exegetical and Critical
1Ki_15:25-26. In the second year of Asa. We see clearly from this verse, compared with the time given in 1Ki_15:28; 1Ki_15:33, as in all the statement regarding the length of reigns, that years not fully complete are considered as whole ones. “For if Nadab ascended the throne in the second year of Asa’s reign (1Ki_15:28), and Asa ascended the throne in the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s (1Ki_15:9), Jeroboam could not have reigned quite twenty-two years, but only twenty-one and some months; and if Baasha succeeded to Nadab in the third year of Asa’s reign (1Ki_15:28; 1Ki_15:33) Nadab could not have reigned two years (1Ki_15:25), in fact not much more than one and a half year or perhaps a little shorter time” (Keil).
1Ki_15:27-31. Baasha … of the house of Issachar,i. e., of the tribe of Issachar; he cannot therefore have been the son of the prophet Ahijah, as Menzel supposes, for he was an Ephraimite of Shiloh. The city of Gibbethon belongs to the tribe of Dan (Jos_19:44), and was one of the four cities of the levites which belonged (i. e., the cities) to this tribe (Jos_21:23); it must have been on the borders of Philistia. It is very doubtful if it had always been occupied by the Philistines, and was now for the first time besieged by the Israelites (Winer); it rather appears that the Philistines, after the partition of the kingdom, again took possession of it as an important border fortress; whereupon the Israelites under Nadab and Elah (1Ki_16:15) tried to recover it. As Nadab met his death on this occasion, it seems that Baasha’s conspiracy was of a military description, and that the latter was an army chief like Zimri (1Ki_16:9). Thenius supposes that Gibbethon was the same as the modern Muzeiri’ah, or Elmejdel (Tower) (cf. Robinson, Pal. III. p. 282). How the conspiracy arose is not stated; perhaps Nadab was still very young, and not a match for Baasha, who was very enterprising. It seems that he was not satisfied with exterminating the male relatives of Jeroboam, but murdered the whole of his race. The כִּדְבַר 1Ki_15:29, does not, of course, mean: as the Lord had promised him, but: so that the word of prophecy was fulfilled. For 1Ki_15:29-30 see above on 1Ki_14:10 sq.
1Ki_15:32-34. And there was war … all their days. 1Ki_15:32 is a literal repetition of 1Ki_15:16, and does not seem suitable to the context here, for even if we were to read Nadab instead of Baasha (Ewald), this does not agree with “all their days,” for Nadab did not reign much longer than a year, and had war with the Philistines during that time. Nadab, too, should be named first; between Nadab and Asa; and finally Asa, whose year of accession coincided with the short period of Nadab’s reign, had, according to 2 Chron. 13:23, no war at that time. Thenius thinks that the repetition of 1Ki_15:16 arose through a mistake of the copyist, but there is certainly no necessity for this easy but at the same time violent solution of the difficulty. Keil’s view is better. He finds (1845) the reason of the repetition in the excerptive character of these books, and in the manner of theocratic historical writing, namely, in the want of strict order in the arrangement of the historical matter. 1Ki_15:16 is taken from the book of the acts of the kings of Judah; 1Ki_15:32 from that of the kings of Israel. In the first instance the remark is given beforehand, because there was something special to be said about the war between Asa and Baasha; here, though it would certainly be more suitable after 1Ki_15:33-34, it is not put in on account of Asa, but on account of Baasha, and is the regular mode of expression for the conditions of the State under the different reigns. For Tirzah see 1Ki_14:17.
