Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 16:11
And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they [are] written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
11 14 (= 1Ki 15:23-24). The Epilogue of Asa’s Reign
11. of Judah and Israel ] In 1 Kin. the appeal is to “the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
2Ch 16:11-12
And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the books of the kings.
Asa; or failure at the last
Asas case is a Scriptural declaration, that one who has begun well, who has even done much for God, may fall miserably, may fail at last. What were the causes of his fall?
I. He was tried by great success. Nothing is more liable than success to produce self-confidence, and neglect of Him who bestoweth on the wise their wisdom and on the strong their strength. Unless s man watches himself very narrowly, pride will insinuate itself even into the midst of his thanksgivings; complacent thoughts of his own foresight underlie his recognition of Gods providence; confessions of his own good desert qualify his confessions of sin.
II. He was placed in the perilous position of having to guide and instruct others. This is a great snare to any one. The mother who teaches her child to pray; the father who watches over his sons moral progress; the master who is a strict censor of the behaviour of his servants; the Scripture-reader, the district visitor, the nurse of the sick, the almoner of the poor; yea, even the minister of God who has professionally to bring before his people the means of grace and hope of glory; these persons are all in danger of neglecting themselves–of placing themselves, as it were, ab extra, to the duties which they have to inculcate. They are tempted to forget themselves, to abate their self-discipline, and when the novelty of their employment has passed away, to fall back on other things; it may be, to end with languor, disgust, or carelessness, if not with utter faithlessness and sin. (D. Hessey.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last,….
[See comments on 1Ki 15:23].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The end of Asa’s reign; cf. 1Ki 15:23-24. – On 2Ch 16:11, cf. the Introduction.
2Ch 16:12-13 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet, and that in a high degree. The words are a circumstantial clause: to a high degree was his sickness. “And also in his sickness (as in the war against Baasha) he sought not Jahve, but turned to the physicians.” is primarily construed with the accus., as usually in connection with or , to seek God, to come before Him with prayer and supplication; then with , as usually of an oracle, or seeking help of idols (cf. 1Sa 28:7; 2Ki 1:2.; 1Ch 10:14), and so here of superstitious trust in the physicians. Consequently it is not the mere inquiring of the physicians which is here censured, but only the godless manner in which Asa trusted in the physicians.
2Ch 16:14 The Chronicle gives a more exact account of Asa’s burial than 1Ki 15:24. He was buried in the city of David; not in the general tomb of the kings, however, but in a tomb which he had caused to be prepared for himself in that place. And they laid him upon the bed, which had been filled with spices ( , see Exo 30:23), and those of various kinds, mixed for an anointing mixture, prepared. from , kind, species; , et varia quidem . in Piel only here, properly spiced, from , to spice, usually to compound an unguent of various spices. , the compounding of ointment; so also 1Ch 9:30, where it is usually translated by unguent. , work, manufacture, is a shortened terminus technicus for , manufacture of the ointment-compounder (cf. Exo 30:25, Exo 30:35), and the conjecture that has been dropped out of the text by mistake is unnecessary. “And they kindled for him a great, very great burning,” cf. 2Ch 21:19 and Jer 34:5, whence we gather that the kindling of a burning, i.e., the burning of odorous spices, was customary at the burials of kings. Here it is only remarked that at Asa’s funeral an extraordinary quantity of spices was burnt. A burning of the corpse, or of the bed or clothes of the dead, is not to be thought of here: the Israelites were in the habit of burying their dead, not of burning them. That occurred only in extraordinary circumstances-as, for example, in the case of the bodies of Saul and his sons; see on 1Sa 31:12. The kindling and burning of spices at the solemn funerals of persons of princely rank, on the other hand, occurred also among other nations, e.g., among the Romans; cf. Plinii hist. nat. xii. 18, and M. Geier, de luctu Hebr. c. 6.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
CONCLUSION OF THE REIGN (2Ch. 16:11-14).
Comp. 1Ki. 15:23-24.
(11) The acts of Asa.Or, history.
The book of the kings of Judah and Israel.See Introduction, and 1Ki. 15:23. The mention in that verse of his might or prowess, and of the cities that he built, confirms the account in 2 Chronicles 14 concerning his defensive measures and the invasion of Zerah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
The disease of Asa seems to have been remarkable, as if it was peculiarly sent of the Lord, that it is so described, – Perhaps a lameness. He had confined the prophet, and now the Lord confines him. But the prophet’s prison was converted into a palace, for the Lord was with him: Asa’s palace into a dungeon, for he had not the light of the divine countenance. He sought aid from the physician. He forgot that it is the Lord’s province to kill and to make alive, to bring down to the grave and to bring up. Oh! what miserable comforters are all men. Physicians are of no value except the Lord commissions them, either to the body or the soul. His death was awful. Of his burial we read, indeed, that it was attended with great pomp. But oh! how far preferable is one whisper of grace from the Lord, in a dying hour, than all the shouts of men without it over the unconscious ashes. Oh! for that voice to be heard and felt, both by Reader and Writer in the last hour, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord! Yes! blessed Jesus! let it be my portion to live to thee, and to die in thee; and then death will be as precious as spices, and lying down with Christ the sweetest odours. Rev 14:13 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ch 16:11 And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they [are] written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
Ver. 11. First and last. ] He did his best at first: but the end of a thing should be better than the beginning.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
behold . . . lo. Figure of speech Asterismos.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2Ch 16:11-14
2Ch 16:11-14
THE DEATH OF ASA
“And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. And in the thirty and ninth year of his reign, Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to Jehovah, but to the physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign. And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had hewn out for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and divers kinds of spices prepared by the perfumers’ art: and they made a very great burning for him.”
“And they made a very great burning for him” (2Ch 16:14). “This is a reference to the burning of spices,” an ancient custom designed to fill the atmosphere with sweet odors accompanying a funeral procession. The Romans used large quantities of incense for this purpose
E.M. Zerr:
2Ch 16:11. As an explanation of this verse, see the comments at 1Ki 14:19.
2Ch 16:12. Opponents of medical doctors may think they have a point here, but they do not. Those were days of special providence, and important servants of God had reason to appeal for divine help in times of distress. The failure to do so was one of the weak points in the life of Asa.
2Ch 16:13. Slept with his fathers is explained at 1Ki 2:10.
2Ch 16:14. Abraham and other prominent den of Biblical times prepared their own burying places. Asa had made a sepulchre for his body and his friends laid him there. They added some things to the place by preparing a bed filled with various spices. They made a very great burning for him. Moffatt’s translation gives us “bonfire” in the place of burning. Such a demonstration was done at times in the same spirit as were other acts of respect for the remains of loved ones. See Jer 34:5.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
am 3049-3090, bc 955-914
the acts of Asa: 2Ch 9:29, 2Ch 12:15, 2Ch 20:34, 2Ch 26:22
Judah: 2Ch 25:26, 2Ch 27:7, 2Ch 32:32, 2Ch 34:18, 2Ch 35:27, 1Ki 15:23
Reciprocal: 2Ch 24:27 – story