Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The impious Rehoboam is succeeded by his impious son Abiam, and he by his pious son Asa, who at verse 12 removes the idols and the effeminate ones, and removes Maachah his mother, the priestess of Priapus. The pious Asa is succeeded by his pious son Jehoshaphat, verse 24. But the impious Jeroboam king of Israel is succeeded by his impious son Nadab, whom Baasha kills, and cuts off his entire family.
Vulgate Text: 3 Kings 15:1-34
1. Therefore in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abiam reigned over Judah. 2. He reigned three years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom. 3. And he walked in all the sins of his father which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. 4. But for David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, that He might raise up his son after him, and establish Jerusalem: 5. because David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6. Nevertheless there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the time of his life. 7. Now the rest of the words of Abiam, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abiam and Jeroboam. 8. And Abiam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. 9. So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa reigned as king of Judah. 10. And he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom. 11. And Asa did what was right before the Lord, as David his father had done. 12. And he removed the effeminate from the land, and purged away all the filth of the idols which his fathers had made. 13. Moreover he also removed Maachah his mother from being the princess in the rites of Priapus, and destroyed the cave which she had consecrated: and he overturned her most foul idol, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 14. But the high places he did not remove. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the Lord all his days. 15. And he brought in the things which his father had sanctified and vowed into the house of the Lord: silver, and gold, and vessels. 16. And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 17. And Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that no one might go out or come in on the side of Asa king of Judah. 18. Therefore Asa took all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king's house, and gave it into the hands of his servants, and sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying: 19. There is a league between me and you, and between my father and your father: therefore I have sent you presents of silver and gold: and I pray you come and break your league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me. 20. Ben-hadad hearkened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21. And when Baasha had heard this, he left off building Ramah, and returned to Tirzah. 22. Then king Asa proclaimed an edict to all Judah, with none excused: and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber with which Baasha had built, and king Asa built with them Gibeah of Benjamin and Mizpah. 23. Now the rest of all the words of Asa, and all his mighty deeds, and all that he did and the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age his feet were diseased. 24. And he slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David his father. And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place. 25. Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah: and he reigned over Israel two years. 26. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father and in his sins, by which he had made Israel to sin. 27. And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and struck him down in Gibbethon, which was a city of the Philistines: for Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon. 28. So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. 29. And when he had become king, he struck down the whole house of Jeroboam: he did not leave even one soul of his seed, until he had destroyed him according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken by the hand of His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30. because of the sins of Jeroboam which he had sinned, and by which he had made Israel to sin: and because of the offense by which he had provoked the Lord God of Israel. 31. Now the rest of the words of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 32. And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 33. In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah reigned over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty-four years. 34. And he did evil before the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sins, by which he made Israel to sin.
Verse 1: In the Eighteenth Year of Jeroboam
1. THEREFORE IN THE EIGHTEENTH YEAR OF JEROBOAM THE SON OF NEBAT (king of Israel) ABIAM (the son of Rehoboam) REIGNED OVER JUDAH.
Verse 2: He Reigned Three Years
2. He reigned three years. — You will say: at verse 9, Abijah is said to have died in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, therefore he reigned not three but only two years: for from year 18 to 20, there are only two years. I answer that year 18 must be counted here, and that it was the first year of Abijah's reign, the second was the 19th, and the third was the 20th year of Jeroboam. So Abulensis, Cajetan, Salianus, and others. Where note that in chronology a year is sometimes computed from the beginning, sometimes from the end: wherefore one year added or subtracted in chronology makes no difference. Furthermore, Abulensis here assigns three other modes of reconciling the different chronology, very useful and noteworthy.
The first is by synecdoche, by which a part of a year, month, or day is put for the whole year, month, or day. So Christ is said to have been in the tomb three days, because He was in the tomb for part of the first and third day, but remained in it only for the whole second day.
The second is that sometimes the years in which the son reigned with his father are counted, but sometimes the years in which he alone reigned after his father.
The third is that sometimes an interregnum is joined to the years of the following king or judge, as I showed at Judges chapter III, and sometimes not. Richard of St. Victor hands down the same methods in his treatise On the Concordance of the Times of the Kings of Judah.