1Ki_16:1-6. The word of the Lord came. The chapter is not here divided according to the accession of the king, but according to the prophetic sentence which proclaimed ruin to the whole reigning dynasty, and therefore was the beginning of all the subsequent period. The prophet Jehu is mentioned in 2Ch_19:2 sq. as well as in 1Ki_15:1; 1Ki_15:7; 1Ki_15:12; in the above passage ho blames the conduct of the Judah-king Jehoshaphat, the successor of Asa; and in 2Ch_20:34 he is named as the author of the “acts of Jehoshaphat in the book of the kings of Israel.” There is no doubt that his father Hanani was the same as he who was thrown into prison because of his censure of king Asa (2Ch_16:7; 2Ch_16:10). According to this, he must have belonged to the kingdom of Judah, and either pronounced his sentence there (1Ki_15:2; 1Ki_15:7), or have gone over, for the purpose, into the northern kingdom. It is also uncertain whether he pronounced the threatening to Baasha personally and directly. For out of the dust (1Ki_15:2) 1Ki_14:7 gives “from among the people,” from which “we might conclude that Baasha had raised himself from a very low position to be a commander of the army and finally king” (Thenius). What Baasha did, of himself and by crime, the prophet ascribes in so far to Jehovah, that he could not possibly have executed his plans had they been contrary to the purposes of Jehovah. The entire sentence is evidently modelled after that of the prophet Ahijah against Jeroboam (1Ki_14:7-11) (see Hist. and Eth. there, 1). 1Ki_15:6 says that Baasha died a natural death, but Zimrl (1Ki_15:12) exterminated all “his posterity” (cf.אַחֲרֵי, 1Ki_15:3). For גְּבוּרָח, see on 1Ki_15:23.
1Ki_16:7. Came the word, &c. The וְגַם is not equal to and also, or yes (De Wette), neither does it mean that Jehu himself bore the message, but rather “any former thought or excuse that might be brought forward was strongly rejected” (Ewald, Lehrbuch § 354). The whole of 1Ki_16:7 is not, as the Rabbins say, a new and further prophecy, but a supplementary remark to the prediction 1Ki_16:2, which might be misinterpreted as meaning that Baasha had a divine commission to murder Nadab and his race. No! the word, 1Ki_16:2, spoken by Jehu was called forth by the fact that Baasha had of his own accord destroyed the whole house of Jeroboam, and yet himself had adhered to Jeroboam’s sin. This very word “clearly shows that the extermination of the house of Jeroboam was not done by divine commission, but from selfish motives.” For הִכְעִים, see above on 1Ki_14:15. “The work of his hands” denotes, according to Deu_4:28, Dii factitii, whether images of Jehovah (calves) or idols.
Historical and Ethical
1. We have much less concerning the two Israelitish kings Nadab and Baasha and the acts of their reigns than of the two Judah-kings Abijah and Asa. The narrative merely says of Nadab that he walked in the ways of his father Jeroboam; i. e., that he retained unlawful institutions, and after a reign of scarcely two years was murdered in a conspiracy, by Baasha. But of the reign of Baasha, which lasted twenty-four years, our only narrative says that he destroyed all the whole house of Jeroboam after he (Baasha) became king, as was threatened to Jeroboam by the prophet Ahijah (1Ki_14:7 sq.); that he also persisted in the sin of Jeroboam, and had the same fate as the latter announced to him by the prophet Jehu. We can see plainly from this what the principle which guided our author in his historical writing was. He does not care to give a complete account of all the facts and events of the reign of each king,—for these he refers to the authorities that lay before him,—but the thing rather which concerned him most of all, was the position each king took with regard to the Israelitish fundamental law, i. e., the covenant, which was the soul of the entire Old-Testament theocracy; and how the promises and threatenings of this law itself, or of the prophets charged with its announcements, and who spoke as the servants and ambassadors of Jehovah, became fulfilled (see Introd. § 5). The heavy judgment which overtook the house of him who first openly broke the fundamental law of the entire people, and made the image-worship (so strictly forbidden in that law) the religion of the State and people; that heavy judgment, we say, was a practical historical prediction for every royal house which persisted in “the sin of Jeroboam.” No less than nine dynasties of the kingdom of Israel, with whom this was the case, perished in like manner with the house of Jeroboam, until at last the kingdom itself was destroyed, whilst the dynasty of David continued uninterruptedly in Judah.
