Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 14:2
And Asa did [that which was] good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
Verse 2. Did that which was good] He attended to what the law required relative to the worship of God. He was no idolater, though, morally speaking, he was not exempt from faults, 1Kg 15:14. He suppressed idolatry universally, and encouraged the people to worship the true God: see 2Ch 14:3-5.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Of this and the next verse, See Poole “1Ki 15:11” See Poole “1Ki 15:12”
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. Asa did that which was good andright(compare 1Ki 15:14).Still his character and life were not free from faults (2Ch 16:7;2Ch 16:10; 2Ch 16:12).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Asa did that which was good and right,…. See
1Ki 15:11.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
REIGN OF ASA (2 Chronicles 14-16.)
(a) EFFORTS TO ROOT OUT ILLEGITIMATE WORSHIPS, AND TO STRENGTHEN THE SYSTEM OF NATIONAL DEFENCES (2Ch. 14:2-7; comp. 1Ki. 15:9-15).
(2) That which was good and right.Literally, The good and the right, an expression defined in 2Ch. 14:3-4. It is used of Hezekiah, 2Ch. 31:20. See 1Ki. 15:11, And Asa did the right in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father.
For (and) . . . the altars of the strange gods.Literally, altars of the alien. Vulg., altaria peregrini cultus. Comp. the expression, gods of the alien (Gen. xxxv, 2, 4). (Comp. 1Ki. 15:12 b, and he took away all the idols that his fathers had made; a summary statement, which is here expanded into details.) But both here and in 2Ch. 12:1-2, the chronicler has omitted to mention the qedshm (Authorised Version, Sodomites) (1Ki. 15:12 a)
And the high places.i.e., those dedicated to foreign religions. It is clear from 2Ch. 15:17, as well as 1Ki. 15:14, that high places dedicated to the worship of Jehovah were not done away with by Asa.
Brake down the images.Brake in pieces (or shattered) the pillars. They were dedicated to Baal, and symbolised the solar rays, being, no doubt, a species of obelisk. (See Gen. 28:18; Exo. 34:13; Jdg. 3:7.)
The high places, images, and groves of this verse are all mentioned in 1Ki. 14:23.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
It should seem from the account here given that Asa, immediately on his accession to the throne, began to reform the abuses of the preceding reign of his father. Idolatry he abolished, which had crept in from the latter end of the reign of his grandfather Solomon. And what is yet more pleasant in the account here given, he set up the pure worship of the Lord God of Israel. So that this forms a very pleasing relation concerning the kingdom of Judah under the government of Asa. If the Reader compares what is related of Asa in 1Ki 15 with his history as recorded in this place and the two following chapters, the narratives will mutually explain each other. Though we have but a short account in the book of the Kings concerning Asa compared to what is here told of him.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ch 14:2 And Asa did [that which was] good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
Ver. 2. And Asa did that which was good. ] See 1Ki 15:11 .
In the eyes of the Lord.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2 Chronicles
ASA’S REFORMATION, AND CONSEQUENT PEACE AND VICTORY
2Ch 14:2 – 2Ch 14:8
Asa was Rehoboam’s grandson, and came to the throne when a young man. The two preceding reigns had favoured idolatry, but the young king had a will of his own, and inaugurated a religious revolution, with which and its happy results this passage deals.
I. It first recounts the thorough clearance of idolatrous emblems and images which Asa made. ‘Strange altars,’-that is, those dedicated to other gods; ‘high places,’-that is, where illegal sacrifice to Jehovah was offered; ‘pillars,’-that is, stone columns; and ‘Asherim,’-that is, trees or wooden poles, survivals of ancient stone- or tree-worship; ‘sun-images,’-that is, probably, pillars consecrated to Baal as sun-god, were all swept away. The enumeration vividly suggests the incongruous rabble of gods which had taken the place of the one Lord. How vainly we try to make up for His absence from our hearts by a multitude of finite delights and helpers! Their multiplicity proves the insufficiency of each and of all.
1Ki 15:13 adds a detail which brings out still more clearly Asa’s reforming zeal; for it tells us that he had to fight against the influence of his mother, who had been prominent in supporting disgusting and immoral forms of worship, and who retained some authority, of which her son was strong enough to take the extreme step of depriving her. Remembering the Eastern reverence for a mother, we can estimate the effort which that required, and the resolution which it implied. But 1 Kings differs from our narrative in stating that the ‘high places’ were not taken away-the explanation of the variation probably being that the one account tells what Asa attempted and commanded, and the other records the imperfect way in which his orders were carried out. They would be obeyed in Jerusalem and its neighbourhood, but in many a secluded corner the old rites would be observed.
It is vain to force religious revolutions. Laws which are not supported by the national conscience will only be obeyed where disobedience will involve penalties. If men’s hearts cleave to Baal, they will not be turned into Jehovah-worshippers by a king’s commands. Asa could command Judah to ‘seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law,’ but he could not make them do it.
II. The chronicler brings out strongly the truth which runs through his whole book,-namely, the connection between honouring Jehovah and national prosperity. He did not import that thought into his narrative, but he insisted on it as moulding the history of Judah. Modern critics charge him with writing with a bias, but he learned the ‘bias’ from God’s own declarations, and had it confirmed by observation, reflection, and experience. The whole history of Israel and Judah was one long illustration of the truth which he is constantly repeating. No doubt, the divine dealings with Israel brought obedience and well-being into closer connection than exists now; but in deepest truth the sure defence of our national prosperity is the same as theirs, and it is still the case that ‘righteousness exalteth a nation.’ ‘The kingdom was quiet,’ says the chronicler, ‘and he had no war in those years; because the Lord had given him rest.’ 1 Kings makes more of the standing enmity with the northern kingdom, and records scarcely anything of Asa’s reign except the war which, as it says, was between him and Baasha of Israel ‘all their days.’ But, according to 2Ch 16:1 , Baasha did not proceed to war till Asa’s thirty-sixth year, and the halcyon time of peace evidently followed immediately on the religious reformation at its very beginning.
