184 The Legends of the Jews
Asa Asa, the son of Abijah of Judah, was a worthier and a more pious ruler than his father had been. He did away with the gross worship of Priapus,1* to which his mother was devoted. To reward him for his piety, God gave him the victory over Zerah, the king of the Ethiopians. As a result of this victory he came again into possession of the throne of Solomon and of the treasures Shishak had taken from his grandfather, which Zerah in turn had wrested from Shishak.18 Asa himself did not long keep them. Baasha, the king of Israel, together with Ben- hadad, the Aramean king, attacked Asa, who tried to pro- pitiate Ben-hadad by giving him his lately re-acquired treasures.20 The prophet justly rebuked him for trusting in princes rather than in God, and that in spite of the fact that the Divine help had been visible in his conflict with the Ethiopians and the Lubim ; for there had been no need for him to engage in battle with them ; in response to his mere prayer God had slain the enemy.81 In general, Asa showed little confidence in God ; he rather trusted his own skill. Ac- cordingly, he made even the scholars of his realm enlist in the army sent out against Baasha. He was punished by being afflicted with gout, he of all men, who was distin- guished on account of the strength residing in his feet." Furthermore, the division between Judah and Israel was made permanent, though God had at first intended to limit the exclusion ot David's house from Israel to only thirty-six years. Had Asa shown himself deserving, he would nave been accorded dominion over the whole of Israel.2* In point of tact, Asa, through his connection by marriage with the
