Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 15:27
And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which [belonged] to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.
27. of the house of Issachar ] Jeroboam’s family was of the tribe of Ephraim (1Ki 11:26), and it may have been some tribal jealousy which led a man of Issachar to exterminate the whole family of Jeroboam, and to found a new dynasty. From the message of the prophet Jehu to Baasha (1Ki 14:1-2) it would appear as if Baasha’s attempt had been sanctioned by some divine message. But none the more did Baasha improve upon the conduct of the two kings of the previous house.
at Gibbethon, which belongeth [R.V. belonged ] to the Philistines ] Scrivener’s edition of 1611 reads belongeth. This was a town allotted originally to the tribe of Dan (Jos 19:44), and was given as a Levitical city to the Kohathites (Jos 21:23), but it had been by this time taken by the Philistines, and Nadab was endeavouring to drive them out. The verb belongeth is only indicated by the preposition which is prefixed to the word Philistines, and we need not understand more by it than occupation such as conquerors take.
all Israel laid siege ] R.V. were laying siege. The work was still in progress, and was not completed even in Baasha’s reign. Cf. 1Ki 16:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Baasha … of the house of Issachar – It is curious to find Issachar furnishing a king. Tola, its one very undistinguished Judge Jdg 10:1, on obtaining office had at once settled himself in the territory of Ephraim. The tribe was as little famous as any that could be named. The ass crouching between two burthens was a true symbol of the patient, plodding cultivators of the plain of Esdraelon Gen 49:14-15. Baasha probably owed his rise neither to his tribe nor to his social position, but simply to his audacity, and his known valor and skill as a soldier 1Ki 16:2.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 27. Smote him at Gabbethon] This was a city in the tribe of Dan, and generally in the possession of the Philistines.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Of the house of Issachar, i.e. of the tribe, which is oft called a house, as Jdg 10:9; Psa 135:20; Hos 1:7. Which belonged to the Philistines; who, taking advantage of the division between Israel and Judah, had retaken this town, which belonged to the tribe of Dan, Jos 19:44, and belonged to the Levites, Jos 21:23; upon whose departure to Judah, 2Ch 11:14, the kings of Israel seized their towns and lands to their own use, as was noted before; which made them so much concerned for this town, to besiege it both now and many years after this time, 1Ki 16:15.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27. Baasha smote him atGibbethonThis town, within the tribe of Dan, was given to theLevites (Jos 19:44). It lay onthe Philistine borders, and having been seized by that people, Nadablaid siege to recover it.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar,…. A man of that tribe; but who he was, or his father, is nowhere else said, very probably an officer in Nadab’s army:
conspired against him; laid a scheme to take away his life, and seize the kingdom:
and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon; a city in the tribe of Dan, Jos 19:44
which belongeth to the Philistines; it was a city given to the Levites, Jos 21:23 and they being driven from it by Jeroboam, the Philistines seized on it, or had heretofore made a conquest of it; and Nadab was desirous of getting it out of their hands, and therefore besieged it, as follows:
for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon; and while he was besieging it, Baasha took the opportunity to slay him, where his carcass lay exposed to dogs, or fowls of the air, and had no burial, as Ahijah predicted, 1Ki 14:11.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(27) Baasha, sprung from an obscure tribe, hardly at any time distinguished in the history, and himself, as it would seem (1Ki. 16:2), of low origin in it, is the first of the many military chiefs who by violence or assassination seized upon the throne of Israel. The constant succession of ephemeral dynasties stands in striking contrast with the unchanged royalty of the house of David, resting on the promise of God.
Gibbethona Levitical town in the territory of Dan (Jos. 19:44; Jos. 21:23), probably, like other places in that region, still held by the Philistines till their subjugation by David. The text here implies a revolt of the Philistines against the enfeebled power of Israel, and the occupation of Gibbethon, commanding a pass from the plain of Sharon to the interior. The siege must have been fruitless, at least of any permanent result; for twenty-six years after we find Gibbethon still in the hands of the enemy. (See 1Ki. 16:15.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
BAASHA’S REIGN, Ki 15:27 to 1Ki 16:7.
27. Baasha house of Issachar That is, a descendant of the fifth son of Jacob by Leah, (Gen 30:18,) whose lot in the tribe-division of the land is described Jos 19:17-23.
Conspired against him Baasha was probably commander, or chief captain, in Nadab’s army, and wickedly laid his schemes to assassinate the king, and use the army now at his command to establish himself upon the throne.
Gibbethon A city belonging to the territory of Dan. Jos 19:44. It was assigned, with its suburbs, to “the Levites which remained of the children of Kohath,”
(Jos 21:23,) but at the time of Nadab it was held by the Philistines, and probably they had always held it. It has not been identified with any modern town.