THE NAME OF HIS MOTHER WAS MAACHAH, THE DAUGHTER OF ABISHALOM, — that is "Absalom," as is said in II Paralipomenon XI, 21. For in Hebrew Abishalom is the same as Absalom.
Wherefore there is hardly any doubt that this Absalom is the son of David, of whom frequent mention was made in book II: for we read of no other Absalom. Therefore Absalom is named here, because from his deeds recorded in book II he was very well known to all Israel. Wherefore this "Maachah" is the same as "Tamar": for Absalom begot her as his only daughter, as is clear from II Kings XIV, 27. So the Hebrews, Josephus, Lyranus, Cajetan, Sanchez, and others think. Less correctly therefore Abulensis and Salianus think that this Absalom is different from Absalom the son of David.
You will say: II Paralipomenon XIII, 2, this "Maachah" is called "Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah." Cajetan responds that Absalom had two names, and was called by another name "Uriel," perhaps on account of his beauty, because he was so handsome that he seemed like an angel, and could be called "Uriel," that is, "the light and splendor of God." Or certainly that Absalom was the natural father of Maachah, but Uriel was her legal father: which is difficult to conceive, since no son of David is read to have been called "Uriel," for whom as a brother who died without children Absalom would have had to raise up seed.
It could more clearly be said that Maachah is called the "daughter," that is the "granddaughter" of Absalom, after the manner of Scripture in which grandchildren are called "children." For it seems that Tamar, the only daughter of Absalom, married Uriel, and from him bore this Maachah, the wife of Rehoboam and the mother of Abijah. This is confirmed by various conjectures. For this Uriel was from Gibeah, which was a city in the tribe of Benjamin; therefore he himself was a Benjaminite; therefore Uriel is not Absalom: for the latter was from the tribe of Judah, as was David.
Secondly, because Tamar seems to have been at this time too advanced in age to marry Rehoboam.
they excused or did not consider. But this sin against Uriah was held by all to be unjust, enormous, and infamous; and therefore God, who does not allow such great and scandalous sins to go unpunished, severely punished it. For on account of this all evils befell David, and it was said to him by God that the sword would never depart from his house, and that this indeed happened in fact is shown here, when he adds that between Rehoboam and Jeroboam as well as Abijah there were perpetual wars, slaughters, and plunderings. So Abulensis, Cajetan, and others.
For she was born easily 12 or 13 years before David's death (for her father Absalom was killed nine years before David's death, as I said in the Chronology of David, at the end of book II Kings). Add the 40 years of Solomon's reign, and you will have 52 years of Tamar's life. Granted that Rehoboam seems to have married her before Solomon's death: for from her he begot Abijah, who dying after a three-year reign left as his successor his son Asa. But Rehoboam reigned only 17 years: wherefore Abijah seems to have been begotten by Rehoboam before the start of his reign, so that at his death he would have been more than 17 years old: for dying after three years he left his son Asa already of mature age and capable of reigning. Granted, I say, that it is so; yet he does not seem to have married her long before Solomon's death, because he married her in the third place, as is clear from II Paralipomenon XI, 20; for the sons of kings, before their reign and before their father's death, were not accustomed to multiply wives.
Thirdly, because she is always called "Maachah," never Tamar, therefore she was not Tamar herself, but the daughter of Tamar.
Fourthly, because here at verse 10, of Asa the son of Abijah the same is said as here of Abijah, namely: "the name of his mother was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom." This Maachah therefore was either the same as Maachah the mother of Abijah, so that she is called "mother," that is, "grandmother" of Asa; or certainly she was her younger sister, says Cajetan, so that she could be married by Asa the son of Abijah. Therefore Maachah was not Tamar, inasmuch as she had no sister, but was the only daughter of Absalom: therefore Maachah was the daughter of Tamar.
Fifthly, Josephus expressly asserts this, who having first called Maachah the daughter of Absalom, soon in book VIII, chapter III, calls the same the granddaughter of Absalom, namely born from Uriel and Tamar.
Verse 3: He Walked in All the Sins of His Father
3. AND HE WALKED IN ALL THE SINS OF HIS FATHER, — worshipping the idols of Rehoboam, permitting the effeminate ones, etc.; his son Asa removed these together with the idols, as follows.
