2 Chronicles 15:16

And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) And also concerning Maachah.—2Chronicles 15:16-18 are a duplicate of 1Kings 15:13-15, with a few unimportant variations. See the commentary there.

The mother of Asa the king—i.e., his grandmother. (See 2Chronicles 13:2; and 1Kings 15:13). Others have supposed that Maachah the mother of Abijah, and Maachah the “mother” of Asa, were different persons, the former being the daughter of Absalom, the latter the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There are really no grounds for this. Maachah, the mother of Abijah, enjoyed the rank of queen-mother not only during his short reign of three years, but also during that of her grandson Asa, until deposed by him on account of her idolatry.

Queen.—Gebîrah, lady, mistress; but always used of a queen. Compare the position of Athaliah (2Chronicles 22:2).

An idol.—Miphlètseth; a thing of fear; a horror; a term only found here and in 1Kings 15:13. (Not as Merx suggests, nor a phallus, as others think. Comp. the cognate words in Job 9:6; Job 21:6; Jeremiah 49:16.)

In a grove.—Rather, for Ashērah (2Kings 17:16).

Stamped it.—Crashed it. A detail added by the chronicler. So Moses treated the golden calf (Exodus 32:20); and Josiah the high place at Bethel (2Kings 23:15).

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 15:16. And also concerning Maachah — Of this and the following verses, see on 1 Kings 15:13-15.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:1-19 The people make a solemn covenant with God. - The work of complete reformation appeared so difficult, that Asa had not courage to attempt it, till assured of Divine assistance and acceptance. He and his people offered sacrifices to God; thanksgiving for the favours they had received, and supplication for further favours. Prayers and praises are now our spiritual sacrifices. The people, of their own will, covenanted to seek the Lord, each for himself, with earnestness. What is religion but seeking God, inquiring after him, applying to him upon all occasions? We make nothing of our religion, if we do not make heart-work of it; God will have all the heart, or none. Our devotedness to God our Saviour, should be avowed and shown in the most solemn and public manner. What is done in hypocrisy is a mere drudgery.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Solemn renewals of the original covenant which God made with their fathers in the wilderness Exodus 24:3-8 occur from time to time in the history of the Jews, following upon intervals of apostasy. This renewal in the reign of Asa is the first on record. The next falls 300 years later in the reign of Josiah. There is a third in the time of Nehemiah (see the marginal references). On such occasions, the people bound themselves by a solem oath to observe all the directions of the Law, and called down God's curse upon them if they forsook it.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-14. the third month—when was held the feast of pentecost. On this occasion, it was celebrated at Jerusalem by an extraordinary sacrifice of seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep, the spoil of the Ethiopians being offered. The assembled worshippers entered with great and holy enthusiasm into a national covenant "to seek the Lord their God … with all their heart and with all their soul;" and, at the same time, to execute with rigor the laws which made idolatry punishable with death (2Ch 15:13; De 17:2-5; Heb 10:28). The people testified unbounded satisfaction with this important religious movement, and its moral influence was seen in the promotion of piety, order, and tranquillity throughout the land.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Of this and the following verses, See Poole "1 Kings 15:2", See Poole "1 Kings 15:10", See Poole "1 Kings 15:14", See Poole "1 Kings 15:15".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king,.... Or rather his grandmother, 1 Kings 15:10,

he removed her from being queen; the Septuagint version is, "that she should not minister to Astarte"; which was the goddess of the Zidonians; of this and the two next verses; see Gill on 1 Kings 15:13, 1 Kings 15:14, 1 Kings 15:15.

Geneva Study Bible

And also concerning Maachah the {i} mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

(i) Or grandmother, and in this he showed that he lacked zeal, for she should have died both by the covenant, as 2Ch 15:13 and by the law of God, but he gave place to foolish pity and would also seem after a sort to satisfy the law.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16–19 (1 Kings 15:13-15). Other Religious Measures of Asa

16. And also concerning Maachah] R.V. And also Maacah. “Maacah the daughter of Abishalom” is described as the mother of Abijam (Abijah) In 1 Kings 15:2 and as the mother of Asa in 1 Kings 15:10, although Asa is described as the son of Abijam (Abijah) in 1 Kings 15:8. Most probably Maacah was the grandmother of Asa but retained her position as queen-mother during two reigns, i.e. until removed by Asa.

from being queen] R.V. mg., from being queen-mother.

an idol] R.V. an abominable image. On 1 Kings 15:13 Robertson Smith (Religion of the Semites p. 188, note) suggests that the Asherah itself (cp. 2 Chronicles 14:3 note) was partly carved into a kind of image, “a grisly object.” For the present passage see next note.

in a grove] R.V. mg. (rightly as representing the meaning of the Chronicler) for Asherah, Asherah being here and in a few other passages (1 Kings 18:19; 2 Kings 21:7; 2 Kings 23:4; 2 Kings 23:7) to be translated as the name of a goddess, about whom however next to nothing is known. According to some scholars the Chronicler was mistaken in imagining that “Ashçrâh” was anything more than a common noun denoting the wooden symbol of a goddess. We must of course translate according to the meaning of the Chronicler whether he has fallen into an error or not. Cp. note on 2 Chronicles 14:3.

cut down her idol, and stamped it] R.V. cut down her image, and made dust of it.

the brook Kidron] On the east of Jerusalem, an unclean place; cp. 2 Kings 23:4, “in the fields of Kidron.” Bädeker, p. 96.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 16. - Maachah the mother of Asa; i.e. the grandmother (2 Chronicles 11:20-22; 2 Chronicles 13:2; 1 Kings 15:2, 10, 13) of Asa; and the statement amounts to this, that Asa removed her from the dignity she had enjoyed, with all its influences of "queen-mother." An idol in a grove. This, probably, literally translated, says, an hideous fright for, i.e. in place of Asherah, i.e. Ashtoreth, or Astarte; but some translate to Asherah. The word we translate "an hideous fright" (מִפְלָצֶת) occurs only here and in the parallel (1 Kings 15:13), and its derivation root guides to this rendering; but some give it the idea of an object of reverent fear among idols. Asa cut down. So it was enjoined (Exodus 34:13-15). And stamped it; Hebrew, וַיָּדֶק; hiph. of דָקַק; the meaning being "stamped it" in the dust, from its upright position, finally burning it. The word is used in 2 Chronicles 34:4, 7; 2 Kings 23:6, 15; Exodus 30:36; Micah 4:13. The word used in the parallel is "cut off;" or "cut down; of course also preparatory to burning. At the brook Kidron. The Kidron was a torrent rather than a brook. It flowed between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, and finally emptied itself into the Dead Sea. The references to Kidron in the Old Testament are interesting, but all reinvested with heightened interest from those in the New Testament (John 18:1, compared with what the parallels infer; Mark 14:26; Luke 22:39). The first two references in the Old Testament are 2 Samuel 15:23; 1 Kings 2:37. Passing these, the present place, with its parallel, brings the Kidren valley next under notice as, the place of destruction for Maachah's obscene phallic abomination, and then (2 Kings 11:16) as the place where Athalish was destroyed. Its associations are similar when spoken of in 2 Kings 13:4, 6, 12; 2 Chronicles 29:16; 2 Chronicles 30:14, becoming the "regular receptacle for the impurities and abominations of the idol-worship, when removed from the temple and destroyed by the adherents of Jehovah." In the time of Josiah, this valley was the common burying-place of the city (2 Kings 23:6; Jeremiah 26:23; Jeremiah 31:40). (For Robinson's description of the modern state of the Kidron valley, see Dr. Smith's 'Bible Dictionary,' 2:14-16). 2 Chronicles 15:16

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

This return to the Lord brought joy to all Judah, i.e., to the whole kingdom, because they had sworn with all their heart, and sought the Lord בכל־רצונם, with perfect willingness and alacrity. Therefore Jahve was found of them, and gave them rest round about. - In 2 Chronicles 15:16-18, in conclusion, everything which still remained to be said of Asa's efforts to promote the Jahve-worship is gathered up. Even the queen-mother Maachah was deposed by him from the dignity of ruler because she had made herself an image of Asherah; yet he did not succeed in wholly removing the altars on the high places from the land, etc. These statements are also to be found in 1 Kings 15:13-16, and are commented upon at that place. Only in the Chronicle we have אסא אם instead of אמּו (Kings), because there Maachah had just been named (2 Chronicles 15:10); and to the statement as to the abolition of idolatry, ירק, crushed, is added, and in 2 Chronicles 15:17 מיּשׂראל; while, on the other hand, after שׁלם, יהוה עם is omitted, as not being necessary to the expression of the meaning.