1 Kings 15:22

Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) Throughout all Judah.—Asa was not content to destroy or occupy the hostile fortress, but pushed his own fortifications further on. Geba, named in Joshua 21:17 as a city of the priests, in the territory of Benjamin, the scene of Jonathan’s victory over a Philistine garrison in the days of Samuel (1Samuel 13:3)—identified with the modern Jeba—lies on the edge of a valley some distance to the north. It is noted in 2Kings 23:8 as still the northern outpost of the kingdom of Judah. The Mizpah here referred to—for there were many places so called—a city of Benjamin (Joshua 18:26), famous in the earlier history (see 1Samuel 7:5-13; 1Samuel 10:17-25), seems to have been situated at the place afterwards called Scopim (“the watch-tower”), on “the broad ridge which forms the continuation of the Mount of Olives to the north and east, from which the traveller gains his first view” of Jerusalem (Dict. of the Bible: MIZPAH).

Benson Commentary

1 Kings 15:22. None were exempted — All sorts of persons were obliged to come, except those who were disabled by age, or infirmity, or absence, or by the public service of the king and kingdom in other places. Built Geba, &c. — Repaired and strengthened them, for they were built before; which he judged better than to perfect the fortifications of Ramah, which would have been a perpetual bone of contention (as we speak) between Judah and Israel.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:9-24 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Geba, situated opposite to Michmash 1 Samuel 14:5, is almost certainly "Jeba," which stands picturesquely on the top of its steep terraced hill on the very edge of the "Wady Suweinit." Its position was thus exceedingly strong; and, as it lay further north than Ramah, Asa may have considered that to fortify and garrison it would be a better protection to his northern frontier than fortifying Ramah.

For Mizpah see the marginal reference From Jeremiah 41:9 we learn that Asa, besides fortifying the place, sank a deep well there to secure his garrison from want of water if the town should be besieged.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. Then king Asa made a proclamation—The fortifications which Baasha had erected at Ramah were demolished, and with the materials were built other defenses, where Asa thought they were needed—at Geba (now Jeba) and Mizpeh (now Neby Samuil), about two hours' travelling north of Jerusalem.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

None was exempted; all sorts of persons were obliged to come, except those who were disenabled by age, or infirmity, or absence, or by the public service of the king and kingdom in other places.

Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah, i.e. repaired and strengthened them, for they were built before. See Jeremiah 41:9.

Quest. Why did he not rather perfect the fortifications of Ramah which Baasha had begun?

Answ. Because Baasha might have returned and recovered it afterwards; and he thought it most convenient that there should be no city nor fort in that place.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah,.... Summoned men of all sorts, ranks, and degrees:

(none was exempted;) the Jews (z) say, not so much as a newly married man, whom the law excused from war the first year, nor the disciples of the wise men:

and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; or fortified the place; these; the men of Judah, whom Asa summoned, carried off:

and King Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah; which were both in the tribe of Benjamin, and which he fortified, Joshua 18:24.

(z) Jarchi & Kimchi in loc.

Geneva Study Bible

Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. Asa made a proclamation throughout [R.V. unto] all Judah] Literally ‘caused all Judah to hear.’ The people, rather than the land, are spoken of, as is shewn by the next words ‘none was exempted.’ The whole labouring population was gathered on the king’s requisition that the work might be completed while the pressure of the Syrians on the north was being sharply felt.

and they took [R.V. carried] away the stones of Ramah] As in many previous instances R.V. takes the rendering from Chronicles, but only that the two may be made alike where the original is the same. The king of Israel had intended to make a great fortress out of Ramah. Hence there was prepared an immense quantity of stone and wood for his fortifications. This is what is meant by ‘building’ in this whole passage. Ramah was to have been ‘fortified’, and the materials sufficed to fortify Geba and Mizpah for Judah.

built with them] R.V. built therewith. As in Chronicles.

Geba of Benjamin] Geba (signifying ‘a hill’) was on the extreme north of the kingdom of Judah, which is described (2 Kings 23:8) as extending ‘from Geba to Beersheba.’ It is mentioned among the Benjamite towns (Joshua 21:17), and was one of those allotted to the priests.

Mizpah] The word signifies ‘a pillar’ and is the name given to several places in the Holy Land. The town spoken of in this verse is the ‘Mizpah of Benjamin,’ within a mile or two of Gibeah. The LXX. translates both Geba and Mizpah, giving πᾶν βουνὸν Βενιαμὶν καὶ τὴν σκοπιάν.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - Then king Asa made a proclamation [Heb. made all to hear] throughout all Judah; none was exempted [Heb. none free], and they took away [Heb. took up] the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha [It is noticeable that it is generally "king Asa," but never "king Baasha"] had bullded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin [Sometimes "the Geba," i.e., height; in Joshua 18:24, Gaba; now Jeba, only 45' northeast of Ramah. This was the northern limit of the southern kingdom (2 Kings 23:8). It occupied a striking position, standing on a rocky knoll on the south side of the great gorge of Michmash (now known as the Wady Suweinit), a "great crack or fissure in the country, with vertical precipices some 800 feet high" (Conder, p. 254; cf. Dict. Bib., 1. p. 658 and Porter, 1. p. 214). As Geba would command the pass, it is easy to understand why Asa fortified it, the more so as this defile "appears to have been more than once the meeting place between the Jews and their enemies" (Conder)], and Mizpah. [Heb. the Mizpah, i.e., watch tower (Genesis 31:49). The name points to an eminence, but it is remarkable that while so many sites of minor importance have been recovered, this old gathering place of the tribes (Judges 21:1; 1 Samuel 7:5; 1 Samuel 10:17-25), and the seat of Gedaliah's government (Jeremiah 40:6), cannot be identified with certainty. It has been conjectured that it is now represented by the commanding eminence of Nebi Samwil (Robinson, 2 p. 328; Van de Velde, 2 p. 53),but Stanley (S. and P., 2. p. 213-4) and Grove (Dict. Bib., 2 p. 389) argue in favour of Seopus, and "the survey has done little to throw light on this question" (see Conder, pp. 257-9). It is to be hoped that the "pit," or well, which Asa made (Jeremiah 41:9), probably "to provide Mizpah with a plentiful supply of water in ease of a siege" (Ewald), may yet be brought to light. 1 Kings 15:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Asa thereupon summoned all Judah נקי אין, nemine immuni, i.e., excepto, no one being free (cf., Ewald, 286, a.), and had the stones and the wood carried away from Ramah, and Geba and Mizpah in Benjamin built, i.e., fortified, with them. Geba must not be confounded with Gibeah of Benjamin or Saul, but is the present Jeba, three-quarters of an hour to the north-east of Ramah (see at Joshua 18:24). Mizpah, the present Nebi Samwil, about three-quarters of a geographical mile to the south-west of Ramah (see at Joshua 18:26).