Lexical Summary
Basha: Basha
Original Word:בַּעְשָׁא
Part of Speech:Proper Name Masculine
Transliteration:Ba`sha'
Pronunciation:bah-SHAH
Phonetic Spelling:(bah-shaw')
KJV: Baasha
NASB:Baasha
Word Origin:[from an unused root meaning to stink]
1. offensiveness
2. Basha, a king of Israel
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
Baasha
From an unused root meaning to stink; offensiveness; Basha, a king of Israel -- Baasha.
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originof uncertain derivation
Definitiona king of Isr.
NASB TranslationBaasha (28).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
1 Kings 15:16,17,19 18t.
1 Kings 15-16 +
1 Kings 21:22;
2 Kings 9:9; 2Chronicles 16:1,3,5,6;
Jeremiah 41:9.
Topical Lexicon
Name and General ScopeBaasha (Hebrew בַּעְשָׁא, Strong H1201) appears about twenty-eight times in the Old Testament, nearly all of them referring to the third king of the northern kingdom of Israel. One additional occurrence names a minor Benjaminite in a genealogy (1 Chronicles 9:6), but every narrative text concerns Baasha son of Ahijah.
Baasha Son of Ahijah, King of Israel
• Rise to Power
Baasha came from the tribe of Issachar (1 Kings 15:27,34). While serving as a military commander under King Nadab (Jeroboam’s son), he assassinated Nadab at Gibbethon during a prolonged Philistine siege and “struck down the entire house of Jeroboam” (15:29). His accession fulfilled Ahijah’s earlier prophecy of judgment on Jeroboam’s dynasty (14:10-14).
• Length and Seat of Reign
He reigned twenty-four years (c. 909–886 BC) and made Tirzah his capital (15:33). His rule overlaps with the reign of King Asa of Judah, and their protracted hostility frames most of Baasha’s public activity (15:16).
• Religious Policy
Although he had executed Jeroboam’s family, Baasha imitated Jeroboam’s sin: “But he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the ways of Jeroboam” (15:34). He preserved the golden-calf cult centers at Bethel and Dan, thereby consolidating political control at the cost of covenant fidelity.
• Military Conflict with Judah
Baasha fortified Ramah, a border town only five miles north of Jerusalem, “to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah” (2 Chronicles 16:1). Asa countered by bribing Ben-Hadad I of Aram with temple and palace treasures, inducing him to attack Israel’s northern sectors (16:2-4). When Aram seized Dan, Ijon, and Abel Beth Maacah, Baasha abandoned Ramah, and Asa repurposed its stones and timber to build Geba and Mizpah (1 Kings 15:22;2 Chronicles 16:5-6).
• Prophetic Indictment
Jehu son of Hanani confronted Baasha with a message that echoed Ahijah’s words to Jeroboam:
“I lifted you up out of the dust and appointed you ruler over My people Israel, but you have walked in the way of Jeroboam… So now I will consume Baasha and his house” (1 Kings 16:2-3).
Because Baasha had “provoked the LORD to anger with the work of his hands” (16:7), the same doom he had inflicted on Jeroboam would fall on him.
• Death and Succession
Baasha “slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah reigned in his place” (16:6). Two years later the captain Zimri assassinated Elah at Tirzah, annihilated every male relative and friend (16:11-13), and thereby fulfilled Jehu’s oracle. The phrase “house of Baasha” becomes a solemn byword for complete dynastic eradication (1 Kings 21:22;2 Kings 9:9).
Baasha in Later Biblical Memory
The narrative books repeatedly place Baasha alongside Jeroboam as an exemplar of covenant violation and consequent judgment (1 Kings 21:22;2 Kings 9:9). Prophets and historians alike stress that political success—“I lifted you up out of the dust” (16:2)—does not excuse idolatry. The Chronicler records Hanani’s rebuke of Asa for relying on Ben-Hadad rather than on the LORD (2 Chronicles 16:7-9), implicitly contrasting Baasha’s external threat with Asa’s internal unbelief; in both cases divine dependence, not human stratagems, determines security.
Other Bearer of the Name
1 Chronicles 9:6 lists “Baasha” among the returned Benjaminites settling in Jerusalem after the exile. Scripture offers no further data on this man, and he plays no role in the narrative record.
Theological and Ministry Observations
1. Providence and Accountability: Baasha’s elevation “out of the dust” underscores God’s sovereign freedom in choosing rulers. Yet privilege magnifies responsibility; when Baasha replicated Jeroboam’s idolatry, the judgment that once served him became the judgment against him.
2. The Cycle of Violence: Baasha’s regicide inaugurated a precedent of bloody coups in Israel (compare Zimri, Omri, Jehu, Pekah). Human schemes to secure power apart from obedience ultimately unravel under God’s righteous governance.
3. Fulfilled Prophecy: The meticulous correspondence between Jehu’s oracle (1 Kings 16:3-4) and Zimri’s actions (16:11-13) affirms the reliability of the prophetic word. Later prophets employ Baasha as proof that “the word of the LORD endures forever.”
4. Border Fortifications vs. Covenant Faithfulness: Ramah’s blockade demonstrates how political obsessions—trade control, migration control, military leverage—can eclipse spiritual priorities. Contemporary ministry may draw cautionary parallels: defensive projects cannot substitute for wholehearted devotion.
5. Lasting Memorial: Baasha left fortified cities, but Scripture measures his legacy by covenant fidelity. “The eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). Baasha’s name endures chiefly as a warning to seek that devotion.
Forms and Transliterations
בַּעְשָׁ֑א בַּעְשָׁ֔א בַּעְשָׁ֖א בַּעְשָׁ֣א בַּעְשָׁ֤א בַּעְשָׁ֥א בַּעְשָׁ֧א בַּעְשָׁ֨א בַּעְשָׁא֙ בַעְשָׁ֔א בַעְשָׁ֖א בַעְשָׁ֛א בעשא לְבַעְשָׁא֙ לבעשא ba‘·šā ḇa‘·šā ba‘šā ḇa‘šā baSha lə·ḇa‘·šā ləḇa‘šā levaSha vaSha
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