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BAASHA

(Heb. baʿšāʾ)

The son of Ahijah from the tribe of Issachar; the third king of the northern kingdom who established its second dynasty. He ruled from Tirzah, NE of Shechem, for 24 years (ca. 900-877 b.c.). Baasha assassinated the Israelite king Nadab while Israel besieged the city of Gibbethon (1 Kgs. 15:27-28; cf. vv. 29-30). This battle indicates the continued instability of the tribal territories even though a king ruled the northern kingdom. Following the coup, Baasha exterminated the house of Jeroboam I, a fate also to befall his own house (1 Kgs. 16:11). Apparently the extermination of the two houses was so thorough that later generations still remembered the brutality of the events (2 Kgs. 9:9).

Baasha and King Asa of Judah were hostile toward one another throughout their reigns (1 Kgs. 15:16). Baasha blockaded Judah by fortifying Ramah, 8 km. (5 mi.) N of Jerusalem, and controlling all passage through the region (1 Kgs. 15:17; 2 Chr. 16:1). Asa constructed fortifications to defend his territory against Baasha (Jer. 41:9), but this proved insufficient against the superior force of Baasha. Asa then formed an alliance with Ben-hadad of Syria by paying the Syrian king with funds from the Jerusalem temple. Ben-hadad proceeded to attack Baasha from the north, thus forcing the Israelite king to withdraw from Ramah and to abandon his southern fortifications (1 Kgs. 15:21; 2 Chr. 16:5). Baasha lost much of his northern territory to the Syrians. At the same time, Asa removed the fortifications at Ramah that had been used by Baasha and pushed Judah’s territorial claim north to Mizpah.

Baasha ruled under the scrutiny of the prophet Jehu ben Hanani. Elah, Baasha’s son, succeeded his father upon Baasha’s apparently peaceful death. The biblical record condemns Baasha for “walking in the way of Jeroboam” (1 Kgs. 15:34), even though Baasha was the Lord’s instrument for punishing the house of Jeroboam (v. 29).

Stephen Von Wyrick

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BAASHA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)