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A reference to defending the Bible's account of origins

When did Baasha die?

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"When did Baasha die?" (Alleged Contradiction #E4040)
So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah: and Elah his son reigned in his stead.  And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the LORD against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, in provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he killed him.  In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years.

I Kings 16:6-8

In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

II Chronicles 16:1

If Baasha died in the twenty-sixth year of Asa, how could he have fought against Judah in the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa?

Response

II Chronicles references the time after the split of the kingdoms, not the actual time that Asa was on the throne (i.e., the kingdom that Asa reigned over, or “the reign of Asa”). I Kings, on the other hand, refers to the time that Asa was personally on the throne (“twenty and sixth year of Asa“).

Thus, Baasha attacked in the 16th year since Asa took the throne, which was the 36th year of the kingdom over which Asa reigned. 1  Something which backs up this chronology is the fact that Baasha tried to secure his borders from those emigrating to Judah out of his country (Israel).  Emigration was a problem for Baasha because those in Israel saw that the LORD was with Judah after Asa defeated Zerah the Ethiopian, which occurred in Asa’s 15th, or the kingdom’s 35th (II Chronicles 15:10 14:9).  It would not make sense for Baasha to wait 21 years before doing something about the emigration, but it would make sense if Baasha did it right away.  Thus, the chronology presented above fills in all the “missing pieces.”  (See Jones, 2004, p. 139.)


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Sources

Jones, F. N. (2004). Chronology of the Old Testament: a return to the basics (15th ed.). Green Forest, Ark.: Master Books.

Notes

  1. Jones, 2004, p. 138-139 ↩
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