2. The little that is told of Baasha is sufficient to show that he was an ambitious, rough, and violent, indeed even a blood-thirsty man. He did not conspire against his lord and king, and usurp the throne, in order to bring the fundamental law of Israel into force again, and to make an end to the sin of Jeroboam, for he himself adhered firmly to it all his life, in spite of all the warnings and threatenings of the prophets. He only cared for dominion thereof, and for this he esteemed the sin of Jeroboam as necessary as the latter himself had done; in short, he seems to have been a rough soldier who cared little or nothing about religion. We see from his enterprise at Ramah (1Ki_15:17), which he wished to fortify “to reduce Judah utterly, through complete obstruction of trade” (Ewald), that he hated Judah and wished to destroy it, and therefore to reign over it also. He was the first king-murderer in Israel, and led the way, as It were, to this crime, which was afterwards so often imitated. He was the first, too, who exterminated an entire royal house with violence, and not only killed the males, but “every one that had breath,” an unheard, of cruelty, even in throne-usurpations in the ancient East. Menzel (s. 171), who wrongly takes him to have been the son of the prophet Ahijah (see above on 1Ki_15:27), intimates that he was therefore under prophetical influence, and then says that he “disappointed the hopes which the prophets of Jehovah had placed in him.” This, however, is pure fancy. The conspiracy of Baasha was completely a military insurrection, as 1Ki_15:27 indubitably proves, while there is not a word to show that he was influenced by the prophets. He was, no doubt, one of the leaders in Nadab’s army, but there is no evidence in the history that he was “a man distinguished for his valor” and a “skilful warrior,” as Ewald calls him (III. s. 446 sq.); the general term, too, used in 1Ki_16:5 is no proof. There is still less ground for the further supposition, that besides the growing discontent of the prophets, the fact that the house of Jeroboam had not been able to conquer the kingdom of Judah, and other enemies, was evidently the chief root of the insurrection against it; that Baasha thought he could perform more, and in this hope he seized the throne. The text does not say the least word of all this. For the sentence announced to Baasha by the prophet Jehu, see above, Hist. and Eth. on 1Ki_14:1-20 (4).
Homiletical and Practical
1Ki_15:25-31. The ruin of the house of Jeroboam proclaims these two great truths: sin is the destruction of a people (Pro_14:34), and: He who heareth not my word, of him will I require it (Deu_18:19). God does not punish the innocent children for the sins of their fathers, but those who, despising the divine patience and long-suffering shown to their fathers, perpetuate, without any shame, the sins of the fathers (Exo_20:5-6). A given example of evil is rarely without imitation; as Jeroboam rebelled against the house of David, so did Baasha against the house of Jeroboam. Desire for rule and envy beget first dissatisfaction with the condition in life ordained by God, lead then to breach of faith, and end at last with murder and homicide.
1Ki_15:29. Conspirators and rebels profess to overthrow tyranny and to throw off its yoke; but when they attain power and sovereignty they are themselves the most violent and cruel tyrants.
1Ki_15:34. Calw. B.: Baasha trod in the footsteps of Jeroboam just as if Jeroboam had been good and upright. And yet Baasha himself was an instrument in the hands of God to punish Jeroboam on account of his sins. What folly! When Jeroboam’s son, Nadab, did as his father, we can explain it by paternal influence;—but that Baasha should have pursued the same course is a proof of monstrous blindness. The world does not allow itself to be interrupted in its purposes; vain conduct after the way of those who lived before, is always inherited (1Pe_1:18).—Chap 1Ki_16:1. The word of the Lord in the mouth of a true servant of God is, for the pious, sweeter than honey and the honey-comb (Psa_19:11), for the wicked and impious it is a consuming fire, and like the hammer which breaketh the rock in pieces (Jer_23:29).
