2 Chronicles 15:19

(19) And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.—Literally, and war arose not until, etc. This statement appears to refer back to 2Ch_15:15 : “And the Lord gave them rest round about;” and so to assign the limit of that period of peace, which ensued after the defeat of Zeran.

In 1Ki_15:16 we find a different statement: “And war continued between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days,” a statement which is repeated in 1Ki_15:32 of the same chapter.

The chronicler has evidently modified the older text, in order to assign a precise date to the outbreak of active hostilities between the two monarchs. (Both 1Ki_15:16 and the present 2Ch_15:19 begin with the same two Hebrew words, meaning “and war was,” but the chronicler inserts a not).

The verse of Kings need not imply more than that no amicable relations were ever established between the two sovereigns. They had inherited a state of war, although neither was in a condition to make an open attack upon the other for some years.

The five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.—This limit does not agree with the data of Kings (seo on 2Ch_16:1). Thenius suggests that the letter l, denoting 30, got into the text originally, through some transcriber, who inadvertently wrote the l with which the next Hebrew word begins twice over. Later on, some other copyist naturally corrected 2Ch_16:1, to agree with this. Assuming thus that the right readings here were originally the fifth and sixth years of the reign of Asa, Thenius concludes that in 2Ch_16:1 the letter v (i.e., 6) has been shortened into y (10); and that Baasha’s attempt preceded the invasion of Zerah. The false dates probably existed already in the source which the chronicler followed.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch 15:19 And there was no [more] war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

Ver. 19. Unto the five and thirtieth year,] sc., From the revolt of the ten tribes. See 2Ch 16:8. The Septuagint corruptly here render, Unto the thirtieth year.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch 15:19. There was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of Asa — No open, general war, though there were constant bickerings between Judah and Israel upon the frontiers, 1Ki 15:16. National piety procures national blessings.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ch2 15:19 is different from Kg1 15:16. In the latter passage it is said: war was between Asa and Baasha the king of Israel כּל־ימיהם, i.e., so long as both reigned contemporaneously; while in the Chronicle it is said: war was not until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign. This discrepancy is partly got rid of by taking מלחמה in the book of Kings to denote the latent hostility or inimical attitude of the two kingdoms towards each other, and in the Chronicle to denote a war openly declared. The date, until the thirty-fifth year, causes a greater difficulty; but this has been explained in Ch2 16:1 by the supposition that in the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign war broke out between Asa and Baasha, when the meaning of our 16th verse would be: It did not come to war with Baasha until the thirty-sixth year of Asa's rule. For further remarks on this, see on Ch2 16:1.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

15:19 no more war: Literally no war. Most translations, including the NLT, add “more” to assist in conveying the probable meaning. But if “no war” is in fact the better reading, the thirty-fifth year might refer to the thirty-fifth year since the division of the northern and southern kingdoms. That would have been around the time when Zerah the Ethiopian invaded Judah and was defeated by Asa (14:9-15). But see the study note on 16:1. • The Chronicler inserts chronological notes into his account to divide Asa’s reign into periods that show the consequences of his decisions (see 14:1; 15:10; 16:1, 12, 13). The early battles with the north were seen as inconsequential for that period, though the Chronicler was fully aware of them (see 15:8). The first years of Asa’s reign were characterized by divine favor to an obedient king.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 19. The five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa] Archbishop Usher thinks that this should be counted from the separation of the kingdom, and that this fell on the fifteenth year of Asa's reign. To settle in every respect these chronologies is a most difficult undertaking; and the difficulty does not belong to the sacred books alone, all other chronological tables of all the nations in the world, are in the same predicament. With those of our own history I have often been puzzled, even while I had access to all the archives of the nation. Probably we should read here the five and twentieth year. See the margin, and 1Kg 15:16.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. there was no more war] This statement can be reconciled with 1Ki_15:16; 1Ki_15:32 only by interpreting it broadly to mean that nothing serious occurred until the war with Baasha had been going on for several years.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there was no more war unto the thirty fifth year of the reign of Asa. That is, from the Ethiopian war to that time; after that there was no war with any foreign enemy; there were animosities and discords, bickerings and hostilities of some sort continually between Asa and Baasha king of Israel, as long as he lived, see Kg1 15:16.

