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1 Kings 15

The chapter measures kings by their loyalty to YHWH, tracing David’s preserved line alongside judgment on Jeroboam’s house.

Abijam succeeds Rehoboam in Judah and follows his father’s sins, yet YHWH preserves David’s royal line in Jerusalem. Asa succeeds Abijam, removes idols, and strips Maacah of her royal position because of her Asherah image. Facing Baasha’s blockade, Asa pays Syria’s king with temple and palace treasures to attack Israel. The account then turns to Israel: Baasha kills Nadab and destroys Jeroboam’s household, fulfilling YHWH’s word through Ahijah, while continuing the sins for which that household was judged.

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2He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
3He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.
4Nevertheless for David’s sake, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem;
5because David did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, and didn’t turn away from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
7The rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
8Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in David’s city; and Asa his son reigned in his place.
10He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.
11Asa did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, as David his father did.
12He put away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
13He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.
14But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the LORD all his days.
15He brought into the LORD’s house the things that his father had dedicated, and the things that he himself had dedicated: silver, gold, and utensils.
16There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
17Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
18Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that was left in the treasures of the LORD’s house, and the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered it into the hand of his servants. Then King Asa sent them to Ben Hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying,
19“Let there be a treaty between me and you, like that between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.”
20Ben Hadad listened to King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel, and struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel Beth Maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
21When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and lived in Tirzah.
22Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah. No one was exempted. They carried away the stones of Ramah, and its timber, with which Baasha had built; and King Asa used it to build Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
23Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
24Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in his father David’s city; and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.
25Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah; and he reigned over Israel two years.
26He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.
27Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha struck him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon.
28Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha killed him and reigned in his place.
29As soon as he was king, he struck all the house of Jeroboam. He didn’t leave to Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite;
30for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger.
31Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
32There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
33In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah for twenty-four years.
34He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.
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Key verses
1 Kings 15:3Abijam’s divided heart establishes the chapter’s measure of kingship: devotion to YHWH rather than inherited royal status.
1 Kings 15:4YHWH preserves a successor in Jerusalem for David’s sake despite Abijam’s failure to follow him.
1 Kings 15:5David remains the standard for royal faithfulness, with the matter of Uriah named as a grave exception.
Where this chapter reaches

2 Chronicles recounts the reigns of Abijam and Asa, sharing the events of Asa’s reforms and his treaty with Syria during conflict with Israel. 2 Samuel supplies the background of God’s promise concerning David’s royal house and the account of David’s wrongdoing against Uriah.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What contrasts stand out between Asa’s response to inherited idols and Baasha’s response to Jeroboam’s example?

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How does the preservation of David’s line shape your reading of the judgment on Jeroboam’s house?

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Questions people ask about 1 Kings 15

What does the lamp in Jerusalem mean in 1 Kings 15:4?

The verse explains the image through succession: God gives Abijam a son to follow him and establishes Jerusalem. The lamp represents the continued life of David’s royal line. Its preservation rests on God’s regard for David, even while the account condemns Abijam’s conduct and divided heart.

Why does 1 Kings 15 call David’s and Asa’s hearts perfect?

In this context, a perfect heart describes wholehearted loyalty to YHWH. The chapter’s own qualifications matter: it names David’s wrongdoing concerning Uriah and says the high places remained under Asa. The assessment concerns the kings’ allegiance to God; it leaves those failures in the record.

Why did Asa give temple treasures to Ben Hadad?

Baasha was fortifying Ramah to restrict movement into and out of Judah. Asa sent temple and palace treasures to Ben Hadad, asking him to break his treaty with Baasha and attack Israel. The plan forced Baasha to stop building. This account records its success without an explicit judgment on Asa’s treaty.

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1 Kings · 22 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).