1Ki_16:2-4. Osiander: The sins of the common people which they have learned from their princes, as well also as those which these do not restrain when they can, are charged to them. Those who are lifted up out of the dust are often the proudest and most arrogant because they think they must thank only themselves for their exalted position, and they forget what is written in 1Sa_2:7 sq. For Baasha, also, the hour struck when it was said, Behold, oh! most proud, &c. (Jer_50:31). The throne which has been obtained by lying, deceit, and falsehood and bloodshed has no stability. The judgment of God, though delayed for a time, will not always tarry (Psa_5:6-7). Robbers and murderers are not always in caves and the hidden recesses of forests, sometimes they are seated upon thrones; but the Lord will “sweep them away,” and their end will be with horror: before His tribunal no people, no crown is a protection.
Footnotes:
[13]1Ki_15:26.—[It is better here and in 1Ki_15:34, &c., to retain the plural form of the Heb. Sin was doubtless intended to be understood collectively in the A. V.
[14]1Ki_15:27.—[The Heb. וַיִּקְשֹׁר from the root קָשַׁר, to bind or tie together, is correctly translated conspired, and implies that others were concerned with Baasha in the plot.
[15]1Ki_15:29.—[לֹא־הִשְׁאִיר כָּל־נְשָׁמָה, “he left not any that had breath,” i.e., he destroyed all, both male and female, of the house of Jeroboam, in contrast with the expression in 1Ki_14:10, &c. Cf. Jos_11:11; Jos_11:14.
[16]1Ki_15:32.—[The Vat. Sept. omits 1Ki_15:32, which has occasioned so much perplexity from its being an exact repetition of 1Ki_15:16. For the reasons of its insertion see Exeg. Com.
[17]1Ki_16:6.—[The Alex. Sept. adds “in the twentieth year of king Asa”—an impossible date. Cf. 1Ki_15:33.—F. G.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv25, 27, 29 NADAB'S WICKED REIGN. (Kg1 15:25-34)
NADAB'S WICKED REIGN. (Kg1 15:25-34)
Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign--No record is given of him, except his close adherence to the bad policy of his father.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv25, 27, 29 NADAB’S REIGN, 1Ki_15:25-26.
NADAB’S REIGN, 1Ki_15:25-26.
25. Nadab — The first and last of Jeroboam’s house that succeeded him on the throne. Here was the end of the first Israelitish dynasty. Nadab’s acts, which were written in the public annals, (1Ki_15:31,) furnished no lessons worthy of transcription by the sacred writer.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv25, 26, 27, 29, 30 25–30. Nadab king of Israel. Baasha slays him, and…
25–30. Nadab king of Israel. Baasha slays him, and all that belong to Jeroboam (Not in Chronicles)
25. reigned over Israel two years] These must have been but portions of two years. Nadab’s reign began in the second year of Asa, and below (1Ki_15:31) we find that his successor began to reign in the third year of Asa.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv26, 27, 29 (26) Did evil in the sight of the Lord.—This…
(26) Did evil in the sight of the Lord.—This constantly-recurring phrase signifies (as, indeed, the context here shows) perseverance in the idolatrous system introduced by Jeroboam.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv25–31 THE REIGNS OF NADAB, BAASHA, ELAH, ZIMRI, AND OMRI,…
CHAPTER 15:25-16:28.
THE REIGNS OF NADAB, BAASHA, ELAH, ZIMRI, AND OMRI, KINGS OF ISRAEL. After bringing up the history of the kings of Judah, which has engaged his pen since 1Ki_14:21, to the date of the death of Asa, our author goes back some forty years to record the contemporary history of the kingdom of Israel, with which the rest of this book, the last thirteen verses alone excepted, is occupied. On the other hand, none of these reigns are even noticed by the chronicler, who only refers to the history of Israel, so far as it is inextricably connected with the object of his work; in other words, so far as is necessary to explain or illustrate the reigns of the kings of Judah.