Verse 4: The Lord His God Gave Him a Lamp
4. THE LORD HIS GOD GAVE HIM A LAMP (that is, a glorious and royal offspring, namely) TO RAISE UP HIS SON AFTER HIM (so that Asa his son might succeed him in the kingdom); AND (through him) ESTABLISH JERUSALEM, — establishing it in the faith and worship of the true God, and thus equally establishing its peace, riches, and kingdom.
Verse 5: Except in the matter
5. Except in the matter (that is, the deed and act, namely the murder) of Uriah the Hittite. — You will say: David committed many other sins, as when out of pride he numbered the people, a sin which God punished with a plague and the death of 70 thousand men, II Kings XXIV, 15; when he wished to kill Nabal and all his household, I Kings XXV, 21; when he took away from the innocent Mephibosheth half of his possessions, II Kings XIX, 29. But these sins were neither as grave as the adultery and murder of Uriah, nor as certain and publicly condemned; indeed they had some veil and pretext of honesty and justice, at least among men, who therefore either
Verse 6: There Was War Between Rehoboam and Jeroboam
6. NEVERTHELESS THERE WAS WAR BETWEEN REHOBOAM AND JEROBOAM ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE, — that is, God on account of the merits of David wished to give him a "lamp," that is, a royal posterity, namely Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah; but yet on account of their sins, especially of idolatry, He caused them to have perpetual wars with Jeroboam.
Verse 7: There Was Battle Between Abijah and Jeroboam
7. AND THERE WAS BATTLE BETWEEN ABIJAH AND JEROBOAM. — This is narrated at length in II Paralipomenon XIII, where it is said that Abijah led 400 thousand into battle, while Jeroboam had 800 thousand, and when these, being more numerous, surrounded them, they invoked God, and by His help out of the 800 thousand, 300 thousand fell.
Verse 10: The name of his mother was Maachah the daughter of...
10. The name of his mother was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom, — that is Absalom the son of David. "Daughter," that is granddaughter, as is clear. For this Maachah mother of Asa, is either the same as Maachah the mother of Abijah, as Lyranus and Serarius hold, so that she is called "mother," that is, grandmother of Asa, just as at verse 3, David is called Abijah's "father," that is grandfather; or rather her younger sister, born from the same mother Tamar the daughter of Absalom, as I said from Cajetan at verse 2, or certainly her granddaughter.
Maachah in Hebrew means the same as compression, grinding, fixing, says Pagninus. This name seems to have been common among the queens or daughters of the kings of Geshur: whence the daughter of the king of Geshur, whom David married, was called Maachah, who was the mother of Absalom; and from that, Tamar the daughter of Absalom called her own daughter, who married Rehoboam, Maachah; and her sister, who married Abijah, she also called Maachah: for the Hebrews, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and Josephus consistently call her the mother of Asa. In a similar manner St. Paula, Melania, Macrina the aunt of St. Basil, Eudoxia, and Constantia, transmitted their name to their daughters and granddaughters.
Furthermore, Maachah is named here as the "mother" or grandmother of Asa, so that the outstanding virtue and piety of Asa may be shown: that although educated by so impious a mother, he nevertheless turned out so pious, and even removed his mother from the priesthood of the idols. So Pliny, book VII of his Letters, praises the young Quadratus, because although living amid his grandmother's luxuries, he nevertheless lived most austerely.
Verse 13: He Removed Maachah His Mother
13. MOREOVER HE ALSO REMOVED MAACHAH HIS MOTHER, THAT SHE SHOULD NOT BE RULER (chief priestess) IN THE RITES OF PRIAPUS. — In Hebrew it is literally, that she should not be mistress, because she made a horrible idol: where the Septuagint, the Chaldean, Vatablus, Pagninus, and others explain 'that she should not be mistress' as 'that she should not be queen, that she should not govern the kingdom.' Whence also the Vulgate, at II Paralipomenon XV, 16, translates,
but he also deposed Maachah the mother of king Asa from the august authority, because she had made in a grove an image of Priapus. Here however he translates, 'that she should not be ruler in the rites of Priapus'; for this rulership of the rites of Priapus among the Jews and idolaters was an august authority and the highest dignity, so that אשר asher, that is 'because, that,' is taken for באשר baasher, that is 'in that she made an idol,' namely for the worship of her Priapus. For 'Priapus' in Hebrew is מפלצת miphletset, that is tremor, horror; Priapus was so called, partly because he was painted or sculpted in a foul and horrible form; partly because by his horror he struck terror into thieves and birds wishing to plunder gardens, of which he was the god and guardian; whence that of Horace, book I, satire 8 On Priapus:
A god therefore of thieves and birds The greatest terror.
