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ASA

(Heb. ʾāsāʾ)

1. The grandson of Rehoboam and the third king to rule the southern kingdom of Judah after the division of the monarchy. According to 1 Kgs. 15:10 he ruled 41 years (ca. 913-873 b.c.e.). His (grand)mother Maacah served as queen mother, whose chief function was senior counselor to the king and others. Maacah took a leadership role in the Jerusalem cult, and when Asa reformed it he deposed Maacah for erecting an image for Asherah.

It was his efforts at reforming worship in Jerusalem that won Asa the praise of the author of 1 Kgs. 15. He removed the male prostitutes associated with fertility rites and destroyed the images that his predecessors had placed in Jerusalem. The images included Maacah’s Asherah, which Asa cut down and burned at the Wadi Kidron. In addition, he offered to God votive gifts made of silver and gold and new utensils for worship.

According to 1 Kgs. 15:16 Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, fought a border war throughout their reigns. At one point during their war, Baasha “built Ramah” (1 Kgs. 15:17), which perhaps meant that he rebuilt or fortified Ramah of Benjamin (modern er-Ram), which lay 8 km. (5 mi.) N of Jerusalem on the road by which the Assyrians advanced against that city (Isa. 10:29). Asa offered Ben-hadad of Damascus a hefty “present” of silver and gold to break his alliance with Baasha and attack Israel. When Ben-hadad attacked the northern cities Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, Chinneroth, and “all Naphtali,” Baasha was forced to move north to Tirzah to stop Ben-hadad’s advance. Asa seized the opportunity to order his people to go to Ramah and remove the building materials to use in fortifying Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah, thus establishing them as his northern border.

2 Chr. 14:1(MT 13:23)–16:14 expands this account of Asa’s reign by means of a narrative (14:9-13[8-12]) of an invasion by Zerah the “Cushite” (Ethiopian) and speeches by Azariah son of Oded (15:2-7) and the seer Hanani (16:7-10). The invasion was reported as evidence that divine might would overcome military might. In the aftermath of the defeat of Zerah, Israel is said to have attacked the cities around Gerar and owners of livestock, which perhaps should be understood as further evidence of God’s protection of Asa as reward for obedience. The speeches appear to have been composed by the Chronicler, the first to indicate divine approval of Asa’s reforms, the second to indicate disapproval of Asa’s reliance on human rather than divine protection. That motif carries over into 2 Chr. 16:12, where the Chronicler condemns Asa again for relying on physicians rather than God for healing from his fatal disease of the feet, the nature of which is obscure.

2. A Levite whose son Berechiah was among the first to receive back his family possessions after the Exile (1 Chr. 9:16).

Bibliography. N.-E. A. Andreasen, “The Role of the Queen Mother in Israelite Society,” CBQ 45 (1983): 179-94.

Paul L. Redditt

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ASA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)