Read full note →
And Nadab = liberal the son of Jeroboam began to reign Heb. reigned over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah and reigned over Israel two years. The reigns of these five kings of Israel are related with great brevity. It was not the object of the author to chronicle secular history for this he refers us to "the books of the days he is only concerned with the events of their reigns in so far as they relate to the kingdom of God.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v25 1Ki_15:25-34; 1Ki_16:1-10
NADAB; BAASHA; ELAH
1Ki_15:25-34; 1Ki_16:1-10
Read full note →
"Wheresoever the carcass is, there will the vultures be gathered together."
- Mat_24:28
JEROBOAM slept with his fathers and went to his own place, leaving behind him his dreadful epitaph upon the sacred page. His son Nadab succeeded him. In his reign of twenty-two years the first king of Israel had outlived Rehoboam and his son Abijah. Asa, the great grandson of Solomon, was already on the throne of Judah. Of Nadab we are told next to nothing. The appreciation of the kings of Israel tends to drift into the meager formula that they did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he caused Israel to sin. In the second year of his reign Nadab was engaged in a wearisome military expedition against Gibbethon in the Shephelah, which belonged to the Philistines. It was a Levitical city in the tribe of Dan, which had been assigned to the Kohathites, and its siege continued for twenty-seven years with no apparent result. {Jos_19:44; Jos_21:23 1Ki_15:27; 1Ki_16:15} That the Philistines, who had been so utterly crushed by David and who were an insignificant power, should have thus been able to assert themselves once more, is a proof of the weakness to which Israel had been reduced. While Nadab was thus occupied, an obscure conspirator, Baasha, son of Ahijah, of the tribe of Issachar, actuated perhaps by tribal jealousy, or stirred up as Jeroboam had been before him and as Jehu was after him by some prophetic message, conspired against him, and slew him. As soon as this military revolt had placed Baasha on the throne he fulfilled the frightful curse which Ahijah had uttered against the House of Jeroboam. He absolutely exterminated the family of Nebat, and left him neither kinsman nor friend to avenge his death. He seems to have been a powerful soldier, and he inflicted severe humiliation on the Southern Kingdom until Asa bribed Benhadad to invade his territory. He reigned at Tirzah for twenty-four years, of which nothing is recorded but the ordinary formula. Towards the close of his reign he received from the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, the message of his doom. Jehu must have been at this time a young prophet. According to the Chronicles his father Hanani rebuked Asa for the alliance which (as we shall see) he made with the Syrian against Baasha {2Ch_16:7-10} and he himself rebuked Jehoshaphat for his alliance with Ahab, and lived to be his annalist. {2Ch_20:34} Like Amos, he lived in Judah, but prophesied also against a king of Israel. He told Baasha that God, who had exalted him out of the dust to be king of Israel, should inflict on his family the same terrible extirpation which He had inflicted on the House of Jeroboam, whose sins he had, nevertheless, followed.
Baasha "slept with his fathers," and his son Elah succeeded him. Elah seems to have been an incapable drunkard, and reigned in Tirzah for less than two years. While he was drinking himself drunk, not even secretly in his own palace, but in the house of his chamberlain Arza-a shamelessness which was regarded as an aggravation of his offense {Hos_7:3-7}-he was murdered by Zimri, the captain of half of his chariots, and the revolting tragedy of massacre was enacted once again. The fact that Baasha was a man of no distinction, but "exalted out of the dust" {1Ki_16:2} probably added to the weakness of his dynasty.