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 16

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa - This cannot be reconciled with the chronqlogy of Kings 1Ki 16:8 : and the suggestion in the marg. implies the adoption of a mode of marking time unknown either to himself or any other Scriptural writer. It is supposed that the figures here and in 2Ch 16:1 are corrupt, and that in both verses “twentieth” should replace “thirtieth.” The attack of Baasha would then have been made in the last year of Asa’s reign; and ten years of peace would have followed Asa’s victory over Zerah.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Year. Usher dates from the separation of the two kingdoms; and this year corresponds with the 15th of Asa, ver. 10. See 3 Kings xv. 16. (Calmet) (Torniel, the year of the world 3094.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

For though there were continual skirmishes between Asa and Baasha and their people all their days, 1Ki 15:16, yet it did not break forth into an open war till Asa’s thirty-fifth year, i.e. till that was ended. But how this thirty-fifth year is to be computed, See Poole "2Ch 16:1".

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. No more war unto the five and thirtieth year of… Asa — This date, and also that of the next verse, (2Ch_16:1,) is undoubtedly erroneous, for in the twenty-sixth year of Asa Baasha was dead, and his son Elah began to reign. 1Ki_16:8. We think, with Rawlinson, that the simplest emendation is to substitute twentieth for thirtieth in both verses. Then we may suppose that previous to the war with Zerah Asa had ten years of peace, (2Ch_14:1,) and after that war he had peace again until the last year of Baasha’s reign, when the latter undertook the war against Judah mentioned in 2Ch_16:1.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There was no more war. The Hebrew text should be adhered to, which simply says, there was not war unto, etc The five and thirtieth year. There can be little doubt that the text originally said "twentieth," not "thirtieth". (see also 2Ch_16:1) The parallel, after the identical words Of the previous verse already noted, goes on emphatically to speak of the fact that "there was war between Asa and Baasha all their days;" and the same statement is repeated in the thirty-second verse of the same chapter. (1Ki_15:16, 1Ki_15:32) The following verse (33) says that Baasha"s twenty-four-year reign began in Asa"s third year. Putting the various and apparently somewhat varying statements together, they must be held to say, first, that a state of war was, indeed, chronic between Asa and Baasha (which way of putting need not disturb the correctness of 2Ch_14:5, 2Ch_14:6, and of the fifteenth verse of our chapter) but that in the six and twentieth year of Asa, which would be the last or last but one of Baasha"s life, latent war gave place to active hostilities, and Baasha (2Ch_16:1) came up to Judah to invade it, and to build Ramah a course of conduct which was the beginning of the end for him. (comp. 1Ki_16:8; our ver. 10; and 2Ch_16:1, 2Ch_16:9)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there was no war, etc. We learned in Seder Olam (ch. 16): “In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s kingdom, Baasha, the king of Israel, advanced.” Is it possible to say so? Had not Baasha already died in the twenty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, as it is written (I Kings 16:8): “In the twenty-sixth year of Asa, king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha reigned”? What then is the meaning of “In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s kingdom”? This corresponds to the thirty-six years from the time that Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter, for so it is written (I Kings 2:39-46): “and two of Shimei’s slaves ran away... And the king commanded Benaiah etc. and he smote (Sic) and fell upon him,” and immediately following this Scripture writes about Solomon’s marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter, i.e., immediately after those three years, and in the fourth year he married her, and he reigned forty years. We find that she was with him thirty-six years, and corresponding to them were the thirty-six years that the decree was issued upon the kings of Aram to be adversaries to Israel and finally to fall into the hand[s] of David’s sons. Therefore, it is stated: “In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s kingdom.” In the sixteenth year of his reign, after Zerah the Cushite fell into his hand[s], that is the thirty-sixth year from Solomon’s death, and in the sixteenth [year] of Asa, the king of Israel and the king of Aram made a treaty to advance and provoke Asa. Asa sinned, as it is stated (16:2f.): “And Asa brought out silver and gold... saying, ‘Make (sic) a treaty between me and you...’ And Ben Hadad heeded.” And the kings of Aram did not cease being adversaries to Israel until Ahaz died, and in the third year of Ahaz, the king of Israel and the king of Aram made a treaty to advance and provoke Ahaz, and Ahaz had no merit that they should fall into his hand[s]; so they both fell into the hand [s] of Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.