2 Chronicles 14:1

So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

XIV.

(1) So Abijah slept . . . in his stead.—Verbatim as 1Kings 15:8 (Abijam).

In his days the land was quiet ten years.—Mentioned here as a result of Abijah’s great victory. “The land was quiet,” or “had rest” (Judges 3:11; Judges 5:31). The phrase is explained in 2Chronicles 14:6, “He had no war in those years.”

During this period of repose Asa strengthened the defences of his country (2Chronicles 14:5, comp. 2Chronicles 15:19).

The name Asa may perhaps mean “healer;” (comp. the Syriac ’ôsē “physician,” and 2Chronicles 16:12); or “spices” (Syriac ‘ôsô; comp. 2Chronicles 16:14).

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 14:1. In his days the land was quiet ten years — There was no war with the kingdom of Israel, which did not recover the blow given in the last reign for a great while. Abijah’s victory, which was owing, under God, to his courage and bravery, laid a foundation for Asa’s peace, which was the reward of his piety, and the reformation he effected. Though Abijah had little religion himself, he was instrumental in preparing the way for one that had much. If Abijah had not done what he did to quiet the land, Asa could not have done what he did to reform it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:1-15 Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom. - Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vexation. Asa consulted with his people how to make a good use of the peace they enjoyed; and concluded with them that they must not be idle, nor secure. A formidable army of Ethiopians invaded Asa's kingdom. This evil came upon them, that their faith in God might be tried. Asa's prayer is short, but it is the real language of faith and expectation from God. When we go forth in God's name, we cannot but prosper, and all things work together for the good of those whom he favours.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Asa his son reigned - If Rehoboam was (1 Kings 12:8 note) not more than 21 years old at his accession, Asa, when he mounted the throne, must have been a mere boy, not more than 10 or 11 years of age.

The land was quiet ten years - The great blow struck by Abijah 2 Chronicles 13:15-19, his alliance with Syria 1 Kings 15:19, and the rapid succession of sovereigns in Israel during the earlier part of Asa's reign 1 Kings 15:25-33, would naturally prevent disturbance on the part of the northern kingdom. The tender age of Asa himself would be a bar to warlike enterprises on the part of Judah.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 14

2Ch 14:1-5. Asa Destroys Idolatry.

1. In his days the land was quiet ten years—This long interval of peace was the continued effect of the great battle of Zemaraim (compare 1Ki 15:11-14).Asa is made king; he destroyeth idolatry, 2 Chronicles 14:1-5. Having peace, he strengtheneth his kingdom with forts and armies, 2 Chronicles 14:6-8. In a strait, calling on God, he overthroweth Zerah, and spoileth the Ethiopians, 2 Chronicles 14:9-15.

i.e. There was no open war, either by Baasha or others; only there were secret grudges and private hostilities between his and Baasha’s subjects, 1 Kings 15:16.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

So Abijah slept with his fathers, 1 Kings 15:8.

and Asa his son reigned in his stead; in his days the land was quiet ten years; the Targum is, the land of Israel; but much better the Septuagint, the land of Judah; these ten years, in which it had rest from war, were the first three years of Asa's reign, and the first seven of Baasha's, according to Jarchi, and which seems right; after which there was war between them all their days, see 1 Kings 15:32.

Geneva Study Bible

So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ch. 2 Chronicles 14:1-5 (cp. 1 Kings 15:8-12). The Religious Policy of Asa

1. ten years] These ten years of rest are naturally to be assigned to the beginning of Asa’s reign; later on there was a rest of twenty years (cp. 2 Chronicles 15:10 with 2 Chronicles 15:19). The number ten here makes a discrepancy with 1 Kin., for Baasha became king of Israel in the third year of Asa (1 Kings 15:28; 1 Kings 15:33), and “there was war between Asa and Baasha all their days” (ib. 1 Kings 15:32). If, however, we allow some latitude to the language both of 1 Kin. and of Chron., the discrepancy becomes unimportant.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - Buried... in the city of David (see our note, 2 Chronicles 12:16). Asa his son. If, according to the suggestion of our note, 2 Chronicles 10:8 and 2 Chron 12:13, the alleged forty-one years of the age of Rehoboam be made twenty-one, it will follow that Asa could not now be more than a boy of some twelve years of age. It is against that suggestion that there is no sign of this, by word or deed, in what is here said of the beginning of Asa's reign; the signs are to the contrary, especially taking into the question the indications given us respecting the tendencies, if not contradicted, of the queen-mother Maachah (2 Chronicles 15:16; 1 Kings 15:13), and it is not supposable that a boy of twelve years of age could contradict them. This point must be held still moot. In his days... quiet ten years. No doubt one cause of this was the defeat that Jeroboam and Israel had sustained at the hands of Abijah (2 Chronicles 13:18-20). It appears also, from 1 Kings 15:19, that after that defeat a league was instituted between Abijah and the then King of Syria: "There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father." And these things, with Israel's new kings, and perhaps Asa's extreme youth, would have favoured the repose of the land. 2 Chronicles 14:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Asa's efforts for the abolition of idolatry and the establishment of the kingdom. - 2 Chronicles 14:1-4. The good and right in God's eyes which Asa did is further defined in 2 Chronicles 14:2-4. He abolished all the objects of the idolatrous worship. The "altars of the strangers" are altars consecrated to foreign gods; from them the בּמות, high places, are distinguished-these latter being illegal places of sacrifice connected with the worship of Jahve (see on 1 Kings 15:14). The מצּבוה are the statues or monumental columns consecrated to Baal, and אשׁרים the wooden idols, tree-trunks, or trees, which were consecrated to Astarte (see on 1 Kings 14:23 and Deuteronomy 16:21). Asa at the same time commanded the people to worship Jahve, the God of the fathers, and to follow the law.