From such meager records of horror there is not much to learn beyond the general truth of the nemesis which dogs the heels of crime; but there is one significant clause which throws great light on the judgment which we are asked to form of these events. The prophet Jehu rebukes Baasha for showing himself false to the destiny to which God had summoned him. He implies, therefore, that Baasha had some Divine sanction for the revolution which he headed; and certainly in his slaughter of the House of Jeroboam he was the instrument of a Divine decree. Yet we are expressly told that "he provoked the Lord to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the House of Jeroboam, and because he killed him," or, as it is rendered in the Revised Version margin, "because he smote it." This is not the only place where we find that a man may be in one sense commissioned to do a deed of blood, yet in another sense may be held guilty for fulfillment of the commission. The prophecy of extirpation had been passed, but the cruel agent of its accomplishment was not thereby condoned. Gods decrees are carried out as part of the vast scheme of Providence, and He may use guilty hands to fulfill His purposes. King Jehu is His minister of vengeance, but the tiger-like ferocity with which he carried out his work awoke Gods anger and received Gods punishment. The King of Babylon fulfils the purpose for which he had been appointed, but his ruthlessness receives its just recompense. The wrath of man may accomplish the decrees of God, but it worketh not His righteousness. Herod and Pontius Pilate, Jews and Gentiles, priests and Pharisees, rulers and the mob may rage against Christ, but all they can accomplish is "whatsoever Gods hand and Gods counsel determine before to be done."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v25 1Ki_15:27. Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines—A town given…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1Ki_15:27. Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines—A town given to the Levites (Jos_19:44), situate within the tribe of Dan.
Read full note →
1Ki_15:29. Smote all the house of Jeroboam—Vide Notes on chap. 14 1Ki_15:10; 1Ki_15:14. Customary in Oriental scenes for usurpers to exterminate all rivals to the throne. But hereby was fulfilled Ahijah’s prophecy. Left not any that breathed—A more inclusive description than in 1Ki_14:10, for this embraces both male and female.
1Ki_15:31. Now the rest of the acts, &c.—The historian cares not to write them; he aimed not to preserve a detailed record of the reigns and deeds of kings; all he set himself to do was to show the conduct of kings in reference to Jehovah and His worship, and the condign punishment which overtook defiance of the theocratic law; thereby tracing the fact that “sin” (1Ki_15:26), in the odious form of national apostasy, wrought the overthrow of the Israelitish dynasties, until the kingdom of Israel itself perished.—W. H. J.
HOMILETICS OF 1Ki_15:25-34
THE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED BY THE WICKED
The sacred writer having traced the history of the kings of Judah to the death of Asa, in the sixty-first year of the divided kingdom, proceeds at this point with an account of the contemporary kings, the narrative occupying seven chapters, beginning with Nadab, who ascended the throne in Asa’s second year, and concluding with Ahab, in whose fourth year Asa died. During the single reign of Asa, the government of the rival kingdom of Israel was in six different hands, and the record of that period is stained with conspiracy, crime, and bloodshed. In this paragraph we have an example of how the wicked are sometimes punished by the wicked, which suggests a few obvious reflections.
I. That a life of wickedness is full of danger (1Ki_15:25-28). It was so to Nadab. It made him an incompetent and unreasonable ruler. It multiplied his miseries. It shortened his days. It alienated the attachment of his subjects—not one of them cared to avenge his murder, or seemed to be horrified at the foulness of the crime, though this was the first regicide that was committed in the history of the kingdom. Sin is a state of unnature; it is a breach of the order of the universe, and it is impossible to escape its penalties, except by finding the refuge in Him “who bare our sins, and carried our sorrows.” “The seeds of our own punishment,” says Hesiod, “are sown at the same time we commit sin.”
We rave, we wrestle, with Great Nature’s plan,
We thwart the Deity; and’ tis decreed,
Who thwart His will shall contradict their own.
A life of wickedness is menaced with a thousand perils, and, if persisted in, will terminate in misery and woe.