Laid siege to Gibbethon What led Nadab to turn his forces against this city does not appear. We learn from chapter 1Ki 16:15 that the siege was continued in the time of Zimri.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 15:27. And Baasha, the son of Ahijah See note on 1Ki 15:2 of the next chapter.
REFLECTIONS.1st, Asa succeeded to the throne of Israel in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, and reigned long and successfully over Judah.
1. His piety is recorded to his honour. He copied after the illustrious David in all that was excellent, and was constantly and zealously attached to the worship of God all his days. His heart was right with God, and therefore he laboured to suppress all wickedness, and to reform his deluded subjects. The men of unnatural propensities were removed: either they were put to death, or they fled out of the land for fear. Such abominations a good prince will never suffer among his subjects. The idols which his father made, he destroyed; and because his grandmother Maachah was the great patroness of idolatry, he spared not to put her and her idol to public shame. He burnt it, cast the dust into the brook Kidron, and, degrading her from her dignity, removed her from court, lest her bad example should corrupt it, and that after such an example none might hope to be connived at. He also enriched God’s house with the treasures that he had dedicated from the spoil of the Ethiopians; see 2Ch 14:13-14 as well as those which his father had dedicated out of the spoils of Jeroboam, 2Ch 13:21. Note; A good king, who would promote religion among his subjects, must begin with discountenancing all wickedness at court.
2. His faults are faithfully transmitted. The high places, such of them at least as had been resorted to before the temple was built, were left: he feared that it might be dangerous to attempt rooting out what long custom had consecrated. His war with Baasha put him on a sinful project, to cause a diversion in his favour, and recover Ramah. He robbed the treasury of God’s house of the dedicated things, and sent them to Ben-hadad, in order to engage him to a wicked violation of his league with Baasha. The contrivance was successful; Ben-hadad consented; and whilst, to oppose his invasion, the king of Israel drew off his forces, Asa by proclamation summoned all his subjects, who went up, and brought away all the stones and timber of Ramah, and utterly demolished the place. But God rebuked him for his sin, 2Ch 16:7-9 and he suffered for it by the continual wars in which he was involved. Note; Though a sinful project may succeed, the success will be embittered.
3. He strengthened his kingdom by new cities which he built; two with materials brought from Ramah, and others besides, 1Ki 15:23. To him, probably, the more pious Israelites returned, and chose their abode under his rule, rather than dwell in the tents of ungodliness. But his greatness or goodness prevented not the infirmities of old age coming upon him; till death, after a glorious reign of forty-one years, removed him to a better kingdom, whilst his pious son Jehoshaphat, who succeeded him, made his loss in Judah less sensibly felt.
2nd, We are led to turn our eyes from the flourishing state of Judah to the distractions of Israel. Nadab, the heir of his father’s crimes, as well as his crown, walked in the established idolatry; and God’s patience with the house of Jeroboam being ended, he raised up Baasha to conspire against him. Baasha was, probably, an officer in his army; and whilst Nadab besieged Gibbethon, which the Philistines had seized, he slew him in the camp, and was by the army proclaimed king in his stead. His first care was, to extirpate the family of Jeroboam, with an intention only to secure the kingdom to himself; but was made herein God’s instrument to execute the threatened judgment on that ungodly house. But, though he removed his rivals, he took no care to depart from their sins, and so inherited the same curse that he had executed upon them. Note; (1.) God’s patience has its bounds: he will say to the sinner, My spirit shall no longer strive. (2.) The path of sin leads down to death and hell.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Ki 15:27 And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which [belonged] to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.
Ver. 27. Which belonged to the Philistines. ] Sed quo iure? They had gotten it; but the right of it was in Israel. Jos 21:23
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Baasha the son: 1Ki 15:16, 1Ki 15:17, 1Ki 14:14
conspired: 1Ki 16:9, 2Ki 12:20
Gibbethon: 1Ki 16:15, 1Ki 16:17, Jos 19:44, Jos 21:23
Reciprocal: 1Ki 16:7 – because he killed him 2Ki 9:14 – conspired 2Ki 21:23 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 15:27-28. Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines This was a city in the tribe of Dan, given to the Levites, (Jos 19:44; Jos 21:23,) who quitted it, as they did the rest of their cities, when Jeroboam would not suffer them to execute their office, 2Ch 11:14; and the Philistines, it is likely, seized upon it, being adjoining to their country. But it appears, Nadab was now endeavouring to recover it out of their hands, as of right belonging to him; and here, in the midst of his army, did Baasha, with others, conspire against him, and kill him: and so little interest had he in the affections of his people, that his army not only did not avenge his death, but chose his murderer his successor. Whether Baasha did this upon a personal pique against Nadab, or to be revenged on the house of Jeroboam for some affront received from them; or whether under pretence of freeing his country from the tyranny of an ill prince; or whether purely from a principle of ambition, to make way for himself to the throne, doth not appear; but having slain him, he reigned in his stead.