people the same time. 11And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12And in the thirty and ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians. 13And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign. 14And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had hewn out for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him.
17And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and
11—14 (= 1 Kin. xv. 23, 24). The Epilogue of Asa's Reign.
11. the book of the kings of Judah and Israel] In 1 Kin. the appeal is to "the book of chronicles of the kings of Judah." See Introd. § 5.
he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians] Physicians (Heb. rōph'īm) are condemned by implication here, perhaps as using incantations and adjurations. Contrast Ecclus. (Ben Sira) xxxviii. 9—15, especially ver. 15 (Heb. text), He that sinneth against his Maker will behave himself proudly against a physician. Curtis notes the connection of the art of healing with the prophets; cp. 1 Kin. xvii. 17 ff. (Elijah); 2 Kin. iv. 19 ff. (Elisha); 2 Kin. xx. 7 (Isaiah).
13. in the one and fortieth year] Cp. 1 Kin. xv. 10.
14. in his own sepulchres] In 1 Kin. with his fathers.
which he had hewn out for himself] This clause is absent from 1 Kin.
divers kinds of spices] Mark xvi. 1; John xii. 3, 7, xix. 39, 40.
a very great burning] Cp. xxi. 19. What is here meant is not cremation of the body, but only a burning of spices; Jer. xxxiv. 5.
Chapters XVII.—XX. The Reign of Jehoshaphat.
Ch. XVII. 1—6. The character of the reign.
The reign of Jehoshaphat is one of the most interesting sections of Chron. If these chapters, xvii.—xx., be compared with the references to Jehoshaphat in Kings (viz. 1 Kin. xxii. 1—35, 41—50), it will be seen that much new material appears in Chron. (ch. xvii., and xix. 1—xx. 30), with the result that the prosperity and piety of this king are greatly enhanced. As to the historical value of the Chronicler's account, see the head-notes to the various sections below.
1. And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead] These words are from 1 Kin. xv. 24. All the rest of this chapter is without any parallel in Kin.