Asa’s experience embodies a truth which is substantially fulfilled in nations and in individuals; for obedience brings rest, often outward tranquillity, always inward calm. Note the heightened earnestness expressed in the repetition of the expression ‘We have sought the Lord’ in 2Ch 14:7 , and the grand assurance of His favour as the source of well-being in the clause which follows, ‘and He hath given us rest on every side.’ That is always so, and will be so with us. If we seek Him with our whole hearts, keeping Him ever before us amid the distractions of life, taking Him as our aim and desire, and ever stretching out the tendrils of our hearts to feel after Him and clasp Him, all around and within will be tranquil, and even in warfare we shall preserve unbroken peace.
Asa teaches us, too, the right use of tranquillity. He clearly and gratefully recognised God’s hand in it, and traced it not to his own warlike skill or his people’s prowess, but to Him. And he used the time of repose to strengthen his defences, and exercise his soldiers against possible assaults. We do not yet dwell in the land of peace, where it is safe to be without bolts and bars, but have ever to be on the watch for sudden attacks. Rest from war should give leisure for building not only fortresses, but temples, as was the case with Solomon. The time comes when, as in many an ancient fortified city of Europe, the ramparts may be levelled, and flowers bloom where sentries walked; but to-day we have to be on perpetual guard, and look to our fortifications, if we would not be overcome.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
am 3063-3073, bc 941-931
good and right: 2Ch 31:20, 1Ki 15:11, 1Ki 15:14, Luk 1:75
Reciprocal: Deu 28:7 – flee before 1Ki 15:12 – all the idols 1Ki 22:43 – he walked 2Ch 17:3 – his father David 2Ch 20:32 – the way 2Ch 21:12 – in the ways of Asa 2Ch 34:2 – right in the sight
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
GOOD KING ASA
Asa did that which was good.
2Ch 14:2
I. Asas good beginning.When Asa came to the throne he found the land overrun with idolatry. The first task to which he put his hand was that of a religious reformation. He let it be known at once that he was on Gods side, and that he meant to rule in the fear of God. It was a noble beginning. Asa, in his resolve boldly to confess God and to begin right, is a pattern to us to-day. When we enter a new position let us take our stand boldly from the very beginning.
II. Religion and rest.Asa began by banishing idolatry: and calling upon the people to serve God, and the chronicler says that the kingdom was quiet before him. Notice the sequence: Asa sought the Lord the Lord gave him rest. Religion and rest go hand in hand.
III. Asas forethought.During those years of quiet which God gave his people Asa put his country, as we should say, into a position of defence. For all around Judah there were nations that cast hungry eyes upon her territory, and were only waiting for a favourable opportunity to pounce upon it. So Asa prepared against possible attack. There is a lesson for all in Asas forethought. We fight not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. And the way to be safe against the attacks of these dread foes is to be prepared for war. What the armour is St. Paul tells us.
IV. Goda present help.Asas vast preparations seemed useless, but on the eve of the conflict he addressed a confident appeal to God. And Asa did not call in vain. The Lord did help him, with the result that the immense Ethiopian army was destroyed before the Lord and before His host. So (1) to have God on ones side is to be sure of victory. (2) God is always within call. He is a present help.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
2Ch 14:2. Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord Happy they that walk by this rule; that do not only that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eyes of the world, but which is so in Gods eyes. Asa saw that Gods eye was always upon him, and therefore he kept his eye always upon God, studied to approve himself to him, and endeavoured in all things to please him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1. Asa’s Wisdom 14:2-15
Asa inherited a kingdom at peace. He wisely used the peace to purge the idolatry that had crept into Judah (2Ch 14:3-5). The term "Asherim" (pl. of ’asherah) refers to the various representations of Baal’s goddess consort Asherah. The Canaanites believed this goddess resided in a carved wooden pole that they erected beside a carved stone pillar in which they believed Baal abode. Both the wooden poles and the stone pillars served as incense stands, and both were idols. [Note: William F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, pp. 215-16.]
Asa also fortified his defenses against future attacks from the North. Because of his trust in Yahweh, God gave him deliverance from his attackers (2Ch 14:9-15).
"They [the Cushites, 2Ch 14:9] have been identified with Ethiopians (cf. 2Ch 16:8). This is rejected by recent commentators. The reference in 2Ch 14:15 to a Bedouin group with sheep, goats, and camels that Asa drove off has led several recent writers to suggest that Cush may have been an ethnic group living in the vicinity of Judah (cf. Hab 3:7)." [Note: Thompson, p. 267. Cf. Williamson, 1 and 2 . . ., pp. 263-65. J. Daniel Hays, "The Cushites: A Black Nation in the Bible," Bibliotheca Sacra 153:612 (October-December 1996):401-3, argued for their being from Cush (modern Ethiopia).]
In all these events, Asa followed the good examples of David and Solomon.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
C. Asa 14:2-16:14
Chronicles gives much more attention to Asa than Kings does. That is because Asa’s experiences illustrated the points the Chronicler wanted to drive home to his readers.
We have already seen in Rehoboam’s history that obedience brought blessing from God, but disobedience brought discipline (chs. 11-12). The Chronicler used this retributive motif frequently. We see it clearly here in Asa’s history. [Note: Raymond B. Dillard, "The Reign of Asa (2 Chronicles 14-16): An Example of the Chronicler’s Theological Method," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 23 (September 1980):213-18.] In chapters 14-15 we see Asa obeying and blessed. In chapter 16 he was disobedient, and God disciplined him.