Hence also from the Hebrew miphletset, Priapus was called in Latin Phallus and Mutinus: for so Juvenal calls him in Satire 5, as do Virgil and Ovid. So Serarius, Vatablus, and Sanchez. Maachah therefore was obscene and sacrilegious, indeed the ruler of obscenity and sacrilege, and the queen of harlots and prostitutes, and therefore she consecrated a grove to her Priapus; because lust, being shameful, seeks groves, that is, shady woods and darkness, with which to cover its baseness. Whence 'lucus' (grove) is said by antiphrasis, because it lacks light (luce) and is shady. So Eucherius.
Furthermore the Hebrews worshipped Priapus under the name Baal-peor, as a god of obscenity, with the most obscene rites and acts. See what was said at Numbers XXV, 3. Asa did these things at the beginning of his reign, when he was almost a boy; all the greater was his zeal and piety. Wherefore God rewarded this zeal of Asa: first, with a long and happy peace; second, with the building of many cities; third, with a glorious victory, by which he overthrew a million Ethiopians, II Paralipomenon XIV, 7.
Verse 14: But the high places he did not remove
14. But the high places he did not remove. — Abulensis understands by "high places" the temples built by Solomon for idols, which remained until Josiah, who overthrew them; in which matter, he says, Asa did not sin, nor Jehoshaphat, nor Hezekiah, because these temples had already been emptied, and were closed, and idols were not worshipped in them; wherefore since they were no longer scandalous, they were permitted as a memorial of a past event.
Better does Cajetan understand "high places" as temples on mountains and lofty places dedicated to the true God, in which the Israelites sacrificed to the true God, which although forbidden by God, Asa nevertheless prudently permitted, lest the people's delight and custom of sacrificing in high places lead them away from the worship of God to idolatry: yet zealous kings, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, did remove them: although it could be said that Asa sinned in permitting the high places, just as he sinned in many other things, as I shall now say.
NEVERTHELESS THE HEART OF ASA WAS PERFECT WITH THE LORD ALL HIS DAYS. — "Perfect" — understand this in faith and the worship of the one true God, and in the extermination of idolatry; for in many other things Asa sinned, as when being sick he did not hope in the Lord, but trusted in the skill of physicians, of which presently. Likewise when, distrusting God, he gave the sacred vessels to the king of Syria at verse 18, to escape the war of the king of Israel. Again, when he threw the prophet who rebuked him into the stocks, that is, into prison and chains, and killed many of the people, II Paralipomenon XVI, 10. See Abulensis, Question XVIII.
Verse 15: He Brought in the Things His Father Had Sanctified
15. AND HE BROUGHT IN THE THINGS WHICH HIS FATHER HAD SANCTIFIED (that is, dedicated, consecrated) AND HAD VOWED INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.
Verse 18: The Gold That Remained in the Treasuries
18. THE GOLD THAT HAD REMAINED IN THE TREASURIES OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD (the gold of the temple) etc., he sent to Ben-hadad. — Asa sinned in this matter, both because he appropriated and alienated the gold of the temple, and because he placed his hope more in the impious Ben-hadad than in God, and therefore he was rebuked by the prophet, II Paralipomenon XV, 1.
Verse 23: In His Old Age His Feet Were Diseased
23. BUT IN THE TIME OF HIS OLD AGE HIS FEET WERE DISEASED. — This matter is narrated more fully in II Paralipomenon XVI, 12: "Asa fell sick, he says, in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, with a most severe pain of the feet (gout), and not even in his infirmity did he seek the Lord, but rather trusted in the skill of physicians;" and therefore he died: whence it is immediately added: "And he slept with his fathers and died in the forty-first year of his reign."