2Ch 16:7-10 | KD | STEP | The rebuke of the prophet Hanani, and Asa’s crime . - 2Ch 16:7. The prophet Hanani is met with only here. Jehu, the son of Hanani, who announced to Baasha the ruin of his house (1Ki 16:1), and who reappears under Jehoshaphat ( ), was without doubt his son. Hanani said to King Asa, “Because thou hast relied on the king of Aram, and not upon Jahve thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Aram escaped out of thy hand.” Berth. has correctly given the meaning thus: “that Asa, if he had relied upon God, would have conquered not only the host of Baasha, but also the host of the king of Damascus, if he had, as was to be feared, in accordance with his league with Baasha ( ), in common with Israel, made an attack upon the kingdom of Judah.” To confirm this statement, the prophet points to the victory over the great army of the Cushites, which Asa had won by his trust in God the Lord. With the Cushites Hanani names also פּרשׁים, Libyans (cf. ), and besides רכב, the war-chariots, also פּרשׁים osla ,sto, horsemen, in order to portray the enemy rhetorically, while in the historical narrative only the immense number of warriors and the multitude of the chariots is spoken of.

‏ 2 Chronicles 16:7-10

2Ch 16:7-8 The rebuke of the prophet Hanani, and Asa’s crime. - 2Ch 16:7. The prophet Hanani is met with only here. Jehu, the son of Hanani, who announced to Baasha the ruin of his house (1Ki 16:1), and who reappears under Jehoshaphat (2Ch 19:2), was without doubt his son. Hanani said to King Asa, “Because thou hast relied on the king of Aram, and not upon Jahve thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Aram escaped out of thy hand.” Berth. has correctly given the meaning thus: “that Asa, if he had relied upon God, would have conquered not only the host of Baasha, but also the host of the king of Damascus, if he had, as was to be feared, in accordance with his league with Baasha (2Ch 16:3), in common with Israel, made an attack upon the kingdom of Judah.” To confirm this statement, the prophet points to the victory over the great army of the Cushites, which Asa had won by his trust in God the Lord. With the Cushites Hanani names also פּרשׁים, Libyans (cf. 2Ch 12:3), and besides רכב, the war-chariots, also פּרשׁים osla ,sto, horsemen, in order to portray the enemy rhetorically, while in the historical narrative only the immense number of warriors and the multitude of the chariots is spoken of. 2Ch 16:9 “For Jahve, His eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong with those whose heart is devoted to Him;” i.e., for Jahve, who looks forth over all the earth, uses every opportunity wonderfully to succour those who are piously devoted to Him. עם התחזק, to help mightily, as in 1Ch 11:10. אליו שׁלם עם־לבבם is a relative sentence without the relative אשׁר with עם; cf. 1Ch 15:12. “Thou hast done foolishly, therefore,” scil. because thou hast set thy trust upon men instead of upon Jahve, “for from henceforth there shall be wars to thee” (thou shalt have war). In these words the prophet does not announce to Asa definite wars, but only expresses the general idea that Asa by his godless policy would bring only wars (מלחמות in indefinite universality), not peace, to the kingdom. History confirms the truth of this announcement, although we have no record of any other wars which broke out under Asa. 2Ch 16:10

This sharp speech so angered the king, that he caused the seer to be set in the stock-house. המּהשפכת בּית, properly, house of stocks. מהפּכת, twisting, is an instrument of torture, a stock, by which the body was forced into an unnatural twisted position, the victim perhaps being bent double, with the hands and feet fastened together: cf. Jer 20:2; Jer 29:26; and Act 16:24, ἔβαλεν εἰς τὴν φυλακὴ̀ν καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἠσφαλίσατο αὐτῶν εἰς τὸ ξύλον. “For in wrath against him (scil. he did it) because of this thing, and Asa crushed some of the people at this time.” Clearly Hanani’s speech, and still more Asa’s harsh treatment of the seer, caused great discontent among the people, at least in the upper classes, so that the king felt himself compelled to use force against them. רצץ, to break or crush, is frequently used along with עשׁק (Deu 28:33; 1Sa 12:3, etc.), and signifies to suppress with violence. Asa had indeed well deserved the censure, Thou hast dealt foolishly. His folly consisted in this, that in order to get help against Baasha’s attack, he had had recourse to a means which must become dangerous to him and to his kingdom; for it was not difficult to foresee that the Syrian king Benhadad would turn the superiority to Israel which he had gained against Judah itself. But in order to estimate rightly Asa’s conduct, we must consider that it was perhaps an easier thing, in human estimation, to conquer the innumerable multitudes of the Ethiopian hordes than the united forces of the kings of Israel and Syria; and that, notwithstanding the victory over the Ethiopians, yet Asa’s army may have been very considerably weakened by that war. But these circumstances are not sufficient to justify Asa. Since he had so manifestly had the help of the Lord in the war against the Cushites, it was at bottom mainly weakness of faith, or want of full trust in the omnipotence of the Lord, which caused him to seek the help of the enemy of God’s people, the king of Syria, instead of that of the Almighty God, and to make flesh his arm; and for this he was justly censured by the prophet.