- Baasha (Bible)
:"For the Ammonite king, see
Baasha ben Ruhubi ".Baasha (Hebrew "Basha"; "
Baal hears") was the third king of the northern kingdom of Israel.William F. Albright has dated his reign to 900 BC-877 BC, whileE. R. Thiele offers the dates 909 BC-886 BC. Baasha came to power by murdering the previous king, Nadab, and the entire royal family of Nadab's fatherJeroboam .Over the course of his twenty-three year reign, Baasha allied Israel with
Syria and endeavored to strangle Judah's trade by fortifying Ramah, a city five miles north ofJerusalem . KingAsa of Judah then bribed KingBen-hadad of Syria to switch sides and attack Israel, prompting the loss of extensive territory in Dan and Naphtali northwest of theSea of Galilee . Baasha was forced to withdraw from Ramah.Though Baasha remained in power for life, he was not without his opponents. The prophet
Jehu , the son of Hanani, foretold the destruction of his dynasty, which came to pass with theassassination of Baasha's sonElah .Baasha's story is told in "1 Kings" 15:16 through 16:7.
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