I Kings 15:18

Reign of Abijam (cf., 2 Chron 13). - Abijam reigned three years, and his mother's name was Maacah, daughter (i.e., grand-daughter) of Absalom. We have the same in Ch2 11:20-21; but in Ch2 13:2 she is called Michajahu, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. If אבישׁלום was without doubt Absalom, the well-known son of David, as we may infer from the fact that this name does not occur again in the Old Testament in connection with any other person, since Absalom had only one daughter, viz., Thamar (Sa2 14:27), who was fifty years old when Solomon died, Maacah must have been a daughter of this Thamar, who had married Uriel of Gibeah, and therefore a grand-daughter of Absalom. This is sustained by Josephus (Ant. viii. 10, 1). The form of the name מיכיהוּ is probably an error in copying for מעכה, as the name is also written in Ch2 11:20, Ch2 11:21, and not a different name, which Maacah assumed as queen, as Caspari supposes (Micha, p. 3, note 4).

In this chapter we have an abstract of the history, I. Of two of the kings of Judah, Abijam, the days of whose reign were few and evil (Kg1 15:1-8), and Asa, who reigned well and long (v. 9-24). II. Of two of the kings of Israel, Nadab the son of Jeroboam, and Baasha the destroyer of Jeroboam's house (Kg1 15:25-34).

15:18-19 Ben-hadad . . . the king of Aram and his successors were a major factor in Aramean-Israelite relations for many years. Asa’s appeal for Ben-hadad’s help was reinforced with rich gifts taken from the Temple treasury. Despite previous enmity between the Arameans and Israel (11:23-25; 2 Sam 8:3-12; 2 Chr 8:3-4), Ben-hadad and Baasha had established a treaty. Asa understood that the Aramean king’s assistance could be purchased for the right price (1 Kgs 15:20). When God’s prophet Hanani delivered the Lord’s rebuke to Asa for approaching Ben-hadad, Asa reacted uncharacteristically and threw him into prison (2 Chr 16:7-10). Asa apparently forgot God’s previous intervention on his behalf against Zerah’s sizeable army (2 Chr 14:7-8).