Asa

Biblical Account

Asa was the grandson of Rehoboam and the son of Abijam (called Abijah in Chronicles). He became the third king of the southern kingdom of Judah after the division of the kingdom and reigned in Jerusalem for forty-one years (1 Kings 15:9-10). His life is recorded briefly in 1 Kings 15:9-24 and in greater detail in 2 Chronicles 14–16.

• Religious reform: Asa expelled the male shrine prostitutes and removed the idols. He also deposed Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an image of Asherah (1 Kings 15:12-13).
• War with Zerah the Ethiopian: According to Chronicles, Asa prayed to God for help when facing a vast army and won the battle (2 Chronicles 14:9-15).
• Covenant renewal: After Azariah the son of Oded prophesied, Asa extended his reforms. He then joined with the people in a covenant to seek God (2 Chronicles 15).
• Alliance with Aram: Baasha, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, fortified Ramah to cut off access to Judah. In response, Asa sent silver and gold from the temple and the royal palace to Ben-hadad, king of Aram, so that he would attack Baasha (1 Kings 15:16-22).
• Later years: Hanani the seer rebuked Asa for relying on the king of Aram rather than on God. Asa became angry, put Hanani in prison, and oppressed some of the people. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign he became diseased in his feet, and Chronicles records that "yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians" (2 Chronicles 16:7-12). After his death his son Jehoshaphat succeeded him.

Significance Within Scripture

The book of Kings evaluates Asa favorably: "And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father" (1 Kings 15:11). It adds, however, that he did not remove the high places (hilltop places of worship). Chronicles divides Asa's life into contrasting periods: when he relied on God and when he relied on human help. Hanani's words summarize this contrast: "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him" (2 Chronicles 16:9).

In the New Testament, Asa's name appears in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:7-8. Some ancient Greek manuscripts are known to record the name there as "Asaph."

Interpretation and Issues

• The high places: According to 2 Chronicles 14:3, 5, Asa removed the high places, whereas 15:17 says he did not. Several explanations have been proposed. Some hold that the high places he removed were those of foreign gods, while those that remained were used for the worship of the LORD; others take the statements as distinguishing between Judah and the northern territories.
• Chronology: According to 2 Chronicles 16:1, Baasha came up "in the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa." By the reckoning of 1 Kings 16:8, however, Baasha would already have died around Asa's twenty-sixth year. Proposed explanations for this discrepancy include counting the years from the division of the kingdom and attributing the figure to a scribal error in transmission.
• The physicians: The statement in 2 Chronicles 16:12 is generally not read as a rejection of medicine itself. It is commonly interpreted as criticizing Asa's failure to seek God. Some interpreters also suggest that physicians of the time may have been associated with pagan magical practices.
• Relationship to Maacah: The text calls Maacah Asa's "mother." Because 1 Kings 15:2 also identifies her as the mother of Abijam, she is often understood to have been his grandmother.

In the Korean Church

In Korean preaching, Asa is often presented as "a king who began well but ended disappointingly." Such sermons typically emphasize persevering to the end in one's first devotion and relying on God rather than on people in times of crisis. The verse 2 Chronicles 16:9 is frequently quoted at prayer meetings and at services of commitment and dedication.