Baasha ( he, , ''Baʿšāʾ'') was the third king of the northern
Israelite Kingdom of Israel
The Kingdom of Israel may refer to any of the historical kingdoms of ancient Israel, including:
Fully independent (c. 564 years)
* Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy) (1047–931 BCE), the legendary kingdom established by the Israelites and uniti ...
. He was the son of
Ahijah Ahijah ( ''’Ǎḥîyāh'', "brother of Yah"; Latin and Douay–Rheims: Ahias) is a name of several biblical individuals:
# Ahijah the Shilonite, the Biblical prophet who divided the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
# One of the sons of Bela (1 Chr ...
of the
Tribe of Issachar. Baasha's story is told in .
Reign
Baasha became king of Israel in the third year of
Asa, king of Judah. ()
William F. Albright has dated his reign to 900–877 BCE, while
E. R. Thiele
Edwin R. Thiele (10 September 1895 – 15 April 1986) was an American Seventh-day Adventist missionary in China, an editor, archaeologist, writer, and Old Testament professor. He is best known for his chronological studies of the kingdoms of Ju ...
offers the dates 909–886 BCE. Baasha came to power by murdering the previous king,
Nadab, at
Gibbethon, followed by the entire House of
Jeroboam (Nadab's father and predecessor). Baasha had previously been a
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in Nadab's own army. Like many military leaders, he appears to have risen from obscurity. The
Jewish Encyclopedia
''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...
suggests that because he came from the
tribe of Issachar, "he may have represented a local faction".
["Baasha", ''Jewish Encyclopedia'']
/ref>
Over the course of his 24-year reign, Baasha was at war with Asa, king of Judah. He allied Israel with Aram and endeavored to strangle Judah's trade by fortifying Ramah, a city five miles north of Jerusalem.Barnes' Notes on 1 Kings 15
accessed 26 October 2017 King
Asa of Judah then bribed King
Ben-hadad of
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
to switch sides and attack Israel, prompting the loss of extensive territory in
Dan and
Naphtali northwest of the
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest ...
. Baasha was forced to withdraw from Ramah. Asa of Judah utilized the materials of the abandoned fort for the fortification of his own frontier towns,
Geba and
Mizpah.
[
Though Baasha remained in power for life, he was not without his opponents. The prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, foretold the destruction of his dynasty, which came to pass with the ]assassination
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
of Baasha's son Elah.
References
{{Authority control
10th-century BC Kings of Israel
9th-century BC Kings of Israel
House of Baasha
Regicides
Biblical murderers