II. That the wicked are sometimes used to punish the wicked. Baasha, a hitherto obscure military adventurer, a bold, pitiless conspirator, was the instrument who punished the hapless Nadab, and who carried out the long-threatened vengeance against the house of Jeroboam (1Ki_15:29-30). He would do this to secure himself on the throne he had so wickedly usurped, without thinking of Ahijah’s prophecy (chap. 1Ki_14:10-14)—perhaps without knowing it. He might be influenced by some personal quarrel with Nadab, or to be revenged on the house of Jeroboam for some injury received from them, or to rid the country of the cruel tyranny of an unpopular prince, or to clear the way for carrying out his own ambitious and daring schemes. Yet he signally fulfilled the Divine threatenings with a more savage barbarity than was originally intended. He not only slew every male, but “he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed”; and thus the dynasty of Jeroboam became utterly and hopelessly extinct. It is a terrible thing to be abandoned to the remorseless cruelty of the wicked. The sack of Rome by the Goths (vide Gibbon, c. xxxi.) is a graphic example of the merciless and unbridled ferocity with which one wicked nation may punish another. Well might David pray, “Let us now fall into the hands of the Lord; and let me not fall into the hands of man” (2Sa_24:14).
III. That the use of the wicked as instruments of punishment does not necessarily turn them from their wickedness (1Ki_15:34). Baasha continued in the same evil courses which had brought such frightful sufferings upon his predecessors, and in inflicting which he had been the unconscious instrument—another illustration how little influence the most notable punishments of sin has in deterring the wicked from their sins “The entail of iniquity cannot be cut off but by a thorough conversion of the soul to God; and of this these bad kings seem to have had no adequate notion. The wicked followed the steps of the wicked, and became still more wicked. Sin gathers strength by exercise and age.” The sinner cannot reform himself; and he vainly strives to maintain his authority and prestige by the mad, purblind policy of committing still more outrageous acts of iniquity. What would be the condition of the world if wickedness had unchecked and unrestricted sway? What must be the nameless horrors of that Gehenna where all moral restrictions to evil are removed!
LESSONS:—
1. The forbearance of God has its limits.
2. A similar punishment to that which the wicked have inflicted on others may overtake themselves.
3. A life of sin leads to misery and death.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Ki_15:25-34. Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, reigned but two years over Israel. Then Baasha, of the tribe of Issachar, conspired against him and slew him. There is nothing in the records of conspiracies like this which separates the Bible history from ordinary history. We have, on a very small scale, in the annals of a few petty tribes, just what we have expanded to its highest power in the history of the Roman or of the Byzantine Empires. Nor is the result different. The new house is like the old. The rebel and murderer becomes a tyrant. It will be said, There is a grandeur about crimes and miseries which affect a world; but what interest can we feel in the story of men so diminutive in influence, so insignificant in character, as Jeroboam or Baasha? I answer, The Scripture wishes us to feel none, except so far as by a small experiment we may discover a truth for all ages and nations.—Maurice.
1Ki_15:25-31. The ruin of the house of Jeroboam proclaims these two great truths: Sin is the destruction of a people (Pro_14:34); and: He who heareth not My word, of him will I require it (Deu_18:19). God does not punish the innocent children for the sins of their fathers, but those who, despising the Divine patience and long-suffering shown to their fathers, perpetuate, without any shame, the sins of their fathers (Exo_20:5-6). A given example of evil is rarely without imitation; as Jeroboam rebelled against the house of David, so did Baasha against the house of Jeroboam. Desire for rule and envy beget first dissatisfaction with the condition in life ordained by God, lead then to breach of faith, and end at last with murder and homicide.—Lange.
1Ki_15:27-28. Conspiracy.
1. Is often provoked by a reckless and tyrannical government.
2. Is often the dangerous policy of the wicked and ambitious.
3. Is often associated with cruelty and murder.
1Ki_15:27. It is curious to find Issachar furnishing a king. This tribe had never made, and could have no grounds for making, a claim to pre-eminence. It had furnished one undistinguished judge, Tola (Jdg_10:1), who, on obtaining his office, had at once settled himself in the territory of Ephraim. Otherwise the tribe was as little famous as any that could be named. The “ass crouching between two burthens” was a true symbol of the patient, plodding cultivators of the Esdraelon plain, who “saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed their shoulder to bear, and became servants unto tribute (Gen_49:14-15). It cannot have been in consequence of any claims or merits on the part of his tribe that Baasha became king. He probably owed his rise simply to his own audacity and his known valour and skill as a soldier. He appears not to have been even a person of good position in his tribe (chap. 1Ki_16:2).—Speaker’s Comm.
