A king of the southern kingdom of Judah. He was the son of Abijah, and the father of Jehoshaphat. He is listed in the family line of Jesus.
About Asa
The third king of the southern kingdom of Judah from 910 to 869 BC, after Solomon’s Empire split into independent kingdoms. Solomon’s son Rehoboam, Asa’s grandfather, had neither Solomon’s wisdom nor his insight. Rehoboam did not use diplomacy to avoid rising popular resentment against Solomon’s policies. In fact, Rehoboam actively anticipated the resentment.
Asa came to the throne just after his father, Abijam (or Abijah), who reigned briefly from 913 to 910 BC. Asa inherited a weakened kingdom. He entered into an unstable political arena shaken by the collapse of the great world empires of old Babylonia to the north. Mesopotamia in the east and Egypt in the southwest had also collapsed. The emerging power of Assyria wasn't firmly established until the mid-ninth century BC. Smaller Palestinian states (Israel, Judah, Syria, the Arameans, and Phoenicians, and the peoples of Moab and Edom) were free to push among themselves until then.
Rival states had similarities, especially Judah and Israel. At the same time, these areas were divided by deep differences and intense self-interest. Borders were constantly disputed. Boundaries were never fully settled but seldom contested in all-out bloody conflict. Shifting alliances used threats, taking advantages, bribes, payment of tribute, marriages purchased for power, and other cunning political arts. Since all were playing the same game, an uncertain balance resulted.
At the beginning of King Asa’s reign, there was an initial decade of peace and prosperity. Then he was called upon to face enemy threats and invasion. In those crises, he trusted God and forced out or defeated all who attempted to conquer, divide, or destroy Judah (2 Chronicles 14:1–8). Further, he cleared the land of idolatrous places of worship. He even took away the royal privilege and standing of Maacah, his mother. She had erected an image of the fertility goddess Asherah (1 Kings 15:10; 2 Chronicles 15:16).
Later in his reign Asa abandoned his trust in God. With a huge gift that stripped the temple treasures, he entered an alliance with Ben-hadad, king of Damascus (Syria). He did this to force Baasha, ruler of the northern kingdom of Israel, to withdraw from newly conquered territory in Judah.
Israel, Judah's mortal enemy, stood ready to strike, only 8 kilometers (five miles) from Jerusalem. Asa disregarded God’s faithful protection and made the deal. Asa’s power play worked. Israel had to retire from the field in the south to meet Ben-hadad’s threat from the north. When Hanani spoke plainly to Asa about his disbelief in God, Asa became angry and had Hanani imprisoned (2 Chronicles 16:7–10).
For the last years of his long 41-year reign, Asa was ill. “Yet even in his illness he did not seek the LORD, but only the physicians” (2 Chronicles 16:12). He died and was buried with honor in the royal tombs (1 Kings 15:24; 2 Chronicles 16:14).
See also Israel, History of; Chronicles, Books of First and Second; Timeline of the Bible (Old Testament); King.
Family Relationships
- Parents
- Abijah (Son of Rehoboam)
- Partner
- Azubah
- Child
- Jehoshaphat
- Aunt
- Shelomith (2 Chronicles 11:20)
- Uncles 5
- Jeush (2 Chronicles 11:19), Shemariah (2 Chronicles 11:19), Zaham, Attai (2 Chronicles 11:20), Ziza (2 Chronicles 11:20)
Key References
And Abijam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, and his son Asa reigned in his place.
In the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Asa became king of Judah,
and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done.
And Asa rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.
Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah.
All Scripture References (54)
1 Kings (25)
And Abijam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, and his son Asa reigned in his place.
In the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Asa became king of Judah,
And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done.
He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the LORD all his days.
Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their days.
Baasha king of Israel went to war against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this message to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus:
And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth.
Then King Asa summoned all the men of Judah, with no exceptions, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had used for building. And with these materials King Asa built up Geba of Benjamin, as well as Mizpah.
Now the rest of the acts of Asa, along with all his might, all his accomplishments, and the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? In his old age, however, he became diseased in his feet.
And Asa rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.
In the second year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel, and he reigned two years.
In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha killed Nadab and reigned in his place.
And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their days.
In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah twenty-four years.
In the twenty-sixth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years.
So in the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri went in, struck Elah down, and killed him. And Zimri reigned in his place.
In the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines,
In the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.
In the thirty-eighth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria twenty-two years.
In the fourth year of Ahab’s reign over Israel, Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah.
And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.
And there was no king in Edom; a deputy served as king.
1 Chronicles (1)
Solomon’s son was Rehoboam: Abijah was his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,
2 Chronicles (25)
Then Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And his son Asa reigned in his place, and in his days the land was at peace for ten years.
So he said to the people of Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, with doors and bars. The land is still ours because we have sought the LORD our God. We have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.
Then Zerah the Cushite came against them with an army of 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots, and they advanced as far as Mareshah.
So Asa marched out against him and lined up in battle formation in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.
Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God: “O LORD, there is no one besides You to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God. Do not let a mere mortal prevail against You.”
So the LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah, and the Cushites fled.
So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.
So they gathered together in Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.
King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
The high places were not removed from Israel, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted all his days.
And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
So Asa withdrew the silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he sent it with this message to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus:
And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali.
Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had used for building. And with these materials he built up Geba and Mizpah.
At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and told him, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.
Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
Now the acts of Asa, from beginning to end, are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his disease became increasingly severe. Yet even in his illness he did not seek the LORD, but only the physicians.
So in the forty-first year of his reign, Asa died and rested with his fathers.
He stationed troops in every fortified city of Judah and put garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
And Jehoshaphat walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn away from it; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.
Then a letter came to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, which stated: “This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah,
Jeremiah (1)
Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men he had struck down along with Gedaliah was a large one that King Asa had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.
Matthew (2)
Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa.
Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah.