Baasha's Reign and Jehu's Prophecy
1 Kings 15:33-16:7
1 K.15.33 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בשנת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,cons
- שלש: NUM,card,f,sg
- לאסא: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- מלך: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- מלך: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- בעשא: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אחיה: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- על: PREP
- כל: DET
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בתרצה: PREP+NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- עשרים: NUM,card,pl
- וארבע: CONJ,NUM,card,f,sg
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- 1 Kings 15:1 (structural): Uses the same regnal-synchronism formula (“In the X year of Y began Z to reign”), a standard chronological device for dating kings' accessions in the Deuteronomistic history.
- 1 Kings 15:27 (verbal): Closely repeats the accession notice for Baasha son of Ahijah (naming his rise to the throne and linking it to Asa’s reign); reflects the same wording about Baasha’s beginning to reign.
- 1 Kings 15:34 (structural): Follows the accession notice with the common concluding formula (“And the rest of the acts of Baasha... are written in the book of the chronicles”), a parallel way of summarizing a king’s reign in the narrative.
- 2 Chronicles 16:1 (thematic): Connects Baasha and Asa historically: records Baasha’s hostile action against Judah (fortifying Ramah) during Asa’s reign, showing the political/military interaction presupposed by the synchronism in 1 Kings 15:33.
Alternative generated candidates
- In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel, and he reigned over Israel twenty-four years.
- In the third year of Asa king of Judah Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah; and he reigned twenty-four years.
1 K.15.34 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויעש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- הרע: ADJ,m,sg,def
- בעיני: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- וילך: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- בדרך: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ירבעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ובחטאתו: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+suf3,m
- אשר: PRON,rel
- החטיא: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- 1 Kings 12:28-30 (structural): Describes Jeroboam’s establishment of golden calves and the founding ‘way of Jeroboam’—the origin of the sin repeatedly imitated by later kings (the behavior in 1 Kgs 15:34).
- 1 Kings 16:30-33 (verbal): Of Ahab: uses the same language of ‘walking in the sins/ways of Jeroboam’ and doing evil before the LORD, a near-verbal parallel to the formula in 1 Kgs 15:34. “Walked in the sins of Jeroboam” is the shared motif.
- 1 Kings 14:9-16 (thematic): Prophetic oracle condemning Jeroboam for causing Israel to sin and predicting judgment—echoes the clause ‘in his sin by which he made Israel sin’ in 1 Kgs 15:34.
- 2 Kings 17:21-23 (thematic): Summarizes Israel’s collective sin (including following Jeroboam’s practices) and its consequence, linking the recurring ‘way of Jeroboam’ to the nation’s downfall—the broader consequence of the behavior noted in 1 Kgs 15:34.
Alternative generated candidates
- He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; he walked in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin by which he had led Israel to sin.
- He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; he walked in the way of Jeroboam and in the sin by which he caused Israel to sin.
1 K.16.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- יהוא: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חנני: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- בעשא: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
Parallels
- 1 Kings 16:7-10 (quotation): Immediate continuation of the same prophetic oracle — the content of the word spoken by Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha (judgment on Baasha's house).
- 1 Kings 14:7-16 (thematic): Ahijah's oracle against Jeroboam’s house for walking in sin; parallels the motif of prophetic condemnation and destruction of a king's house for idolatry/evil.
- 1 Kings 21:17-24 (thematic): Elijah’s denunciation of Ahab for murder and seizure (Naboth); another example of a prophet delivering God’s sentence on a king for egregious wrongdoing.
- 2 Chronicles 19:2 (verbal): Jehu son of Hanani appears again as a prophet rebuking a king (Jehoshaphat) — the same prophetic figure delivering royal rebukes, showing Jehu’s role as a critic of kings.
- 1 Kings 15:27-30 (structural): Account of Baasha’s violent rise (murder of Nadab) and subsequent judgment; structurally parallels the cycle of coup, sin (‘walking in the way of Jeroboam’), and prophetic retribution affecting a royal house.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani concerning Baasha, saying,
- And the word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani concerning Baasha, saying,
1 K.16.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יען: CONJ
- אשר: PRON,rel
- הרימתיך: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg,obj:2ms
- מן: PREP
- העפר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ואתנך: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,1,?,sg,obj:2ms
- נגיד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- עמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1s
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ותלך: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- בדרך: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ירבעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ותחטא: VERB,qal,impf,2,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- עמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1s
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- להכעיסני: PREP+VERB,hiph,inf,1,m,sg
- בחטאתם: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- 1 Kings 12:26-33 (quotation): The original enactment of “the way of Jeroboam”: Jeroboam’s establishment of golden calves and alternative worship that led Israel into idolatry — the background for the charge that a later king “walks in the way of Jeroboam.”
- 1 Kings 14:7-16 (thematic): Prophetic judgment pronounced on Jeroboam’s house because Jeroboam ‘caused Israel to sin’ — echoes the language and theological point that leading Israel into Jeroboam’s sin provokes the LORD’s anger.
- 2 Kings 17:21-23 (structural): Summary account of Israel’s persistence in the sins of Jeroboam and the resulting divine judgment/exile — shows the long-term consequences of kings who ‘walk in the way of Jeroboam.’
- Psalm 113:7 (verbal): Uses the similar image of God raising the lowly from the dust — parallels the opening clause ’I raised you from the dust’ as a divine reversal that heightens the culpability of the ruler who betrays that gift.
Alternative generated candidates
- "For I have lifted you from the dust and made you prince over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger by their sin.
- “Because I lifted you up from the dust and made you prince over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger by their sins,
1 K.16.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הנני: PRT+PRON,1,sg
- מבעיר: VERB,qal,ptc,ms,sg
- אחרי: PREP
- בעשא: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ואחרי: CONJ
- ביתו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ונתתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- ביתך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+2ms
- כבית: PREP+NOUN,ms,sg,abs
- ירבעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נבט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- 1Kgs.16.11 (structural): Immediate narrative fulfillment: the text recounts that Baasha and his house were destroyed “according to the word of the LORD” (direct fulfillment of the prophecy in 16:3).
- 1Kgs.14.10–16 (thematic): Pronouncement against Jeroboam’s house: God declares he will cut off Jeroboam’s dynasty for idolatry. 1 Kgs 16:3 explicitly compares Baasha’s fate to the judgment already announced on Jeroboam.
- 1Kgs.16.12–13 (structural): Narrative sequence showing how Baasha’s house came to an end (assassination and overthrow), concretely enacting the threatened judgment referenced in 16:3.
- Jer.22.30 (thematic): Similar prophetic motif of a sovereign declaration that a royal house will be cut off so that none of its descendants will succeed on the throne — a wider biblical parallel for divine judgment on dynasties.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, I will burn up Baasha and his house; I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat.
- behold, I will set fire against Baasha and against his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat.
1 K.16.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- המת: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לבעשא: PREP+NOUN,prop,sg,abs
- בעיר: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יאכלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- הכלבים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- והמת: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,def
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- בשדה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יאכלו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- עוף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השמים: NOUN,m,pl,def
Parallels
- 1 Kings 14:11 (verbal): Almost identical prophetic formula — 'the dogs shall eat him who dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat him who dies in the open country' — used earlier against Jeroboam's house.
- 1 Kings 21:23 (verbal): Same imagery applied in the oracle against Ahab/Jezebel ('the dogs shall eat Jezebel') — a closely related phrasing of dogs/birds eating the dead as a sign of divine judgment.
- 2 Kings 9:36–37 (verbal): Narrative fulfillment of the Jezebel oracle: the account reports that her flesh was eaten by dogs, echoing the prophetic language of dogs consuming the dead.
- Deuteronomy 28:26 (thematic): Part of the covenant curses: corpses becoming food for birds and beasts — an older legal-theological tradition that supplies the background imagery for prophetic pronouncements of downfall.
- Ezekiel 39:17–20 (thematic): Ezekiel summons birds and beasts to feast on the fallen in a cultic/eschatological judgment scene; uses similar bird-and-beast imagery to portray divine punishment and desecration of the slain.
Alternative generated candidates
- Whoever dies of Baasha in the city the dogs shall eat, and whoever dies of him in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.
- The one who dies of Baasha in the city the dogs shall eat, and the one who dies of him in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.
1 K.16.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויתר: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- דברי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,c,sg
- בעשא: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ואשר: CONJ+PRON,rel
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- וגבורתו: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,suff
- הלא: PART
- הם: PRON,personal,3,m,pl
- כתובים: VERB,pual,ptcp,m,pl
- על: PREP
- ספר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דברי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,c,sg
- הימים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- למלכי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- 1 Kings 16:12 (verbal): Another king-entry in the same chapter closes with the same formula — ‘the rest of the acts… are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel’ — showing the standardized royal summary formula for Israelite kings in 1 Kings.
- 1 Kings 16:20 (verbal): A further instance in chapter 16 where the account of a king concludes with the identical or very similar wording, demonstrating repeated use of the same editorial closing line for Israel’s monarchs.
- 1 Kings 16:28 (verbal): Yet another occurrence in the narrative sequence of Israelite kings using the same closing formula, underscoring the structural pattern in Kings of referring readers to the official royal annals for fuller details.
- 1 Kings 11:41 (structural): A comparable closing line used earlier in 1 Kings about Solomon (and other monarchs): it points readers to a separate royal chronicle for the fuller record, evidencing the book’s editorial practice of citing external ‘chronicles’ for additional information.
Alternative generated candidates
- Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and all that he did, and his might—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
- As for the rest of the acts of Baasha and all that he did, and his might—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
1 K.16.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישכב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בעשא: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- עם: PREP
- אבתיו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,3s
- ויקבר: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- בתרצה: PREP+NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- וימלך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אלה: DEM,pl,abs
- בנו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- תחתיו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- 1 Kgs 2:10 (verbal): Uses the same standard royal formula “slept with his fathers, and was buried…” — a verbal parallel in reporting a king’s death and burial.
- 1 Kgs 11:43 (verbal): Another instance of the same death-and-succession formula (“slept with his fathers…and Solomon his son reigned in his stead”); parallels the wording and structural report of succession.
- 1 Kgs 16:8–10 (structural): Immediate narrative context: though Elah succeeds (v.6), these verses describe the rapid political reversal when Zimri assassinates Elah — a direct structural continuation and contrast to the burial/succession formula.
- 2 Kgs 9:21–29 (thematic): The violent overthrow of a dynastic line (assassination of a king and rapid transfer of power) thematically parallels Elah’s assassination and the instability recorded immediately after v.6.
Alternative generated candidates
- So Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place.
- And Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried at Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his place.
1 K.16.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וגם: CONJ
- ביד: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יהוא: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חנני: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- הנביא: NOUN,m,sg,def
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- בעשא: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- ביתו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- הרעה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בעיני: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- להכעיסו: PREP+VERB,hiphil,inf+OBJ,3,m,sg
- במעשה: PREP
- ידיו: NOUN,f,pl,abs,suff:3,m,sg
- להיות: VERB,qal,inf,NA,NA,NA
- כבית: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ירבעם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- אשר: PRON,rel
- הכה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אתו: PRON,3,m,sg,acc
Parallels
- 1 Kings 16:1-4 (structural): Immediate parallel in the surrounding narrative: the same prophetic word against Baasha and his house delivered by Jehu son of Hanani is recounted, framing the oracle of judgment for Baasha's deeds (same event/context).
- 1 Kings 14:7-16 (thematic): Ahijah's prophecy against Jeroboam's house announces destruction because Jeroboam caused Israel to sin; Baasha is explicitly compared to the house of Jeroboam in 1 Kgs 16:7, so the judgment motif and rationale are paralleled here.
- 2 Chronicles 19:2 (verbal): The same prophet Jehu son of Hanani appears rebuking a king (Jehoshaphat) for ungodly alliances and actions—showing Jehu's role as a prophetic rebuker of kings and providing a parallel demonstration of prophetic indictment on royal wrongdoing.
Alternative generated candidates
- And also by the hand of Jehu son of Hanani the prophet the word of the LORD came against Baasha and his house, and against all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, in provoking him by the deeds of his hands, to make his house like the house of Jeroboam; and because he had struck him down.
- Moreover the word of the LORD came by the hand of Jehu son of Hanani the prophet against Baasha and against his house, for all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger by his deeds, to make his house like the house of Jeroboam, and because he had struck him.
In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah; and he reigned twenty-four years.
He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; he walked in the way of Jeroboam and in Jeroboam's sin by which he had led Israel into sin. And the word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani concerning Baasha, saying:
Because I lifted you up from the dust and made you ruler over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger by their sin,
behold, I will set a fire against Baasha and against his house, and will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat.
The one who dies of Baasha in the city shall be eaten by dogs, and the one who dies of him in the field shall be eaten by the birds of the heavens. Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and all that he did, and his might—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Baasha slept with his fathers; he was buried at Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place. And by the hand of Jehu son of Hanani the seer the word of the LORD had also come against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil that he had done in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger by the work of his hands, to make his house like the house of Jeroboam—for he had struck him.