1Ki_15:29-30. Divine vengeance. I. Though delayed, is certain. II. May be unconsciously carried out by wicked and cruel men. III. Is not meaningless in its threatenings. IV. Is manifested on account of inveterate wickedness.
1Ki_15:29. Conspirators and rebels profess to overthrow tyranny and to throw off its yoke; but when they obtain power and sovereignty they are themselves the most violent and cruel tyrants.
1Ki_15:34. Baasha trod in the footsteps of Jeroboam just as if Jeroboam had been good and upright. And yet Baasha himself was an instrument in the hand of God to punish Jeroboam on account of his sins. What folly! When Jeroboam’s son, Nadab, did as his father, we can explain it by paternal influence; but that Baasha should have pursued the same course is a proof of monstrous blindness. The world does not allow itself to be interrupted in its purposes; vain conduct after the way of those who live before is always inherited (1Pe_1:18).—Calwer.
—Sin morally blinding. I. Hides from the soul the excessive turpitude of sin. II. Renders the soul incapable of learning lessons from the most terrible punishments of sin. III. Prevents the soul from seeing the danger and misery into which it is surely drifting.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v25 The Rule of Nadad and Baasha in Israel
The Rule of Nadad and Baasha in Israel
v. 25. And Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years, it being necessary here once more to regard parts of years as whole ones.
Read full note →
v. 26. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, in stubbornness and idolatry, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
v. 27. And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha, who was probably an army chief, smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Phulistines, having been retaken by them when the power of Israel was on the wane; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon, in order to recover possession of it.
v. 28. Even in the third year of Asa, king of Judah, did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead, as a usurper of the throne.
v. 29. And it came to pass, when he reigned, after he had entered upon his rule, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam, putting to death all the members of his whole race; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the Lord, in order to fulfill the word of the prophecy, which He spake by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 1Ki 14:9-16,
v. 30. because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.
v. 31. 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?
v. 32. And there was war between Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, all their days.
v. 33. In the third year of Asa, king of Judah, began Eaasha, the son of Ahijah, to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, forcing the people to acknowledge him as king or being proclaimed by his soldiers, twenty and four years.
v. 34. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, in rebellion against the Lord, in idolatry. This was an abomination before the Lord. All those who are called to be leaders in the spiritual Israel and shepherds in the Church, but who lead the people of God into false doctrine, make themselves liable to damnation.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv25, 27, 29, 31 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
The rest of chapter 15 and 16 is about the kings of Israel. These events happened while King Asa of Judah was still alive.
Read full note →
the second year of Asa king of Judah
This refers to the second year of Asa's reign. The meaning of this can be made clear. AT: "when Asa had been king of Judah for almost two years" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
he reigned over Israel two years
"Nadab reigned over Israel two years"
what was evil in the sight of Yahweh
The sight of Yahweh represents Yahweh's judgment. AT: "what was evil in Yahweh's judgment" or "what Yahweh considers to be evil" (See: Metaphor)
walked in the way of his father
Walking here represents behaving. AT: "did the same things that his father had done" (See: Metaphor)
in his own sin
Walking in his own sin represents sinning in ways that were different from the ways that his father had sinned. AT: "he sinned in his own ways" (See: Metaphor)
by which he led Israel to sin
Leading people to do something represents influencing them to do it. AT: "and by sinning, he influenced Israel to sin" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
Jeroboam
reign
kingdom of Israel
Asa
evil
Yahweh
walk
sin
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv25, 27, 30 15:25-31 The writer of 1 Kings presents Nadab’s biography…
15:25-31 The writer of 1 Kings presents Nadab’s biography following the standard format (see study note on 15:1-8).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.