ASA ā’ sə (אָסָא׃֙, LXX ̓Ασα, meaning uncertain; perhaps short for ’asap, gather; Noth, Israelitische Personennamen 181; BDB adduce a root ’asah, hear). The name of the third king of Judah after the division, and of a Levite of the time of the Exile (1 Chron 9:16). Asa of Judah (1 Kings 15:9-24; 2 Chron 15-17).
1. Family. His mother Maacah (1 Kings 15:10) is named also as mother of Abijah (15:2; cf. 2 Chron 11:20ff., 13:2; see Abijah). Emendation of “son” (1 Kings 15:8) to “brother” has been suggested; but Maacah may have remained queen mother after Abijah’s short reign (taking ’em, v. 10, to mean “grandmother” by analogy of ’ab, male ancestor).
2. Chronology. Asa reigned from the twentieth year of Jeroboam I (911/10 b.c., Thiele) to Ahab’s fourth (870/69). A chronological problem centers on the war with Baasha of Israel, who, according to the consistent synchronisms (1 Kings 15; 16) died in Asa’s twenty-sixth year. The chronicler records ten years of peace (2 Chron 14:1), a covenant in the fifteenth year (15:10-15), and Baasha’s attack in Asa’s thirty-sixth year (16:1). In 15:19 the sentence “there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year” (“more” is an addition) seems, from the context, to qualify purposely the information in 1 Kings 15:16. The suggestion that “thirty-fifth” and “thirty-sixth,” in the chronicler’s source, were reckoned from the division, and that Asa’s political success in 896/95 b.c. was the reason for Baasha’s action (Thiele), requires an almost impossibly rapid sequence of events (while “the thirty-sixth of Asa” implies surprising lethargy on the part of Baasha). It is also difficult to believe that Asa, in 896, turned at once to the Syrians for help; this arises equally with Keil’s emendation “fifteenth.....sixteenth.” Albright, to preserve the reading in 2 Chronicles 16:1, would shorten Rehoboam’s reign, emending, e.g., 12:13; 13:1; the logic of this solution is dubious.
3. Religious policy. Asa gave up the pagan cults supported by Rehoboam and Abijah, confiscating to the Temple their dedicated treasures (1 Kings 15:15). His victory at Mareshah enabled him to go further (2 Chron 15); encouraged by Azariah, he renovated the altar in the temple court and held a great assembly to make a fresh covenant with the Lord, using booty (presumably from the southern campaign) for sacrifices. This revival, following his military success, drew supporters from Israel. Asa even deposed the queen mother for her idolatry. His policy toward the “high places” is not clear; in 1 Kings 15:14; 2 Chronicles 15:17, they are said to have survived. 2 Chronicles 14:3 mentions the abolition of high places, but as related to “foreign” cults. The persistence of (Yahwistic) shrines is often noted in Kings.
4. Military campaigns.
a. South. The chronicler relates Asa’s victory at Mareshah over a large invading army under one “Zerah the Ethiopian,” leading to a thanksgiving ceremony in his fifteenth year; he also remarks (14:1) that Asa’s reign began with ten years of peace. Keil thought that a series of campaigns in the S was implied; Mareshah may have been the culmination of a five-year war, or else some years were needed to exploit the victory and re-occupy the Gerar-Beer-sheba area. Certainly the war resulted in southward expansion, carried on by Jehoshaphat (note the adherence of Simeonites, 15:9; Amos 8:14 mentions a cult at Beer-sheba).
Mention of Ethiopians and Libyans in Zerah’s army (2 Chron 16:8), and of nomads in the region (14:15), may indicate that Shishak had set up a buffer state after his invasion (Albright, JPOS 4 [1931], 146ff.). Identification of Zerah with Shishak’s successor Osorkon I has been proposed, but in that case one would have expected him to be described in Chronicles as “king of Egypt.”
b. North. The statement in 1 Kings 15:16, that “there was war between Asa and Baasha...all their days,” can hardly mean all-out campaigning (cf. 15:6; 2 Chron 12:15). Abijah’s victory left to Asa a temporary settlement, a frontier N of Bethel, and a hostile neighbor. Asa’s successes impelled Baasha to definite action; he began by occupying Ramah, well inside the frontier and on the ridge leading to Jerusalem. To counter this threat, Asa purchased the help of Ben-Hadad I of Syria, who invaded Galilee and drew off Baasha. Asa reoccupied Ramah, dismantled the works and used the material to fortify Geba and Mizpah (cf. Jer 41:9). The call up of every ablebodied man in Judah for this task is esp. noted.
Ramah is now er-Ram; Isaiah 10:29 suggests a site SW of Geba and near Gibeah. Mizpah might well be Tell en-Nasbeh, on a defensible spur commanding the approach to Ramah (Abel, Galling locate Geba here); this would secure the northern boundary of Benjamin (Josh 18:21-24; see Aharoni, pp. 301-303, who remarks that Jehoshaphat did not expand further, 2 Chron 17:2). Albright (AASOR 4) argues strongly for identifying Mizpah with Nebi Samwil, being in sight of Jerusalem (see 1 Macc 3:46) and making better sense in the narrative of Jeremiah 41 (v. 14 supports this argument, but his remaining evidence is less positive). The two theories go with two views of Asa’s action; Albright’s, ultra-defensive, involves pulling back from Ramah to Nebi Samwil and Gibeah (read for Geba, 1 Kings 15:22; the third fort appears to have been hastily reconstructed). It is more probable that, pursuing a defensive strategy, Asa followed up Baasha’s retreat by seizing strong frontier positions. Geba would then be modern Jaba, overlooking the Wadi es-Suweinit eastward.
5. Closing years. Reliance on Syrian help earned a reproof from the prophet Hanani; Asa reacted harshly to this and to some popular opposition (2 Chron 16:10). His last years were marked by sickness (prob. dropsy) and loss of faith, but he was greatly honored at his funeral. According to Thiele, Jehoshaphat was co-regent during his father’s last four years.
Bibliography W. F. Albright, AASOR 4 (1924), 38ff., 91-111; JPOS 4 (1931), 146ff.; BASOR 52 (1933), 6ff.; K. Galling, Biblical Reallexicon (1937), cols. 385f.; F-M Abel, Geographie II (1938), 388ff.; W. F. Albright, BASOR 87 (1942), 23ff., 100 (1945), 16ff.; C. McCown, Tell en-Nasbeh I (1947), 28-30, 202; J. Montgomery, Kings (ICC) (1951); Y. Yadin, Art of Warfare (1953), 323; K. M. Kenyon, Archaeology in the Holy Land (1960), 247f.; L. Sinclair, AASOR 34/5 (1960), 5ff.; V. Pavlovsky and E. Vogt, Biblica 45 (1964), 321-329; J. Gray, Kings (1964); E. Thiele, Mysterious Numbers2 (1965), 57ff.; J. Myers, Chronicles (1965), 79-95; Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible (1966), 282, 293ff.