And it came to pass that, as soon as Baasha was king, he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him; according unto the saying of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Ahijah the Shilonite: for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and wherewith he made Israel to sin; because of his provocation wherewith he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger. And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty and four years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin. And the word of the Lord came to Jehu against Baasha, saying, "Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the [{369}] dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins; behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house; and I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowls of the air eat."
And Baasha died, and was buried in Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his stead. And moreover by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the Lord against Baasha, and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he smote him.
ELAH.
(The son of Baasha, the adventurer, seems to have been as weak and incompetent as his father was ready and daring. While his army was off to the wars, he stayed at home and indulged his appetites. He was "drinking himself drunk" in the house of his steward Arza, when Zimri, captain of his chariots, came in and murdered him in cold blood as he lay like a beast in the slumber of drunkenness.)
In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years. And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him: now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, which was over the household in Tirzah: and Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, and reigned in his stead. And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he smote all the house of Baasha: he left him not a single man child, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends. Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned, and wherewith they made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.
MOUNT HERMON.